Audience & Institutions Essay

Q: Assess the importance of marketing in the media area you have studied.

The success and popularity of a film/product is one of the most important factors for marketing. Mostly because it helps distribute and create more recognition of the film itself. Simply put, in order for a film to be successful and to do great in numbers, there must be a great amount of marketing put in place. The marketing of a film will undoubtedly be a benefit for a film, making it a more recognized film and increasing profits for the crew members who worked on the film as a result of increased popularity. Without proper marketing, film recognition could be very low, resulting in low profits for the crew members and people who worked on the film. There are many different ways to market and promote movies out in the world, using many different platforms. 

Firstly, the main motivation for filmmakers to even promote and market their upcoming films is to make a profit. This is especially important because if a movie does not perform well financially, it can cost the company a lot of money and their reputation. So they go all out and try to make their upcoming films recognizable to the average consumer, who they hope will view the film and purchase any products that promote and advertise the film. A very clear example of this is from Columbia Pictures, who worked hand in hand with Sony Pictures to help distribute and market their film “Spiderman: Homecoming.” During the distribution process from Sony Pictures, they stirred up many ideas on how their upcoming film can reach audiences and people of all kinds, ages, and demographics. For the digital marketplace, for example, the distribution team developed a video game based entirely off of the film. This was in order to reach different kinds of viewers and a wide array of interests. In this case, gamers and people who just simply would like to have fun. They also decided to create toys for the movie in order to attract younger viewers, for instance. This is an example of “cross-media promotion,” which simply means to try and promote a film using multiple different platforms, whether at stores, online, television, etc.. As mentioned before, the toys created by the production and distribution team was specifically aimed towards young children, who would then be exposed to the movie in a fun and enjoyable way in hopes of wanting to see the film the toys are based off of. As well as clothing and souvenirs and typical household items (cereal, chips, mugs, etc.) were also made based off of the movie, in an attempt to reach older viewers, who would likely wear the clothings or use the products, further promoting the movie. All of this in its entirety greatly helps promote the film, which is exactly what the crew intended. Production teams work hard to make their upcoming film recognizable among the public, especially through making products that average people will consume, exposing them to the film.

Furthermore, in our modern world it can be very easy to spread information around. With the help of many tools, especially technology. Filmmakers take advantage of this uniquely powerful platform in order to market their films. Walt Disney Studios, for instance, uses many of these platforms to their advantage. Whether that be through promoting and marketing through television or the internet. Nowadays, it is quite difficult to not see an ad or promotion for a Disney film when browsing the internet, whether through social media or regular websites. The same applies for television. Furthermore, one of Walt Disney Studios’ subsidiaries, Marvel Studios, always finds a way to promote their upcoming films to the public using “cross-media convergence.” This is the ability to advertise and market across different platforms and devices. And in this case, two different companies work together to help each one another with a similar goal. There are countless examples of this, one being products showing and promoting the upcoming films on their packaging in grocery store chains all throughout the world, such as Walmart, Target, and more. This helps get the image and face of the films to average consumers around the world, ultimately hoping they will notice and find the film intriguing. Pretty recently being done with the Marvel film “Black Panther '' whose promotion and marketing was handled by Walt Disney Studios. Many of the companies who handle marketing for upcoming films create budgets on how much they can spend, in an attempt to maximize profit without over-doing the promotion. All of which is also an attempt to reach their ultimate goal to build excitement for the film itself through their marketing. As well as aiming for all ages and demographics using different products to get their message across and heard. Furthermore, this can also be seen in Universal Pictures and their franchise “Fast and the Furious.” Similar to how Disney & Marvel market, Universal Studios tries to reach out to people of all ages and demographics. They even created video games and opened up new rides at their amusement parks in an attempt to help promote the movies. Technology has had a big impact on the way that these giant corporations get the public interested in their films and products, with very clear and visual examples all throughout the world.

In conclusion, marketing and promoting films are a significant part of a film’s success. Many companies and moviemakers work hard in an attempt to reach out to the average consumer and people of all kinds of demographics. Without any of this work, the film can be deemed unsuccessful, damaging the company’s financial status and reputation. It is very important for them that people go and watch these movies, buy their products, and help promote it, as their careers may depend on it. 

Extract Practice: 24

In this extract of “24”, I believe the director of the film is trying to get the audience engaged with the scene, and to give them a sense of the tense and serious situation. As well as giving the audience a glimpse of the process and intensity of the situations that detectives go through during interrogations, especially when the suspect in question is difficult to work with. It is reasonable that the director intended to make this film be of the Thriller genre. Mostly because of the emotions that a viewer can feel while watching the film, as it is intended to give them an intense and mysterious feeling. The situation presented in the extract is quite nerve-wrecking, since the lives of many people are in danger because of an unlocated bomb, as well as the jobs of the detectives in the interrogation. Mostly because of his treatment towards the woman being questioned.  One of the very immediately noticeable features of the extract was the close-up angles of the faces of the characters throughout the film. I believe this was the director’s intention with the film, as it draws more attention towards the faces of the characters, where the viewers can clearly see their facial expressions and emotions. This is also seen through the lighting in the film, where it's minimal and very dim, casting many shadows throughout the scene. This also helps draw more attention to the faces of the characters, giving them more life and emotion to be clearly seen by the audience. It also helps create a sense of mystery and tension. The entirety of the extract is located inside the interrogation room. This is the room where the detective interviews the woman in question. The background and set of the interrogation room is very dull, with few props in sight. This also helps draw more attention to the dialogue. As well as giving a more mysterious and serious mood to the scene, as the room seems eerie. Following the reveal that there were supervisors overseeing the interrogation the entire time, the following scene now includes both of the characters communicating with each other. The noise being heard throughout this scene is just the dialogue between the detective/interrogator and the suspect. This also creates much tension, as it is known that the woman being questioned knows about a bomb planted at an unknown location, as he tries her best to fool the detective. As their dialogue continues, shot-reverse-shot is added to the scene, to give the viewers a more engaging experience. As well to make the conversation feel more natural and to highlight the expressions and reactions of the characters. Furthermore, zooming is also used in the scene. Once a character in the scene was finished talking, the scene would cut to a close-up shot, along with a zoomed shot of the other character’s face. All of these shots used in the film help keep the audience engaged with the film, and the experience of the characters. As well as building stress and tension among the viewers, as the scene starts to feel more up close and personal.  During the third scene of the extract, incidental noise is heard in the background during the characters’ interactions. The light sound/music is meant to insert tension and stress throughout the interactions of the characters. As the audience watches the film, the incidental noise will be heard by them, dragging them into all of the tension as well. This helps build anxiety and questions as to what is going to happen as a result of the intense dialogue and actions of the characters, especially given their current situation. This sound, accompanied by the split-screen incorporated into the scene gives the audience a whole roller coaster of feelings and emotions. This is all followed by a scene of the supervisors who were overseeing the interrogation, rushing to the interrogation room in hopes of putting a stop to what the detective is doing. The director most likely intended these two scenes to be occuring at the same time, that way it was shown how quickly things went dark. These two scenes are shown next to each other simultaneously, and when they both are now in the same physical location, it returns to a normal state with just one scene on the screen. Finally, after this scene, the supervisor successfully ended the tension between the detective and the woman, as she was removed from the room. In conclusion, the core of this extract of the film “24” is to put the audience in the center of all the comotion and tension. The intent of the director was to give the film as much tension as possible, in an attempt to give the audience a sense of anxiousness and stress, as the characters in the extract are feeling themselves. This is all done with simply using the right editing, camera angles, and noise, all coming together in order to give the viewers an inside look in the extremely intense scene.

