Production Post #3

 Production Post #3

      Hey everyone! For this post I'm going to talk about lighting. Lighting is super duper important, lighting can actually convey feelings and emotions, so we really tried to pick the right hues and tones for our opening. 

     For our two minute opening we had to think a lot about lighting, since we're doing a mystery/horror film, we needed lots of dark lighting. We decided to record in my garage for it to be super dark, and we used a ring light so the light would be very close to the table and props that we were using. For some shots we turned off every light, and placed the phone flashlight under the prop we wanted to show, for exampled we used this technique to show the marble, Gigi help the phone right under the clear marble to create an effect and to be able to see the light through the marble, we also used this to show the blue and red liquid mixing in a different flask, we placed the phone under the flask, and when the liquids dropped you could see the colors change. We also used a red light to create fear, red is associated with danger and energy, and we thought it would be the perfect color to convey these emotions on the audience. We want them to be scared and wonder what the doctor is doing, but we also want them to be excited for what comes next, so red was the perfect color for this. We used red mainly on the shots that we just show the props, not the shots that the doctor is making the pills, to create a contrast between the two types of lighting. 

Production Post #2

 Production Post #2

     Hey there again blog! For this production post I'm going to talk about how we set everything up. 

     When my group first got here, we opened all the materials and set them up themselves. We put the name tags on the jars, set up the pill making kit, wrote on the notebook, and the flasks with colored water in them. Then we set it all up together on this table that I have in my garage. Wept the marbles in the jars, put flour to make it look like drugs, set up the pill making kit as well as put some pills laying around, we set up the notebook with information on a patient and a photo of the patient glued to the page, we put the two flasks with colored water, one red and one blue, and one we just left it with water, we didn't add any color. 

   

     These are two photos of our set up process and what all the props looked like.

Production Post #1

 Production Post #1

     Hey everyone! This is my first post about our production process! Honestly, starting this I was very excited but also a tad bit scared. I was scared because I really wanted this project to be perfect, and truly, I'm not the best at any of this, but at the same time I was super excited because this is something I actually do enjoy doing, even though I'm not that good. Let's dive right in and talk about what we did first. 

     We recorded our two minute opening on Sunday, February 23. For this production post I'm going to talk about how we set everything up and where we recorded it. 

     We chose to record in my garage because it provides a dark space where we can manipulate the light well, for example we used shots where the light was under the flasks, or under the marble, and we wouldn't have been able to do this if we were not in a dark place. 

     We recorded the full video at my house, most of it was in my garage, and one scene was at my front door. We set up all the props we bought and had previously to make it look like Dr. Hank Shabata's drug making room. 

     The first photo shows the table in my garage in which we set everything up, and the second photo is the full garage. 

Planning Post of my Choice

 Planning Post of my Choice 

     Heyyy blog! This is my last post before I start posting about our production process. The last thing we planned before we started our production, was the location, and who was going to play Dr. Hank Shabata. 

     We decided that we would record in my garage, since there is a table that would be perfect for it, and since we're already at my house, we decided that my dad would play the role of Dr. Hank Shabata. After deciding that, we decided on the day and time, we recorded on Sunday, February 23, and we were able to finish the whole opening in one day. We started setting up and recording at 4pm and finished at 10:30pm. It took a while to set everything up and make it looks exactly how we imagined, but we did it, it also took a while to figure out the lighting, since that was one of the most important parts in our opening, the lighting conveys many emotions, and we wanted it to be perfect. 

Audio

 Audio 

     Hello again! Today I'm researching audio and what audio we can integrate in our two minute opening scene. Throughout our two minute opening, there will be eerie music, we haven't decided exactly which music we will use yet. There will also be the sound of one of the marbles sliding on the table, and then it being dropped into a jar. At the end, there will be a phone call, so we will hear the phone ring, the person on the other line saying there's an emergency, and Dr. Shabata answering. 

     Research on Audio 

   Background music can add so much depth to a scene, that nothing else can. Music can help convey the scene's emotion, like if its ban action scene, a fast-paced song would get the audience more entertained and feeling the emotion, or if its a sad scene, a sad song would make the scene sadder by having a melancholic beat and sad lyrics. Music can make any film and scene better. 

