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Showing posts from February, 2021

Title Research: Signs (2002)

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  *opening sequences studied at artofthetitle.com*  What titles are displayed during the opening sequences?  The studio and production company's names are displayed first, followed by the lead actors names, Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. The title of the film, "Signs", is displayed following the two stars' names. Supporting actors, music producers, and visual effects supervisors follow thereafter, in that order. Costume designers, editors, photography director, and producers come next. And finally, M. Night Shyamalan's name is displayed, he is the film's lead writer, director, and producer.  What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?   Throughout the opening sequence there is a blue background which the text is displayed over. The edges of this blue background fade into black, creating a circle around the text. The text is completely black and there is a bit of emboss on them. These themes remain constant throughout the opening sequence. What conno

Title Research: Glass

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  *opening sequences studied at artofthetitle.com*  What titles are displayed during the opening sequences?  The title of the movie "Glass" is immediately displayed alongside shattered glass. The studio name and production company are displayed, followed M. Night Shyamalan's name who wrote, filmed, and produced the film, with the help of others. The leading and supporting actors' names are displayed after this, with the producers, writers and, directors following suit. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?  A person who refers to themself as Patricia enters a room where three young women are held captive and offers the "PB&J"s. The presence of broken glass is a recurring element in the opening sequence. The titles themselves are animated to to resemble pieces of broken glass coming together. Also, a man "superman punches" another man carrying his groceries while, what can be assumed to be, his younger brother records him doing so

Title Research: Uncut Gems

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   *opening sequences studied at artofthetitle.com* What titles are displayed during the opening sequences?  The title of the film is displayed first, then the leading actors are displayed following that. Supporting actors, followed by producers and then directors, are displayed after the leads. Writers are listed just before directors. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?  The opening sequence begins with a couple of miners finding some raw opal and marveling at the beauty of the colors within the gemstone. The opal is zoomed in on until we are inside of the stone itself. The camera explores the interior of the stone, which then transforms into something different; something softer and slimier, something alive: the colon of Howard Ratner. The image that the audience is seeing then becomes pixelated and the audience finds themself looking at this image on the screen of a endoscope within an operating room. As the camera zooms out, the viewer now finds themself spectatin

Title Research: Little Women ('94)

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  *opening sequences watched at artofthetitle.com* What titles are displayed during the opening sequences?  The names of the lead actors are displayed first, then the "Little Women" title is displayed. Following the name of the movie, the names of supporting actors are displayed, then the producers' and directors' names are displayed. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?  Still images of a woman reading, flowers, an open book, and a woman writing. There is also an overview of a snowy town, whos residents are setting up wreaths on their doors and dragging Christmas trees to their homes. What connotations do these images carry?  These images give off a feminine connotation in regards to the still animations at the start of the opening sequence. The snowy setting and wreath  placing/tree gathering also gives the impression that it is the Christmas season. Both of these individual things put together create a traditional feeling that can only be described

Genre Research: The Basketball Diaries

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What elements of the genre that you chose to base your final task on does this movie have?   This film fully encapsulates the core elements of a drama film. The movie is based totally in reality and and uses emotional and relational development to progress the story and develop the characters. It is a depiction of real human struggles and an internal conflict that has been going on in people for years. Its purpose is to make the viewer, if they see themself in Jim, find it repulsive. The film is a deterrent to drug abuse, as well as a biopic on Jim Carroll's life. There are many, many close-up shots in this film in order to capture the emotion that is shown in the actor's faces. What elements of the genre did the movie have that you like? The acting in this movie was phenomenal. Leonardo DiCaprio captured every aspect of addiction and Jim Carroll's specific situation. DiCaprio's performance makes it seem as if you are looking through a window as opposed to watching a fi

Genre Research: BlacKkKlansman

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    What elements of the genre that you chose to base your final task on does this movie have?   This movie utilizes all the camera shots, movements, angles, and mis-en-scene that a drama typically has. For example, Spike Lee, the director of the movie utilized close ups quite frequently in the film. There are many speeches made by varying groups in this film and closeups are frequently used to capture audience reaction as well as the emotion on the speaker's face. My favorite close-up in the film was during Ron Stallworth's initial call to the Klan; you could see each changing emotion in his face as the conversation with the Klan recruiter, who happened to be David Duke, developed. BlacKkKlansman also tackles the racial tension present among Americans in the 1970s as well as antisemitism. The film shows this from the side of the Black Panther Movement as well as from the side of the Ku Klux Klan. All of this is shown through the eyes of Ron Stall worth, a black man, primarily.