Editing: Music & Sound

We needed music for our film. It took us a while to find some royalty-free music for our opening scene. We had multiple choices before we all collectively chose a nice mellow song called Summertime. When we planned this video, we wanted the sound to be somewhat quiet. For example, we diegetic sound of the engine starting and the car keys were meant to not be too loud or quiet. When we were filming the scenes, we also recorded the sounds and audios themselves to make sure that they wouldn't be too quiet. Now we would be sure that the audio would be heard in the final product. Then, we finally began to edit the scenes together. We clipped some of the sound audios and added them to the track. We also separated the audio from their original videos, and added them under the correct scene. This meaning where the audio was meant to match with the video. We watched as Rafi separated all of the sound while we placed them under the scenes. While this was happening, we were also looking for music choices and options. The music needed to be royalty-free in order to use it with no trouble. So we searched through many different websites for music, which we invisioned being chill and relaxing. We played it out loud for all of us to listen and see if we liked it. We went through about 7 songs. After a while we found a song that seemed to fit best for our film. The song was by the artist Egozi. None of us have ever heard of this artist before. We downloaded the song from the website we found it on, and then applied it to the editing software. We then noticed that the sound effects sounds off with the music together, so we had to get rid of it.

Editing: Putting the Scenes Together

I have already blogged about editing the scenes together and what we have filmed so far. Our group, like many others, filmed our scenes in multiple days. We had already known from the start that we would have to re-edit, as we filmed more scenes. These filming/editing days were throughout 2 months. We had aso switched to use a different editing software than the first time we edited. This was mostly because we were unhappy with the original editing software. Whenever we get more footage, we always sort it out first before editing. By sorting, I mean that we usually sort out the good footage into a seperate folder, to be used later. On the night we were done filming, my partner Mariapaula, accidentally deleted the footage. This is because instead of moving the good footage into a seperate folder, she just deletes the bad footage. So by mistake she deleted one of the good scenes of me getting into the car and driving away. She knew she had made the mistake and asked the rest of the group on what we should do about it. We initially looked up YouTube videos, which then all seemed to direct us to different websites that were supposed to help. So instead we just looked up websites on our own. These claimed to help restore deleted files from SD cards, but then tried to charge us for year-long membership fees. We as a group decided collectively that this was not worth the price. So in the end, we all decided that we should just might as well not reshoot or try to recover the scene, as the scene was not that important to the film anyways. So to prevent any further mistakes, we then handed the editing job to Rafi to do on his own. He then used a software app on his phone for the editing. Which is what we finally ended us using to produce our film.

Helping A Friend Film

As I've mentioned before, a friend of ours, Macy, came over while we filmed. She was doing her own film while we were doing ours. She needed our group to be in her film, and she also helped us with our film. In her film, I was an assassin with a long lost sister who is also an assassin. We both get assigned to kill each other without knowing. She filmed numerous scenes of me. Many of which consist of me being on the phone or similar things. As for our film, she needed a shot of me shaving in the mirror. So we shot the same scene different times and each used different takes for our films.

Another thing that Macy needed me for was a scene of me grabbing my things in the morning before heading out. This consisted of keys, a wallet, and a knife. The wallet had a photo of my "sister" which fell out. This picture is supposed to be the only picture I had left of her. As well as a scene of me getting a photo album I had and sitting down on the couch. On the couch, I looked through them smiling, then slammed the album shut and got up. Later, we then shot a scene of me talking on the phone with my assistant. My assistant was played by Rafi who was shot separately. In that scene I was in the backseat of a car supposed to be an Uber. I speak about being assigned my new victim and then get out of the car.  We also took some pictures of me meant to be a mugshot, which was then used for a different scene without me.

Final Task: Reviewing

After the peer reviewing activity, our group decided to review our own film. We took in the advice and comments given by our peer reviewers. As well as rewatching all the scenes ourselves together. This was done to see if there had been any errors and any possible improvements we could make. We took a picture of the peer review sheet from our peer reviewers. We looked it over and took in their criticisms and their observations. Before this, our film wasn't "finished," because we didn't add any music or titles. Afterwards, Rafi added music and titles to it, so now we were more complete with it. We rewatched every scene, and noticed how some things would look better cut. As well as some scenes being sped up.

For example, the scene where I was picking out my clothes felt too long still, so we both cut it shorter and sped it us. The same can be said about the scene with Mariapaula's clothes. In this scene she is throwing her clothes onto the bed. This appeared to take too long, so we cut it and sped it up to fit much more nicely in the film. Other than small changes like that, not much else was needed to be changed. We also tried different fonts and styles for the titles, when Rafi was editing it. We settled on the current one, which seemed to fit the mood best. As well as the music. The music is not too hardcore or present to draw attention to it, but still present enough to add character to the film.