     2 Types of Music

   Diegetic 

Diegetic sound is sound that is a part of the scene, so like a dialogue or environmental sounds. They are a part of the scene and make sense to be in that particular scene, it's natural. One example of diegetic sound is, the character is running away from the cops, there are siren sounds, and footsteps, cars honking, him panting from running, cars stopping suddenly, people yelling, these are all sounds that would be in that scene. 

   Non-Diegetic  

Non-diegetic sound is sound that is not a part of the scene, so for example, background music. It's not a sound that would be heard in that scene, while it fits the scene, it wouldn't naturally be in that particular scene. One example of non-diegetic sound is, during a sad scene, a couple is fighting, there is background music to emphasize the sadness of the scene, that music wouldn't naturally be there, if this was in real life, there would be no music, while it fits with that particular scene, it is not a sound that would naturally be there. 

Gula, Drew. “How to Successfully Use Music in Film and Video Projects.” Www.soundstripe.com, www.soundstripe.com/blogs/how-to-successfully-use-music-in-film-and-video-projects.

(Gula

Mise-en-scene Props

 Mise-en-scene 

Props 

     Hi blog! Let's talk about props! Me and my group are using many props to develop our two minute opening. We are using some that we already had in our homes, and we ordered some. 

     Main props: 

- Notebook

- Lab coat

- Marbles 

-Flasks 

- Pill making kit

- Mason jars 

     We are using the notebook to show his notes. He has this one specific notebook where he keeps track of how many pills he's made, how many he has left, which types he has, and the "recipe" on how to make the different types of pills. He also keeps track of his patients and how many pills they have taken and the types and the dosages. 

     The lab coat will be used at the end of our two minute opening to show that Dr. Hank is a doctor, because before that the audience won't know. 

     The marbles are a big part of the plot, they are our main prop. During the opening, the audience will see him add a marble to a jar, but they won't know what it means, and throughout the movie they will see this as well, until it is shown that he adds a new marble to a jar with a certain patients name every time that he gives them more medicine, to keep track of it. 

     We will use the flasks to show him mixing things, like fluids to make gel pills. It will show him adding things to the flasks, and then mixing different substances together. 

     The pill making kit is also a very important prop. We will use it to show him making the pills, and setting everything up. The kit comes with many different tools, and they will all be set up on his table, they will be set up in order and very neatly, which will put emphasis on his OCPD (obsessive-compulsive personality disorder). 

     The mason jars will be used to represent the patients that he is making and keeping sick. Each jar is a patient, and will have a tag with the patients name, and every time he gives them more medicine he will add a marble to their jar. 

Mise-en-scene Set & Lighting

 Mise-en-scene 

Set & Lighting

     Hey there! Today I'm going to be talking about something quite important, mise-en-scene, specifically setting and lighting! 

     Set

   The set for our film will take place in a couple different places, the main places are Dr. Hank Shabata's house, specifically the room where he prepares the drugs, and his place of work, which is a hospital. During the opening the only setting will be his house, inside and outside, but throughout the movie he will also be in the hospital a lot. 

     His house 

   Dr. Shabata's house is average size, and he lives in a gated community. The exterior of his house is white and he has a beautiful front yard, his grass is so green, he has redbud trees, and orchids, they're all so healthy and beautiful. He has to cars, which he leaves in front of his garage, he has an Audi, and a Porsche. The interior of his house is also white, it's very simple, he doesn't have anything on the walls and he barely has any furniture. He has one specific room where he creates all his medicine, that room is quite different from the rest of his house. It's dark and there are a lot of things in it, like notebooks, pens, flasks, etc. 

     Hospital 

   The hospital that he works at won't be shown in the opening, but I'm still going to talk about it since its one of the main sets for the whole film. It's a very big hospital called Jackson Turner Memorial. It's been a hospital for 45 years now, and it's very famous and a very good hospital in California. This hospital performs every type of medicine and surgery, general, heart, brain, ortho, pediatric, etc. Dr. Shabata doesn't perform surgery, he deals with less serious cases. 