Genre Research: White Men Can't Jump

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What elements of the genre that you chose to base your final task on does this movie have?    The movie, despite having some comedy within it, has serious undertones. The topics within the movie are a few of the typical topics that are tackled within drama films: financial instability, addiction, and racial politics. The movie has many funny one liners and comedic scenes, but you cannot avoid the fact that Sidney's family is struggling financially and he does not have the funds to move them to a safer part of Los Angeles, and Billy is in some severe debt to mobsters and also has a gambling addiction. The two, seemingly very different characters, use basketball as a common ground to build a friendship and create a financial foundation that they have not had for a while. The film shows that there will always be a point at which two people can cooperate regardless of how different their backgrounds are. The film also utilizes some of the typical camera shots and angles of drama movies

Genre Decision Blog

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In my decision in what my genre my opening sequence would be, I went back and forth quite a bit. I settled on two genres, drama and comedy, but I settled on just one. I am choosing to make the opening sequence of my film a drama for a multitude of reasons. I want my film to be heavily focused on the leading character and his internal struggles as well as his external obstacles. This film does not have to be overly serious however I do want there to be a primary focus on the main character as opposed to a team like in a film in the Sport genre. In the drama genre, conflict is a driving force to every story line, and the characters themselves push the story forward with their actions or lack there of.  Drama films are supposed to be "real" and they're supposed to capture events in such a way that one could imagine themselves within the shoes of the main character quite simply. I want my character's journey towards a successful basketball career to feel genuine. If I cho

Title Research: Watch the Titles Website

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https://www.watchthetitles.com/titlesequence/are-we-done-yet/ The Watch the Titles! website was another outlet I used to research titles for my upcoming film project. I need to use these platforms in order to build a proper foundation on which I can begin working on my film's own titles. Titles are a heavy underrated, but nonetheless important part of film and I want to make sure that I can create titles for my film that both capture the essence of the film, and convey a deeper message that I may be trying to convey. Watch the Titles!, similarly to Art of the Title, offer commentary on titles and the hidden complexities within them. The difference between the two sites is that Watch the Titles! provides commentary directly from the designers of the titles being discussed. It is useful to me to see how these designers came to create their product and what led them to make certain decisions when it came to their design process. Analyzing this commentary by experts in title making wil

Title Research: Art of the Title Website

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  https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-silence-of-the-lambs/# I am using the Art of the Title website to gain more in depth insight on the art of title making through analysis on famous Hollywood titles.  I saw articles that broke down titles from one specific movie, articles that cover the best titles from specific years, as well as articles that cover titles from entire series' of movies. The website has a wide variety of titles to analyze. This website even allows you to find articles of titles done by specific designers and studios in order for the user to have the ability to study specific styles of titles. I am utilizing this platform to research successful titles and different styles in order to prepare myself to create the best titles that I can for my own film that I am in the process of creating. Titles will be crucial in the creation of a legitimate opening sequence to my film, thus I want to make sure that I learn from established designers and titles. The articles

Genre Research: Drama & Sport

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 Sport:  Common CAMS in Sport:  Pan: Used to follow the action, Two-Shot: Typically used to show two players going "one on one", Point of View Shot: Used to show the action from the player's eyes Common CLAMPS in Sport: Costumes: Jerseys & Kits, Lighting: Varies (Typically High-Key lighting for maximum vision), Acting: It is necessary for actors to portray complex emotions such as determination, Setting: Majority of film is done in some sports setting whether that be a field or a locker room Common Editing in Sport: Fast Paced Editing: Used to capture the excitement and intensity of a sport, Slow-Motion: Used many times to capture crucial in-game moments,  Many forms of cutting to aid the fast paced editing. Example films of Sport: Creed, Uncle Drew, Rocky, The Blindside, Icarus, etc.  Common sound in Sport?: Diagetic: Makes up most of the sound in sport films e.g. a basketball bouncing, Synchronous sound, Dialogue, Ambient sound What elements of Sport do I like?:

Genre Research: Horror

    For my first piece of research done on genre, I have a research project done of the horror genre completed last semester. The point of this project was to educate the individual completing it on a genre; specifically the conventions within a genre. The project was focused on the general overall genres, rather than very specific sub-genres. I chose to do the horror genre when I began this project. As I don't know the genre I will be going for in my upcoming project, this will be a valuable resource to help me make a decision. Within the presentation, I identified many properties of a horror film. First and foremost, I found a true definition for what a horror film is; beforehand my definition of a horror film was simply a scary movie. Now I am aware that a horror film is one that seeks to elicit fear in its audience, for entertainment purposes. Then I highlighted the common camera angles, camera movements, and lighting used within horror movies to execute their intended affect,

My Pitch

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      I came up with two different ideas for my final task, but only selected one of the two. The first pitch goes as follows: a young basketball player encounters one last opportunity to play ball at the highest levels, however the road ahead of him is not at all easy. My idea for this pitch was that I was going to be playing a young high school basketball star who encountered a major obstacle early in his career and had to stop playing. However, he is approached by a college recruit who offers him the opportunity to have a personal workout and potentially earn a scholarship. The film would follow his actions after he does or does not impress the college recruit.       The second idea was very different from the first. The pitch goes as follows: a young man receives a series of instructions in the form of cryptic notes from a person who claims to be his future self, but can even trust himself? In this potential film, I would be a young man he suddenly begins receiving notes at random

Starting The Final Task

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      Hello, my name is Carl Backer and I am in the eleventh Grade. I chose to take AICE Media Studies for multiple reasons. Firstly, I have some prior experience with video/media editing, and I thought that my little bit of prior knowledge would allow me to get through this class slightly easier in regards to the video editing portions of the class. I also chose to take this class because the information that would be taught that I was not familiar with seemed very interesting to me. I was very correct as I have already enjoyed learning so many interesting and unfamiliar things. My favorite part of the class is watching the project you've been working on for weeks come into fruition. And while the project may not come out exactly as you envisioned it, the slight failures within your success are just lessons that can be used on future projects.      In regards to my final task, I have chosen to work alone to create it. Other than a couple of potential actors, I plan on my film