Peer Review

On Monday, our teacher was absent and left a list on the wall assigning each group a partner. We were also given a sheet of paper to fill out for our peer review. My group was assigned to peer review our classmate Ambi's final task. My group and I approached her and she sent us her project via AirDrop. As soon as she sent her video, I checked the time and it was 22 seconds longer than needed. So on the paper, I wrote that down when asked about it. In the beginning of her video, she included an eyeline match, which I really enjoyed. It included the kidnappers in a library, where one of them removed a book right in front of the camera, where it then revealed them. This also builds up mystery. It leaves the audience wondering what they were up to. It also is a great way to introduce the character, as it was very smooth. One suggestion I gave them would be to reshoot some scenes, as the audio does not match with the video. As well as in some scenes, the reflection of the cameraperson can be scene. Such as in a scene of the girl getting in the car, the car shows the reflection. Also, I would suggest they make some scenes shorter, as they took too long. Especially since the time was 22 seconds longer. As well as making the scenes more smooth. For the majority of the film it feels very choppy. This can easily be fixed with transitions and less ambient noise and music.

Editing Few Filmed Scenes

From both of the days we filmed together, we only finished 7 pages of the storyboard. This means we are still missing the last 3 pages, which include more dialogue and exchanges between both of the characters. However, Mariapaula and I decided that it is best to use her computer's editing program to gather all the recorded clips and watch them in order. The editing program we used is different from the iMovie program we used before. I happened to find iMovie much better, but Mariapaula found this editing program much easier. We simply just wanted to order the scenes chronologically, so it did not really matter that the program was worse, in my opinion, than iMovie. We took out the SD card and put all the footage into a folder. Where we then sorted all the clips that we thought were viable for the opening sequence and deleting the bad ones. Once we chose all the good videos we added them into the raw footage area of the editing studios. We dragged all the videos from the section to the track, and without any editing, the whole video was about 5 minutes without all the scenes being there.

Obviously, we had to trim most of the footage to decide with ones were too long and to see if we had to reshoot it. In the beginning this was very frustrating to do because I had to keep rewatching them. We were tired of it and did not want to keep going, but we continued. After all this, we managed to shorten to time to a minute and 45 seconds. We did this by speeding up some clips that were too long and cutting out the short ones entirely. We also did this with the approval of the rest of our group members. We plan on reshooting a scene with me because it came out way too long. There are still 18 boxes/scenes left to finished filming, especially Mariapaula's dialogue on the phone and the shot of the car going off in the street. 

Continuing the Filming Process

Since I had left early on the first day, everybody else kept filming without me. They shot many scenes in which I was not included or featured. One being the scene where Mariapaula is getting ready. And her getting a phone call and she is speaking on the phone. My group wanted to get as much done as possible. Throughout the entire filming process, we would check off scenes from the storyboard. Before I left, we all went through each scene and marked which ones I was needed in. Having those scenes in mind, I could then rehearse at home. As well as getting my clothes and props ready for the next filming day.

My group also used my SD card for the footage. Since I left home, I saved all the footage to a flash drive and took it home. Typically, when we film for this class, we use my computer to edit. When I got home, I viewed the footage. I also sorted out the good footage and the bad footage into seperate folders. With the good footage now sorted out, I could begin to put them together. I then sorted out the good footage again in chronological order. This was done to preview how the footage we had would play out. I then made sure that there were no mistakes in the footage. This includes any person in the back by mistake or prop. As well as making sure the lighting, angle, and movement all worked out well

Beginning the Filming Process

     To begin the filming process, we decided to meet at our partner Mariapaula's house on February 17, 2020. This was because there was no school that day since it was President's Day, which is a national holiday. I was playing the role of a kidnapper getting ready in the morning. I wore a black sweater with light blue jeans and black shoes. My "pajamas" for when I woke up in the morning was a striped navy blue and white long sleeve shirt and red pajamas. I also brought a bath robe from my home for Mariapaula to use in one of her scenes where she gets out of the shower. We also used my personal SD card to store the footage, so I brought that as well. However we forgot to check out a camera from our teacher beforehand. So we asked our friend Macy, who was coming with us, to bring her camera.

     I arrived at Mariapaula’s house at around 12:45 PM. I took out all my clothes and utilities and set them out and ready to use. We waited for our other group mates, Rafi and Emily, as well as Macy. Macy arrived at around 1:30 PM, about 20 minutes after Rafi and Emily. When she arrived we were then able to begin filming. First we filmed the scene of Mariapaula changing. Next we shot my scene, where I was also changing and getting ready. They placed the camera in the closet in front of me and I had to open the closet and grab clothes and walk away. We then shot in the same room the scene of me shaving, using a fake razor and fake blood, and Mariapaula’s shaving cream. I had to wince to pretend to be hurt from the razor. Lastly, we shot the scene of me grabbing the items being used to “kidnap” Mariapauala’s character, putting it in the trunk, closing the trunk, getting in the car, and driving away. I was wearing  my black sweater, blue jeans, and black pants outfit for all these scenes except the one of me getting ready.

Planning: Storyboard

Attached to this blog is the storyboard of our final task. Each slide contains a sheet of what we will be filming. There are 10 pages for the storyboard template and each page has 6 boxes. The 6 boxes have  specific drawings of every action. The camera’s movement and location is described with angles and shots, for example, high angles and tracking shots. The actions of what the actors should be doing in each scene is also included. Sound is specific, especially diegetic and dialogue between characters. The titles are written in black pen in order to have an idea of where they should be placed in the scene. It also helps to plan out what titles we want to use for our final task. Hopefully our group would not have to add more scenes because it is a short opening sequence. 

Planning: Title Design

Attached is the planning for our title design for our final task. We want our titles to be unique and eyecatching. We do not want them to be just some words we throw at the bottom of the screen. We decided on using different fonts depending on when and where the titles will pop up. For example, a chilling font will be used for titles that go up during the Driver's scenes. And for the victim's scenes, a happier font will be used for those titles. The main title will be bold and large to attract the audience's attention and so that you will not be able to miss it. Most titles in the two minutes will be monochromatic, meaning it will either by black on white, or white on black. The spacing for only the main title will be different since the font we are using puts the letters too close together. The titles will fit the background and most will last 2-3 seconds, long enough for the general audience to read.