     Lighting

   The lighting in our two minute opening will be dark, with the light focused on only what we want to show, so for example, focused on the patients' files when showing it, or focused on the marbles when showing them. Since we are recording in my garage, it'll be dark, so we're going to use a ring light and flash from another phone or flashlights to show the object we want to show. The end of the opening will be recorded outside, during the day, so it'll be bright and we won't have to use any additional lighting. 

Character Development

 Character Development

     Hey everyone! Today I'm going to introduce you to our main character, Dr. Hank Shabata! 

     Background      

   Doctor Hank is a 48 year old white male. As a child, he was always neglected by his parents, since they had to work a lot to make good money as a low middle class family. Him never getting the attention he wanted from his parents caused him to develop serious behavioral issues, and he started to do things to try to catch their attention. When playing in his backyard he would find animals, like frogs, and torture them, he would cut them open, cut their body parts off, like legs and arms, and he would do scientific experiments on them as well, all while they were still alive. Since he grew up in the low middle class, he's always had an obsession with having and making money, seeing his family struggle wasn't easy. He attended an all boys private school, and was super intelligent, having straight A's in all classes. His teachers were very strict, which led him to always be organized and on top of his work, but when it came to torturing animals or doing any other psychotic behavior, he would always find a way to not get caught, considering how smart he was. He chose to become a doctor because of his obsession with money, he’s always wanted a job that makes a lot of money, and since he’s extremely smart, he chose to become a doctor. 

     How people view him vs. How he is 

   From an outside perspective he is a very “normal” person. He’s polite and sweet and caring, he’s funny and smart. No one knows what he does and how his mind works, only him, which makes it a lot easier to keep doing it, having the knowledge that he won’t get caught. 

     Appearance 

- tall 

- old 

- dark hair 

- dark eyes 

     Mood Board

     This is a mood board that we created for Dr. Hank. It shows his personality and interests. The hospital, doctor, doctor with patients, and the stethoscope represent his profession. The money bills represent his obsession with money and health. The paper with the A+ grade represent him as a student and how smart he is. The pills and medicine represent how he will make pills and medicine to keep his patients sick. The guy sitting alone with many thoughts represent him, and his inner issues, like how he feels alone because he was neglected by his parents. 

     Developing Dr. Hank 

   

   Developing Dr. Hank wasn't easy. Me and my group went back and forth on many ideas that we had about this character, for example, we were first going to make him a woman, but later on decided that we want him to be a man. We also had to develop his personality, mental issues that he has, his looks, his background and childhood, his job, how he portrays himself to the public and how he truly is, and how they differ from each one another. Doing all this wasn't easy, it took a lot of work and thought. 

Storyboard

 Storyboard 

     

     Hi Cambridge! Me and my group created a storyboard to be able to better visualize our ideas and the scenes in our two minute opening. The storyboard both describes and shows what will happen and appear in a scene. I think that after creating a storyboard, your ideas become clearer and you can fully visualize what you're going to do, it makes the process a whole lot easier.  

     This is the storyboard that we made for our two minute opening scene. There is a description of every scene and a drawing to better visualize and understand what is happening. 

     I love creating storyboards, we've created one for every project we've done in AICE media and it's always so much fun seeing your ideas come together even before you start filming. Creating a storyboard is something that truly helped us a lot and that I recommend people to do before starting their production process. 

Media Theory

 Media Theory 

     Hey blog! Today I'm going to be talking about media theory, and which one I decoded to incorporate in my film. 

     The media theory that we decided to integrate in our portfolio project is Character Theory- Vladimir Propp- characters can be classified into specific roles. Propp argues there are seven types of characters. We decided to use False Here. The false hero is someone who pretends to help the hero but is secretly trying to make them fail in whatever it is that they're trying to do. 

     The character theory states that the false hero is someone who pretends to be good but ends up being bad. This is the theory we will use to describe our main character, which is the doctor, since he pretends to be good, by being a doctors and "helping" his patients, but the audience later finds our that he is the one making them sick. 

     Throughout the whole film, the audience would see him try to "help" his patients and act like an amazing doctor, his colleagues think he's a good doctor, they ask him for help with their patients, he seems normal and helpful, but they will all later realize that he enjoys to keep his patients sick for money. The sicker they are, the more money he gets, since the patients and their family keep paying for their care and hospital bills and medicine. 

     For our two minute opening the audience won't know the whole plot and will be left with some suspense on what will happen, which is good since it'll keep them engaged and interested. They won't know what the marbles mean and why there are names on each jar, which will make them curious to know, and when they see he's a doctor they will assume he's a good doctor who cares for his patients, like most doctors, and like how doctors are usually represented in films, but will later discover that he is the exact opposite of what they thought. We will incorporate the character theory by making our main character the false hero. 

     Ex. Hans from Frozen pretends to love Anna when in reality all he wants us to steal the throne os Arenndelle.      

Media Studies 2020, Vladamir Propp’s 7 Character Types and Narrative Theory, Media Studies.

Project Idea/Plot

 My Project Idea/Plot

     Hello there! After researching on genres, me and my group decided to do our portfolio project on horror/mystery. It took a couple of ideas to come up with the one we're actually using. We had a stalker idea, which was inspired in "Pretty Little Liars", and a killer one, which was inspired in "Dexter", but we ended up choosing do to it on a psychotic doctor inspired in "The Act", which is about a real story, about Gypsy Rose, and how her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, made her sick and kept making her sicker and sicker by the day. 

     Me and my group's idea for the whole film is to show this doctor how keeps his patients sick. He seems like a normal person, and no one can tell he's psychotic and enjoys keeping people sick. Throughout the film the audience will see the doctor add marbles to a jar, and each jar represents a patient, and every time he adds a new marble it means that he gave that certain patient medicine to keep them sick, and that's how he keeps track of how sick each of them are. The marbles are very important to the plot, in the beginning people won't know what they mean and will be confused, until they later find out what it means. The doctor also makes his own medicine to give his patients, and throughout the movie we will see him making those. The whole movie will show both sides of him, the "good" and the psycho. It will show him being completely normal and helpful and then him being horrible and making his patients sick. One day a patient will come into the ER throwing up thinking it might just be a stomach bug or food poisoning, the doctor will give him some prescriptions, and the patient will go home. He will come back after a week throwing up blood this time, the medicine made him feel worse, they will find our he needs surgery, and they will perform surgery on him, after that he needs to stay in the hospital for recovery, and while "recovering" the doctor keeps giving him unnecessary medicine that makes him sicker and sicker, until it gets to the point that he can't stand up or even talk. One day a nurse is walking by his room and sees the doctor giving him the medicine, and she finds it strange, she's that patients nurse so she knows what he needs and the medicines that he takes. She starts to stay with that patient 24/7 taking care of him, so the doctor doens't have alone time with him to make him sick, and he begins to get better, that's when the nurse realizes what the doctor was doing, and calls the cops. The cops come and investigate the doctor, and do drug tests, and other tests on all his patients and find out what he's doing, so he gets arrested. After that all his patients get better and win a lot of money after suing him for what they had to go through, they all go back to their normal lives while the doctor is sentenced to life in prison. 

     The first two minutes of our film opening will start by having a black screen with the title of the film "One More Marble" and then the noise of a marble falling into a glass jar will appear and after that it will show the doctor's hands while he prepares the medicine, it will show him adding marbles to the jars, and the patients files, which is where we will add the credits. He has a room in his house where he prepares it all and then it shows him leaving that room, to a completely normal and beautiful house, then he goes outside and puts his lab coat on, and receives a call form the hospital in which eh works saying there is an emergency and they need him at the ER as soon as possible. 

Group Meeting #1

Group Meeting #1

     Hello blog, we had our first group meeting, and in this meeting we got together with our peers, and with people who aren't in our groups, and we talked about our ideas and what our movie was going to be about, as well as sharing our blogs. We helped each come up with ideas and we also gave each other tips on how to make our blogs better. This meeting was incredibly helpful for me, especially for my blog, they helped me make it look a lot better than it did before and they showed me some settings that I didn't know it had. 

     Julian

   Julian is working alone. The genre for his portfolio project is going to be action/comedy. He didn't really have a plot before but we helped him come up with one. He will do his project on a guy robbing a bank and getting caught, and there will be the bank bell noises to represent the robbery, he then gets chased by the cops around the city, and there will be three main characters, and he doesn't know what the title should be yet. He plans to film it in his house and get help from his friends to be the characters or to help him record. 