Plan for Filming

Attached is the location, sound, participants, safety, and schedule of our final task. The locations used for our film will be Mariapaula's house and her neighbor's house. We will mostly be using the inside of M's house as the setting for both the Driver and the Victim. We will use different rooms to add the illusion of the Driver and Victim getting ready in different houses. We will mainly only use the outsides of the house for establishing shots. The sound used will be royalty-free background music used throughout the entire two minutes. Other sounds will be mainly sound effects like doors opening or faucets running. Participants will be all four of us. Darwin and Mariapaula are the actors, while Rafael and Emily will work behind the scenes. One slide on the slideshow is the overall schedule of the project, while another slide is the filming schedule in detail. In the slideshow, we covered many practices we will be doing to make sure we are safe at all times. For example, one scene involves the Driver shaving his face. During that scene, the razor being used will be dulled to prevent cuts.

Planning: Sound Script

Attached in this blog is the sound script for our final task. This is the script for every sound made, including dialogue, music, and any form of noise made. Each slide contains at least 2 scenes from our film, which describes all the sounds made in that particular scene. It shows whether or not the scene is playing music, and describes what genre or mood it makes if there was any. As well as any form of exchange in dialogue between characters, or a noise that someone makes. The sound script also includes sounds of objects or movement in the scene. For example, if the shower were to turn on, the slide would describe the sound of the handle, as well as the sound of the showerhead itself. If there happens to be no dialogue of any sort in the scene, it will be mentioned. Additionally, it also states the kind of sounds that are occurring: diegetic or non-diegetic. Diegetic meaning that both the characters and the audience can hear the sound happening in that scene, and non-diegetic meaning that only the audience hears what the characters cannot.

Planning: Shooting Script

Attached is the shooting script for our final task. Each slide contains the general shooting details of each scene. For example, the second slide is for scene 1. It comprises the type of shots and angles in the scene. It has what the character(s) or subject(s) are doing in the scene. It also has the lighting; whether it is bright and cheery or dark and gloomy. The entire slide show is thirteen slides: one slide for the title and twelve slides for each of the twelve scenes. A majority of the scenes are morning-routine scenes from both Carolina's and Kenneth's point of view. Their routines are cut together to compare and contrast their preparation for the day. For example, while Kenneth just messes with his hair really quickly, Carolina puts thought into how she looks for the day.

Title Research: Hostage

  The movie I researched is called Hostage. It is listed on Google as a Crime Thriller. I found this opening sequence on the "Watch the Titles" website. I counted 31 separate titles that were shown off in unique ways. Sometimes the title would blend in with the floor or a wall. Other times the title would be on a prop like a gun. Many images of the setting were prioritized in the opening sequence. It displays an industrial area on the outskirts of a big city. There appears to be a crime scene inside one of the big warehouses. Also, so images of men with weapons and firepower were shown, tying back into the crime theme.

          All of the images carry a mysterious connotation. They all make the audience curious about what transpired here. "What caused the news and police to come to this setting? Why are there a ton of men armed to the teeth?" It's all to lure the audience in and capture their attention. Crime is a staple in the thriller genre. So the crime scene-setting fits right at home in this thriller movie. Also, the firearms and goons in black are pretty in this genre, and in movies in general. However, I believe that that feature fits more into action movies than thrillers. Additionally, the camera moving around frozen subjects is seen a lot in other thriller movie openings.

          At the start of the opening, a newscaster is appeared to be in front of a crime scene. So it can be safe to assume that this incident will be very relevant to the story. Also, at the very end of the sequence, it transitions into the start of the movie. It flows into a furious man talking on the phone about, what I can assume, the crime that took place in the first location. The use of dark colors, monotone colors with blood-red highlights set the notion that this is not a kid's movie. And if that wasn't enough, the constant display of guns makes sure that this is targeted at mature audiences. 

          The whole opening sequence seems to be a render CGI model of a city and an industrial area. The people in shots seem to be models aswell. The camera is constantly moving through and around interesting shots. It would start really close to an object, then pull back and reveal a title and the associated people. The camera would also use tracking shots to reveal names and titles on walls and floors. The last shot is a filter put over a real person. The filter is then removed and it transitions into the first scene of the movie.

Title Research: Panic Room

 This was taken from the website, Art of the Title, and it is under the genre of Thriller. The logo of Columbia Pictures, which comes from Sony, fades in. This is used to give the audience the info of the movie they are watching and what film studio it comes from. The first scene of this movie seems to be an establishing shot of a large city, with the title of the company that produced it. That is one of 20 titles that are seen throughout the entire opening sequence. The first three titles are the production companies, and then it leads to the names of some actors. The list is quickly paused, with the title of the movie being shown. The next scenes present the rest of the actors in the film and the technical support who helped make the movie. In each image, it is easier to make out that this large city is actually New York City. With these aerial shots, they are taken to popular places around the city, for example, Times Square, Empire State Building, even Central Park. Title 20 was the expected "Directed by," which is always seen before the movie begins. Transitions are very abrupt because each scene is only a few seconds long.

          The design for the titles is unique, for it has a 3D effect, where the letters being angled the same as the buildings. This matches the mood of the intense music and setting portrayed. Also, the camera seems to start at an aerial shot and proceeds to lower to the ground. Before the movie actually begins, the last title scene is at a low angle, and a long shot of Central Park. I would assume that this is to tell the audience that the movie is about to begin and the characters will be introduced.

           The genre is reinforced in this opening sequence by some intense music and the titles design, looking bold and realistic. They look realistic because they cast shadows on the buildings and are reflected through the windows. The fonts are also large and high in the air, to give the audience "low-grade anxiety," according to the description. Usually, when something is high and unreachable, it symbolizes wealth and power. This creates a strange presence that haunts the city. This leaves the audience to wonder what will take place in New York. However, one would not know if the movie is a thriller because the setting is on a nice day in fall and characters are talking about something they are excited about. That is if they never watched the trailer for the movie. The proposed idea that the characters are discussing is of a building, and how it is going to be a great investment; and for movies that discuss houses, the main plot will be about the house and what it has. It might have a great feature or a haunting/powerful one.

          Strategies used to appeal to the audience is making the names of the actors appear visible and are on for a few seconds for them to acknowledge who will be in the movie. The enigma that is established from the outset is where the rest of the film will take place, which is later found out that it is in the house that contains the "panic room."

Title Research: The Reaping

Using the website www.watchthetitles.com, the opening scene of the movie The Reaping was available for viewing. While viewing the scene I counted the number of titles used in it. To my surprise, there were 26 titles! Opening scenes seem to be relatively short while watching movies, I did not expect there to be this many in what I thought was such a short amount of time. Also to my surprise, the title of the movie wasn’t the first or last title shown, it was in the middle. The beginning title was “directed by Stephen Hawkings,” and the last title was “A Stephen Hawkings Film.” During the opening sequence, images of leaves, the moon, a frog leg, hair, eyelashes, eyes, a chemical looking substance, an arm, dried-up land, and bugs which were briefly flashed. Most were dark with poor lighting and were faded in and out from black screens. The images that weren’t dark or shaded had some element with black in it. For example, the clip of the chemical substance started with a green chemical substance with drops of a black liquid being put into it. The clips of extremely close up hair and eyelashes look very similar to the insect legs. Overall, the images created a sort of eerie mood, a very thriller. Just from the intro, we can see objects that contain aspects of the movie that foreshadow what will happen. They have mysterious yet dark connotations to them. The multiple angles, shots, perspectives of each image and the speed at which they’re flashed get the viewers on edge. Even the contrast between the black screen and the images make the viewer pay more attention to each detail.

            Throughout the opening scene, the thriller genre is showed with the dark, mysterious aspects included in it. The seemingly random objects hold a deeper meaning in this film. For example, the chemicals, insects, eyes, and hair give off the idea that the movie will contain some sort of disease, outbreak, or chaos, maybe even a drought. Of course, maybe not every object is significant. However, if they’re not important than they’re included to set the mood for the movie. After all, this is only an introduction to the movie, it must give off the suspenseful feel crucial to the thriller genre. The opening scene also includes fast music and a type-writer-like font that also adds to the suspenseful mood. The early enigma of the movie is well supported by the background music because of the rapid beating behind the sound of the eerie violins. The font is blood red, smeared, and faint. Fonts like these are obviously eerie, they give an old timely, apocalyptic feel to the words. These aspects give very little to no information. This can appeal to viewers because they want to know what happens next. The suspense created throughout also makes them want to know what’s coming; what the objects they just showed mean. The flashes and music make the audience think this is going to be a film filled with rapid changes of emotion, this appeals to fans of the thriller genre for obvious reasons: thrillers are meant to cause fluctuations of emotion. Another topic, which I find interesting, are the different angles, transitions, and editing techniques the creators of this opening scene used. For instance, they used different angles of the same object to put new titles on the same image but at a different angle. They also transitioned almost everything with fade-in and fade-outs, they matched the music playing in the background that heightens the suspense. The titles are put in different places each time, they cause you to look at a different part of the screen. Even the movement of eyes this causes make the viewers pay more attention to the images in the background. Overall, the opening scene in this film doesn’t provide a lot of contexts, but it does set the correct mood for the film and what it will be like.

Title Research: Split

  I found the title sequence for this film, Split, on the website Art of the Title. The genre for this film is under the Thriller category. The film seems to have already briefly started. Before the titles appear, a clip plays of a man wearing a mask and glasses, holding a spray bottle reaches his arm towards the camera inside of a car. In total, there were 22 titles, with the first one being the name of the production company, Universal Studios. The titles are presented on a simple black background with white text. When transitioning to a new title, a 4x6 grid of the next title appears flashing, which then all go black and reveal the next title. The first three all include the production companies, and the creator of the film. The following title is simply the name of the movie: Split. In between some of the titles are little clips of a hallway of some sort, in which the camera slowly pans down revealing a woman being transported on a cart through it. The rest of the titles display some of the actors' names and the production team (e.g. Music Producer, Executive Producer, etc.). The final title is simply the text saying "Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan."

   The images shown throughout the title sequence carry the connotation that the movie is mysterious and ominous. The woman being transported through the hallways unconsciously on a cart is not something that typically is a daily occurrence for most. This gives the audience a sense that something bad is about to happen, and encourages them to continue watching. The text used in the title sequence are connected when on top of each other. For example, the letter "Y and L" would be connected through the bottom of the Y and top of the L. This reinforces the name and genre of the movie "Split" which is ironic, since the letters in the titles aren't split. The music is also very eerie, as it has no melody, beat, or lyrics. Simply just background noise, mixed with humming and rumbling. This also reinforces the genre as the music can give the audience a thrilling experience. 

   The film establishes an enigma from the beginning by cutting in the middle of the scene of the man with the mask. The man is clearly up to no good, and by cutting right as the audience is about to see what occurs, it builds mystery and hype to continue watching. As well as the woman being transported in the hallways. The viewers have no clue on what has happened and what might happen later. All of these strategies are also used to ensure that the film appeals to its viewers who enjoy Thriller films. Technology has been used effectively by the way that the title sequence is presented. Since it is simply text, the camera plays no part in it. They must use computer software to generate the grids flashing for the transitions, and the connected text, as well as adding the bits and pieces of clips during the sequence. When the camera is being used, the camera angles are from a low angle looking upward. Which with every new clip after each title, it slowly pans downward, which then reaches and reveals the woman on the cart.

Title Research: Watch the Titles

We are using this website to research different opening sequences for our own film. This website contains several distinct title sequences for a range of genre options. The website also has title sequences for TV shows, video games, and even student projects. This is a great website to research the conventions of openings for movies.
          Our main focus is on the thriller movie opening segments. A recurring characteristic of each clip is that it is ended with "Directed By." We learned that, even though movies share a similar genre, their openings can be drastically unique. Also, we noticed that although the movies have different genres, they have similar titles in the opening scene. We learned that actors usually do not have titles associated with their name. In some cases, the actors are famous enough that audiences watch the movie for them, so they should already know who they are. In other cases, it can be assumed that the names popping up are actors. Other titles, such as "edited by", "music by", and "casting by" are showed with the corresponding staff member. Another common element used in opening sequences are cutting to black to show the titles of each of the people that worked on the movie. The film would show a movie scene of something going and then in between each shot, they would flash the titles. Slow-motion is also used quite frequently.