   I think Julian should watch "Baby Driver", I think it could help him come up with more ideas. 

   Julian's blog good, I think he missed a couple blog posts and I also think he could add a backgrounds which I think would make it look better and more full. 

     Elisa 

   Elisa is working in a group. Her and her group plan to create a horror/thriller opening scene, with a supernatural creature/monster. It's going to be about a girl who goes missing, there will be posters for her around the city, and a search party will happen to help look for her. The search party will be in the woods, or just anywhere outside, and they plan to record it at a park, during the search party a guy goes a different direction, and suddenly gets dragged down by the creature, resulting in him going missing as well. For a title they thought of "Amber Alert" but it is not set yet.

   I think Elisa could watch "Stranger Things", it could give her some ideas of how to represent the people missing and the search parties.

   Elisa's blog is really good. I like the way its set up, I think it looks really good and it's very appealing. 

     Robbie

   Robbie is working alone. He is doing a teen comedy, set in the early 2000s, and there will be 2000s music throughout out the movie. It's about a guy who isn't popular, and he decides to throw a party while his parents aren't home, which causes him to become super popular. The film will show the guy trying to handle popularity as well as keeping the party a secret from his parents. His film is inspired on Rodrick Heffley from Diary of a Wimpy kid. He will probably to it at a friends house. The title is going to be "After Party." 

   Robbie should watch "Project X", it shows a teenage boy who threw a party and it was a very good party. He could get some ideas of how to prepare the setting.

   Robbie's blog is good, I like the background and how everything is set up but I feel like the background takes the attention away from the actual post. 

     Sophia

   Sophia is working alone. She is doing a horror/thriller film, inspired by the movie "Tag," and the opening will be kind of like "Dexter" only showing the persons hands. Her movie will be about a group of teenage girls playing April fools prank on each other, they have a tradition that they play April fools prank on each other during the first week of April, and they have a contract on the rules of the game. One of the pranks will end up badly, with blood and someone dying. The opening will show the group of girls hanging out and the it slowly zooms out to show them standing in front of a bathroom door with blood coming out of it. She will film it at her house and the title is going to be "April Fools." 

   Sophia's film is already inspired on the movie "Tag" and that is what I would recommend for her to watch to get some ideas on how to convey her idea. 

   Sophia's blog is good, and her posts are good as well. I just think she should also put a background to make it look more appealing. 

     My own

   For my film opening, I'm working in a group. The group meeting that we had did not include people who are doing the project with me in my discussion group, so I presented our idea and my blog to them. They said they liked our idea and that it was interesting. About my blog, they said it was good, but the set up was different, so they helped me change it and make it look better and easier to find where everything was. 

Research of my Choice

 Research of my choice 

     Heyy everyone! For this blog post I can research anything I want to and I decided to research Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, which is a mental health condition where someone falsely claims that another person is sick. This connects to our movie because the main character, Dr. Hank Shabata, keeps his patients sick. 

     Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

   Münchausen syndrome is a mental health condition when someone falsely claims that another person has physical or mental illnesses, or causes injuries or diseases in someone else to deceive others. They do this to someone usually under their care, like their own child usually under the age of 6 years old, their patient (if they're a doctor), someone with a disability, or someone older than 65 years old. Making false health claims is very dangerous to the persons health. They may be receiving treatment or given medicine that they don't need, which will make them sick and affect their health. 

   Some complications that may be caused from this disorder include: injury or death from the medical conditions or treatment that they receive, health issues from medicine, injections, or surgery that they receive when they are not needed, loss of organs or limbs from the surgeries, misuse of alcohol and other substances, and abuse. 

   Though there is no cause to this disorder, studies show that motivation to perform these behaviors may include: past trauma, abuse, or neglect, loss of a partner or caregiver, extreme stress, and wanting attention from others. 

   Some symptoms that these people might have include: telling a healthcare provider that someone under your care is experiencing symptoms and health issues that they aren't, physically harming someone to make them look and feel sick, changing someone's results of a diagnostic test, and interfering with someone's treatment plan to prevent them from getting better. 

   This condition can cause the person under their care serious health problems. These people receiving treatment are not sick, but are treated as if they are, they receive multiple treatments, take medicine, get injections, it might even go to the extreme of getting surgery, all this while they don't need it. The person taking "care" of them might even abuse them physically and mentally to make them look sick and to get them the treatment. 