Title Research: Art of the Title

This website shows the use of titles in movies, and even gives examples of what some may look like. Art of the Title is a very presentable site and we are on here to explore the different designs of titles, especially from every genre. Each group member has to choose a movie's opening scene under our genre, to conduct research. This is for us to know the conventions of how the titles are for thriller films. What was seen is that the website has a very long list of all the designers and studios that make the titles for movies. This would be useful if we are researching how the individual designs their own titles, probably if they use the same font to establish it is them. There is also a lengthy page of many movies. These are clips of the beginning of the featured films. There are not only movies but TV shows too, even ones from Netflix. Following the clip, under it, there is a description of the movie and titles used and information on who directed, what studio it was in, and the styles. After watching some of the clips, the website does not always offer the opening title sequence, but only the end credits. Also, some of the descriptions give interviews that are held with the producers and directors. What was learned is that the beginning sequence offers the names of actors, and usually the most known/famous one is seen first. The director is the title scene that is always put before the movie begins. This is to remind the audience who was the person to create the film that they are watching. 

Genre Research: The Clovehitch Killer (2018)

The Clovehitch Killer, like any other, was filled with camera shots, angles, and movements. Among the camera shots were establishing shots, over the shoulder shots, many close-ups, long shots, medium-long shots, medium close-ups, and medium shots. It’s important to bring to attention that the establishing shots were very important in this movie. Showing where the characters were or were about to enter also told the audience whether this was out of the ordinary. For example, when the main character’s dad entered one of his victims’ houses. Camera angles frequently used were low angles and mainly eye level. I saw few to non-oblique and high angles. Lastly, recurring camera movements were tracking shots, pans, tilts and tracking shots.

     The costumes in the movie were regular, for the most part. However, there was a scene where the main character’s dad dressed up as a woman using his mom’s clothes. He put on a mask and took pictures of himself being choked by a rope. This costume, in particular, stood out extremely from the rest. Before this scene, the costumes were normal civilian clothes. The only one that strayed from this were Boy Scout uniforms. The costume additionally composed of heels was the father's attempt to satisfy his desires by using mock pictures. The lighting throughout the movie is quite dull. It fits in with the small-town feel, the small-town aura. There is occasional dark lighting creating an eerie feel to the corresponding scenes such as when the main character discovers his dad’s secret room under the house. The props in this film are especially important. The Polaroid pictures and licenses found of the father’s victims, his camera, the clovehitch knot found at all of the scenes adds to that character's signature.

     The sounds, or lack of sounds, in The Clovehitch Killer adds an especially eerie and suspenseful mood to the film. While watching the film you can hear a pin drop! There’s a scene where the family is having dinner and the awkwardness felt by all of them is very realistic, down to the faint chewing noises that can actually be heard at a real dinner table. The lack of diegetic sounds that can be found in cities or suburban areas adds to the small-town feel. One of the only songs played throughout the movie is when the dad is alone in the house dressing up as a woman and taking pictures of himself. It’s shut off when the main character’s love interest knocks on the door and he immediately goes around the house hiding evidence of what he was doing.

     Like any film, the creators of the movie utilized many editing techniques. One of the main techniques being cross-cutting. Throughout the film, the scenes are cut from what the main character is doing and what his father is. In one of the most vital scenes where the main character catches his father in the act, shot-reverse-shot is used in the conversation they have in which the father convinced the main character to give him the hunting rifle. Before this, the main character’s love interest looks at a revolver placed on top of a dresser, where we see an eye-line match. Another example of crossing cutting is right at the end when the main character is giving his speech while being promoted from a Boy Scout to a leader and we see what really happened to his father after the altercation in the scene before the jump cut. Speaking of, between the altercation where the main character confronts his dad there’s a passage of time. When this scene ends a missing poster of his dad is shown stapled to a light post. There are many other examples of editing in the movie, we would be here all day if I went over them.

     The Clovehitch Killer follows many of the conventions that come along with thriller movies. One of those being the intense eye contact in pressing scenes. There is definitely suspense-fulness throughout the movie. A good example of this would be one the main character handed over the gun he had been pointing at his dad and his dad says “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed,” he then points the gun to his son’s heart at pulls the trigger and is shocked to find out that the gun was unloaded. There is a slight moment where the audience doesn’t know what’s going to happen and then the son takes the gun and they begin to have a physical fight. The film goes against conventions in the aspect of noise. There is barely any noise at all throughout the scene; there is no jaws theme song playing in the background, it’s mostly absolute silence otherwise than the dialogue.

     I have an opinion about the elements of this movie, just like any other. As a general comment, I liked the movie. I liked the plot, I liked the silence, I liked how it was not all about the main character and his love interest. I also very much enjoyed how the movie begins with a Boy Scout meeting and ends with one as well. I didn’t like the girl in the beginning who finds the Polaroid picture and blames the son, but that’s just my opinion about that character. I feel like the fistfights were a little scrawny. The movie was dragged on quite a bit; you would think it was coming to an end and boom another scene is introduced. However, ending the movie where it did was really good. The final words “Dad if you’re hearing this, I love you,” really left me thinking. After all, it was his dad. However, I feel as if more emotion was needed from him, he remained very calm throughout, it was a little unrealistic. Overall, I liked the movie I would watch it again, however, it’s not an absolute favorite.

Genre Research: Get Out (2017)

 There are multiple different camera angles & shots used throughout the entire movie. Some of them being: tilt, pan, zoom, shot reverse shot, and more. Whenever two characters were speaking with each other, there would be a shot-reverse shot focused on those specific characters, and their emotions and expressions. Throughout the majority of the film, it would stay at an eye-level angle, with the occasional high angle and low angle, of course (especially in intense scenes). The reason for this is to fully immerse the audience into the film, for them to have a better experience and to feel as if they are among the characters and as if they were in there, too. There were many fighting scenes in this film, and whenever those would occur, there would be tilts, pans, and zooms. This is mostly done to give the fighting scene more life and action. The film would also have many close up shots. Mostly whenever a character would cry, get a nose bleed, ponders, or is just speaking in general. Many establishing shots would also occur. This is done to let the audience know where the current scene is about to take place in (e.i. Rose's House, The Police Station, etc.).

   In the film, the camera tends to move frequently, especially during intense scenes. There is a scene where Chris tries to leave the house and the white people confront him. In this scene, he realizes the situation he is in. There is somewhat of a fight between him and the others. The camera pans and tilts a lot, as they go back and forth between Chris and the white people. In the end, Chris falls to the ground, and the camera is at a high angle, as the others look down at him. Later, in another fight scene, Chris escapes the room where he was placed in before, unconscious. He attacks the person in his room who is unaware of his presence. As he kills him, the camera does a close-up of his face and a high angle of the body on the ground. It then pans to a deer head mounted on the wall. Then, the scene cross-cuts to a man operating on a man's head in the room nearby, when the camera follows Chris as he runs into the man with the deer head, killing him.