   One example of this is Dee Dee Blanchard, she claimed that her daughter Gypsy Rose Blanchard, had many health issues and conditions. She faked her daughters illnesses for many years, and it only came to an end when Gypsy had her boyfriend kill her mother. 

syc-20356028

9834-factitious-disorder-imposed-on-another-fdia

Schedule

 Schedule I have created for myself 

    Hi blog, I created a schedule for myself to help me accomplish everything I have to by the end of the 8 weeks. Separating everything into weeks makes it much easier to visualize what I have to do, and it helps me not forget anything and not procrastinate. I think this schedule will be really helpful!

     Week 1 (already did) 

   - Do the first two blog postings 

   - Decide what genre our opening should be

   - Brainstorm opening ideas 

     Week 2 (this week) 

   - Do four blog postings (this is the third one) 

   - Continue to brainstorm and discuss with group members 

   - Have the idea for the opening settled by the end of the week 

     Week 3

   - Do four blog postings 

   - Have the whole opening decided 

   - Discuss credit sequence with group members 

   - Get props (if any) 

   - Start recording opening 

     Week 4 

   - Do four blog postings 

   - Continue recording 

   

     Week 5 

   - Do four blog postings 

   - Create logo for production company and any other logo necessary

   - Continue recording 

     Week 6 

   - Do four blog postings 

   - Finish recording everything 

   - Pick out the clips we want to use 

   - Finish logos 

   - Start editing 

     Week 7 

   - Do four blog postings 

   - Edit more 

     Week 8 

   - Do four blog postings 

   - Finish editing 

   - SUBMIT!!!!!

     This schedule will help guide me through this project so that I know exactly what I have to do each week. Having a schedule helps a lot and makes it much easier since you know what you have to do and by when it has to be done. 

   

      

3 Credit Sequences

 Credit Sequences for Films 

     

     Hi Cambridge, today I'm going to be researching credit sequences. Me and my group decided on horror movie, so the research I'll be doing will be on horror movies and horror movies only. My teacher provided us with a link that takes us to film openings, and all the credits I'm researching I got from that link. 

     Murder by Death

   Murder by Death starts off by showing the production company and the director of the film, then it shows the actors starring the film while showing a drawing of them, after that is shows the copyright, it then shows who designed the costumes, then the editor, then who the music is by, then the production designer, after that it shows the supervising editor, then the director of photography, then who wrote it, and once again who produced it, and then the director again, after all those credits, the movie fully starts. 

murder-by-death

     Help!

   The film Help! starts showing the credits at about 2 minutes and 15 second into the movie. The first thing shown is "The Beatles", since it is about John Lennon and his battle through depression, then the title of the film, it then shows who's starring the film, then it shows who the screenplay is by and who the story is by, then the name of the producer, after that the director, and all the credits are shown while the band, The Beatles, are playing music in the background. 

help

     Attack of the Crab Monsters 

   This film starts off by showing the producer, then it shows the title of the film, then it shows who's starring in the film, it then shows who the screenplay is by, then all in one shot is shows the associated producer, photographer, film editor, assistant director, who the make-up is by, who the underwater technician is, who did the underwater equipment, and the underwater locations, then it shows who the music is by, and then it shows the producer and director.

attack-of-the-crab-monsters

     

3 Film Openings

 3 horror/mystery film openings 

     Scream 1

   The opening scene from Scream 1 shows a girl answering a phone call from a stranger and then getting brutally killed. The girl, Drew Barrymore, is home alone making popcorn, getting ready to watch a movie, when the phone rings, and it's a random guy. The guy tells her that he has the wrong number and they hang up, but he calls her again to apologize and he starts asking her questions about horror movies, like "what's your favorite scary movie?" 

   This opening conveys suspense, there is scary music in the background and the environment is dark, she is home alone and its night out, so everything is dark. 

     Murder Mystery 1

   The first two minutes of the movie Murder Mystery show the Netflix logo and the production company. It then shows two guys walking and talking and one of them tells the other that he failed his detective exam again, which gives the audience a little bit of context on what the movie is about. They talk about the dinner that they have that night with their wifes and the one that failed his exam doesn’t want to tell his wife that he failed, so he asks his friend to tell his wife to ignore the lies he will tell about being a detective over dinner. 