   The costumes and clothes used in the film were meant to be distinctive, between the rich, old, classy white people who wore more fancy and traditional clothing, while Chris and his friends wore more modern attire. The lighting in the film is also very ominous, especially in important scenes (like fighting) where it was very dim and tense. The action in the film is very present, as there were many important and violent encounters between the characters. The makeup is not very noticeable in the film, but you can clearly see it on the characters. Makeup is especially used on the white people at the house, to show how cleaned up and classy they were, while Chris wasn't. Many props were used in the film. Mostly used to show that they were in a fancy house. Such as very expensive and fancy furniture all throughout the house. The setting of the film is meant to appear to be a small town, with some urban areas, but then Chris leaves to the suburban areas with Rose, where he spends most of the film in.

   Throughout the entire movie, there is a lot of eerie music, to give the film an ominous tone and sense. As well as numerous editing techniques, like the cross-cutting, and CGI used in the film. Some of the elements that I enjoyed about this movie was the music and the lighting. The music gave me a very nervous and chilling vibe throughout the film, knowing something bad is about to happen. The lighting also did this, many of the scenes took place at night, using dim lighting. This can be considered candles, street lights, and simply dim indoor lighting. However, I disliked the climax and build-up toward it. I felt as if it was too direct, and I wish it were more mysterious. Some elements of the Thriller Genre used in this film was the dim lighting, tense music, diegetic sound of breathing, and quick cuts. All of these were used throughout the film in one way or another.

Genre Research: Joker (2019)

There are several different camera angles and shots used throughout the movie. For discussions between two characters, the film mainly used shot/reverse shot to capture each of the characters' emotions and dialogue. One of the character's shoulders would block half the screen so that the main focus of the shot is on the other character's face. The film usually stays at an eye-level angle. This is used to immerse the audience, make them feel like they are a citizen of Gotham. Unlike other movies where they use a drone to establish a location, the film uses a pan at eye-level looking up at the location. Almost as if the viewer was there themselves and turned their necks to get a better view. There is one scene in the film where Arthur Fleck dances with his mother in the living room. It is a two-shot filmed from the kitchen of the apartment. The camera is handheld and moves a bit to make the audience feel like they are just witnesses of what is happening from the inside of their home.

          The camera moves a whole lot in this movie. The only time it is not moving, is when characters are talking to each other. There is one scene where Arthur and his mother are having an argument and you really feel like you are there. The camera is placed a little under eye-level so its as if you are looking through the eyes of a child. The camera follows Arthur's mother to her room where she screams and then shuts the door on the camera. Then the camera turns and faces Arthur when he bangs on the door really loudly. Arthur then walks away from the door and the whole time the camera follows his movements. Another scene happens where Arthur chases a couple of kids that stole his sign. The camera appears to be on top of a car as it follows both Arthur and the kids. The camera then comes to a complete stop when the kids head into an alleyway.

          The score for this movie was really good. Some pieces that happen during emotional moments that will stick with me forever. The cello on the piece "Call me Joker" really hits home the disturbing feel of this movie. Also, the lack of any music during some pretty tense moments really builds suspense. When Arthur's co-workers pay him a visit, it becomes really suspenseful because of the lack of any background sound.

         Editing is used to full effect in this movie. Some scenes would transition into other scenes using a multitude of transitions. Sometimes, the film would use a swipe using a car for example. When Arthur found out he was adopted, it turned into a flashback of what really happened to his mother. And fast shots scanning headlines of what his mother and her boyfriend did to him were used to really emphasize the scale of the trauma. The editing combined with Arthur's uncontrollable laughter is used to make the audience feel sympathetic towards Arthur.

         Elements of Joker I enjoyed were the amazing acting and the story. Joaquin Phoenix did a great job with the character Arthur Fleck. Even after all the bad things he does, you can't help but feel sorry for the guy. Also his laugh is haunting. I can still hear in my head while I am writing this. There were only a couple of elements of Joker I disliked. Some scenes were a bit ham-fisted. For example, the scene revealing that Arthur's relationship with Sophia was a delusion was a bit much. I would have liked it if it just ended at, "Why are you in my home?"

Genre Research: Kidnap (2017)

  There is a multitude of angles, movements, and shots in this featured film. Considering that many movies use a lot because they are very long in time length. I have seen establishing shots of where scenes will take place, and especially close-ups of character's faces to get their reactions. Two and three-shots are involved in the beginning, however, progressing more into the plot, there are extreme closeups of many objects, including the eyes of the mother, who is in panic and in tears. Some movements in this thriller would be rapid camera motions, such as flash pans when the mother is trying to look for her son. In order to make most of the scenes intense, there are tracking shots of the mom chasing the kidnapper and trying to retrieve her son. For more than half of the movie, the main character is pursuing to catch the child abductor in her car. Aerial shots of this chase are displayed in order to show what is happening on the highway from a different perspective.

        Costumes are ordinary, casual clothing for the mom and other people in a public setting; kidnappers are in sketchy outfits, for example, hoodie and sunglasses, trying to conceal who they are. For most of the movie, there is natural lighting, but at the point where the mom finally finds her child, it is at night, in low to no light. At some point in the film, there is dim light when the cars go into a tunnel. The setting is in a small town but later turned into a car chase on the highway to a location ending up in the woods. Weapons, phones, even a toy that records sound are used as props in the movie.

        Moving into sound, the producers added incidental sound to go along with the mood portrayed in the scenes. The music is very intense, making the audience be at "the edge of their seats." The diegetic sound is very unique because only certain sounds become louder as the scenes are becoming more intense. When she is driving and gets into a crash, the scene goes silent since she is in shock. Dialogue appears throughout the whole movie as well. For editing, flashbacks are included, such as a montage of the son and pictures of his childhood. Related to the flashback would be when the mother is listening to the conversation of the kidnapper and her son (before kidnapping takes place), and it keeps crosscutting from the conversation to her listening to it on the device. There are eye-line matches of the main character searching for something in her surroundings, then it cuts to the next clip of what she is looking at.

        Thrillers are described based on the moods they elicit, which would usually cause heightened feelings, such as excitement, suspense, and anticipation/anxiety. With the movie 'Kidnap,' it invokes anticipation during the entire movie. Most likely causes a "rollercoaster of emotions" to the audience by incorporating as many camera movements possible to confuse, and sound to make scenes dramatically intense. Some elements that appealed would be the situations that the mother would run into, in order to keep the movie interesting, and leaving the audience to overwhelmed as to what will happen next. The action in this movie is very entertaining because it portrays how a mom will not stop at anything in order to get her child back, safe and sound. The only element that was not favored in this film was how long the chase took in order to find her son. The rising action was when she finally stopped the chase, but in order to really get her son back, the mother had to keep looking for the location her son was at. The climax was when she finally found him and other children, and how she would be able to escape safely.

Final Genre Choice

   Horror and Thriller were the final contenders to choose between from. The genre that my group and I finally agreed on was Thriller. The reason behind it was because we enjoyed the pitch about a kidnapping movie, and these types of movies are mainly under this genre. Most of our favorite movies are thrillers and contain a lot of action, so we were excited to continue our research upon them. We also had to acknowledge that it would be pretty hard to record the opening scenes for a horror movie, without knowing what a good pitch would be. With a thriller, you can begin the movie with anything, such as background information, or present the characters directly. Like previously mentioned, the group will be researching more about this genre, and how some movies lead up to their climaxes and entertain audiences.

Two More Genre Research

Horror Genre Research

Thriller Genre Research

Common camera movements and angles used in this movie genre are pans, zooms, tilts, tracking shots, and every angle possible. If the situation is intense, the angle will be at eye-level and will zoom in on the character's reaction. High angles are also used to catch everything that is happening, and to make the subject look inferior to whatever it is looking upon. Canted angles can sometimes be incorporated to confuse viewers. Common shots that are used in these films are closeups, extreme closeups and long shots, and handheld shots. Sometimes, handheld shots while running away from something causes more anticipation with scenes, that way the audience is more entertained. Whoever is watching would not know if they can get away, or get to where the character is going in time, since there is so much camera movement.

Lighting that is commonly found in thriller movies is low lighting because the darker it looks, it evokes a more sinister feeling. There is also the use of natural lighting, before and after movies, probably even throughout. Sound that is heard in thrillers would be diegetic, where characters hear whatever is in their surroundings, there is obviously dialogue and incidental sound. Incidental sound involves the feeling that a scene gives off, and the music to match with it. An example would be the killer looking for its victim and he is getting closer, so the music gets louder and scarier. 

Costumes for thrillers all depend on the type of movie it is. When there is a plot of a killer or abductor, they will be dressed in something suspicious, especially to cover their faces, like a mask. Thrillers are usually situations that could happen in real life, where people would actually be nervous if it happened. Regular clothing would be worn, but if the actors get harmed in any way, their makeup and clothes will definitely show it. For example, getting hit in the face will lead to a bleeding lip or nose, or getting thrown out of a car causes your clothes to be torn up and dirty. Actors have to play their act fully, like being anxious and scared, but still fight for their life when they have been kidnapped. Locations could range from a small city to a large known state, like California, New York, or Florida. However, they sometimes take place partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts (snow too), and at sea.  

Some elements that come from thrillers are when the movies create a suspenseful feeling to the audience, giving the anticipation of what is going to happen next. This usually happens when the plot is surrounding the idea of the character being placed in a situation that is dangerous or a trap that is impossible to escape. Audiences want to be entertained, kept on edge, surprised. Thriller movies fit this criteria exactly. It gives them a reason to continue watching the movie and to see what happens in the end. Although, elements that do not appeal could be how a movie can be too predictable. Examples of these predictable endings are when a person is being chased and are caught and killed, or have to escape. Alternatively, thriller movies can have very unexpected endings. These endings leave the audience in a shock or surprise that leaves an imprint on them, even after the movie has ended.

Common camera movements and angles used in this movie genre are pans, zooms, tilts, tracking shots, and every angle possible. If the situation is intense, the angle will be at eye-level and will zoom in on the character's reaction. High angles are also used to catch everything that is happening, and to make the subject look inferior to whatever it is looking upon. Canted angles can sometimes be incorporated to confuse viewers. Common shots that are used in these films are closeups, extreme closeups and long shots, and handheld shots. Sometimes, handheld shots while running away from something causes more anticipation with scenes, that way the audience is more entertained. Whoever is watching would not know if they can get away, or get to where the character is going in time, since there is so much camera movement.

Lighting that is commonly found in thriller movies is low lighting because the darker it looks, it evokes a more sinister feeling. There is also the use of natural lighting, before and after movies, probably even throughout. Sound that is heard in thrillers would be diegetic, where characters hear whatever is in their surroundings, there is obviously dialogue and incidental sound. Incidental sound involves the feeling that a scene gives off, and the music to match with it. An example would be the killer looking for its victim and he is getting closer, so the music gets louder and scarier. 

Costumes for thrillers all depend on the type of movie it is. When there is a plot of a killer or abductor, they will be dressed in something suspicious, especially to cover their faces, like a mask. Thrillers are usually situations that could happen in real life, where people would actually be nervous if it happened. Regular clothing would be worn, but if the actors get harmed in any way, their makeup and clothes will definitely show it. For example, getting hit in the face will lead to a bleeding lip or nose, or getting thrown out of a car causes your clothes to be torn up and dirty. Actors have to play their act fully, like being anxious and scared, but still fight for their life when they have been kidnapped. Locations could range from a small city to a large known state, like California, New York, or Florida. However, they sometimes take place partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts (snow too), and at sea.  

Some elements that come from thrillers are when the movies create a suspenseful feeling to the audience, giving the anticipation of what is going to happen next. This usually happens when the plot is surrounding the idea of the character being placed in a situation that is dangerous or a trap that is impossible to escape. Audiences want to be entertained, kept on edge, surprised. Thriller movies fit this criteria exactly. It gives them a reason to continue watching the movie and to see what happens in the end. Although, elements that do not appeal could be how a movie can be too predictable. Examples of these predictable endings are when a person is being chased and are caught and killed, or have to escape. Alternatively, thriller movies can have very unexpected endings. These endings leave the audience in a shock or surprise that leaves an imprint on them, even after the movie has ended.