   This opening gives the audience a little bit of information on what the movie might be about, and that it will have to do with the guy failing and lying about passing his detective exam. 

     Coraline 

   The first two minutes of Coraline show the production company and title of movie while the theme song plays, the theme song is slow and eerie. It then shows a doll floating into a room through the window. Someone then cuts the doll, takes her stuffing out, takes her hair and eyes out, and cuts her mouth open, until all they have left is the fabric. The person then fills it up with sand, starts stitching the doll back up and sews buttons as her eyes. 

   This opening conveys suspense and mystery by making the audience wonder who is doing that to the doll and why, the music playing also adds to the suspense and mystery genre. 

     All these openings convey the mystery theme well and are all good openings. They all start in their own way, Scream 1 by showing a scary scene right away, Murder Mystery 1 by just showing a simple, normal conversation between friends, and Coraline by showing only the doll, and no characters, nevertheless, they are all great openings that get the audience engaged and makes them want to continue watching the movie. 

Portfolio Project Genres

 AICE Media Portfolio Project Genres 

     Hey! Let's talk about movie genres that me and my group have been looking at for our portfolio project. We are deciding between horror and romance, but before we decide anything, we have to research, so come with me while I research these two genres. 

      Suspense/Horror 

   A lot of scary movies aren't scary because of what is said, but because of what you see. Some ways to build tension is by having long and scary silences, eerie music when necessary, use the right types of shots that will make your scene come together, good transitions (if any used), slow camera movement, loud noises when something scary appears on screen, unexpected turns, scary atmosphere, jump scares, and the fear of the unknown. You should also develop your characters well, deciding on their personality and how they will fight this monster or killer, you also have to develop the antagonist well, deciding if its going to be a monster, a person, or an animal and deciding what they will do that's so scary, how they'll act, and when the protagonists will discover who the antagonist is.

   The main thing that makes a horror movie great is built tension and how you make your audience scared and waiting to find out what will happen next. Built tension and suspense are the main things for a horror movie, if there is no suspense then the audience won't be that engaged since they won't be that scared. 

     Romance

   There are many romance tropes that could be used in a romance movie, like enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, forbidden love, fake relationship, love triangle, love at first sight, and many others. The love trope is one of the most important things in a romance movie, it sets context and background to the audience and gives the audience an idea of how the characters relate and how they feel about each other. Another really important thing is developing the two main characters, how will they act towards each other and towards other people, how will they treat each other, how did they meet, and many things of the sort. 

   

Transition into Cambridge Portfolio Project

Transition into Cambridge Portfolio Project!

    Hey blog! From now on my blogs will be about my Cambridge Portfolio project. All the blogs I've posted before this have helped me gain better understanding and better information for my portfolio project, everything posted before this was a guide and led to this moment. We have learned a lot of things in this class and researched a whole lot of information, which has helped me develop a better understanding on media and how to create media. I'm very excited to start this project and I think my group and I will have a lot of fun doing it! 

    The first thing we did was think about what our opening should be about. Coming up with the story and genre are always my favorite part, I love brainstorming and deciding on the story we all like the most. By deciding what the story will be, we can decide how to develop this story and get the audience interested and engaged within the first two minutes, making them want to watch the full movie. I think developing context is a very important thing to do before starting this project, it helps us decide on many things, like how it'll start, the setting, how we can make it interesting and fun to watch, and many more things. 

    The second thing we might consider doing is developing the characters. This is something I also love doing, creating characters and bringing them into life is always so much fun and I love seeing our creations come to life and seeing that we succeed in doing so. Thinking about what their personality will be like and what they'll wear and things like this interest me a lot and gets me excited to see what the final project will be like (even though I know this is just the beginning and there are many other steps till the end). Coming up with the relationship the characters will have and how they relate to one another will be fun and I'm really excited for this. 

    Overall, I think starting with the basics is a good approach to starting our portfolio project. Just thinking about the storyline and how we're going to convey it and bring it to life is so much fun and it'll definitely make it much easier to start the project already knowing the story we want to tell.