More research and changes

February 27, 2019

Hey everyone! It’s me again bringing you guys some new updates and changes. In the previous post, I had mentioned that me and my group singled out horror as the genre we were interested in carrying out. However, due to certain circumstances and ideas for our film opening, we decided the better choice would be thriller. We have done a quite lot of research in thriller, analyzed some examples, and gathered some information for you guys!

Thrillers? What are they and how are they structured?

Gained great help from Elements of the Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Suspense and/or Crime Fiction Genres

 

Let’s start off with the setting - Abandoned areas, forests, haunted places, or anything really that creates mystery.

Clothing is important - It’s extremely essential in any movie for the viewer to distinguish the good side and the bad side which is why it’s most likely seen that the antagonist is wearing dark clothes.

Sound - Mostly used to create tension. Can be natural or foley sounds (created by people).

Lighting itself - Usually low-key lighting is used to form shadows, suspense, and a mysterious atmosphere.

Props are key - Deadly weapons, shadows, mask, dark clothes all help establish pressure.

Why this switch?

We want to include a psychotic character in our film opening, along with a dark environment with creepy scenes and some sort of death involved. This exciting change is motivating me to move on and think of what’s coming next!

In the next several weeks is where my group and I will start planning our scenes, thinking things through, and filming.

Our main goal in the upcoming weeks is to have the following:

More research.
Outlines.
Storyboards.
Shooting schedules/locations.
Several changes and improvements throughout the way.

STAY TUNED! :))

Planning - Project Portfolio (Media)

February 24, 2019

Planning & Organizing:

Hello everyone! All I want to say is I hope everyone is having a great day and that I’m so excited for everything that is coming very soon!! Based on tons of research from the previous post, my group and I have gathered up some ideas for our film opening. To help ourselves create the most outstanding opening to exceed our full potential, we will have to stay strictly organized. We have already planned out how we want to organize ourselves and that is by focusing on the following; Outlines, shooting schedules, and storyboards.

Film Opening Ideas:

We want to have a serial killer as the villain. Moreover, we want to have a victim and someone who could help the victim out (hero). To differentiate the good side and the evil side, we’ll be buying certain crops that will help with this. This can be for example cloth: Dark cloth can be used for the villain and light/white can be used for the good side. Also, lighting will definitely  help with differentiating each side. Other crops we will be using can be like fake blood on the villain as well as a killing tool (ex: knife).

One really important thing we want to integrate is suspenseful music and sound affects which we can obtain thanks to Youtube Audio Library.

As a team, we have all agreed on to have a lonely and foggy place to be our establishing shot. This can further help forge our tone which is horrifying. For this to happen, we will need to buy a fog machine and be able to find a dark and lonely place to film. We believe that the establishing shot is so important since it can grab the audience’s attention and have them be paying attention closely to every scene, to the point they are extremely scared by an unexpected scene…

This setting with the mixture of dark and

foggy can help create a spooky tension!

Until next time! :))

Research - Project Portfolio (Media)

February 24, 2019

Intro & Vision:

The day has finally come. Today is an important chapter in my life where I’ve come, along my fellow peers, to begin our research and film opening. The goal for the upcoming days is to start devising and organizing what we want to establish. We as a team want to make the best out of this project and make it something memorable and remarkable in our lives after substantial amount of time and effort.

Research:

After a lot of research was done, our group and I have decided we want to create a film opening based on horror. We truly believe that we can create an outstanding film opening since this genre largely differentiates from the other genres. Also, we all are comfortable with this specific genre and have come up with the conclusion that horror will be the genre that we can reach are full potential since its numerous features it has.

Horror:

Films under horror are designed to create panic by seeking our biggest fears and make us jump out of our seats. Even though they are meant to frighten, they also create suspense and interest which is what everyone loves. For this genre, I choose The Nun & The Boy. Throughout my research, I was stuck on the Secrets of the Horror Genre since I found it to be so interesting while reading it. It talked about how the creation of characters is extremely important and how it should be structured. One of the characters is the monster/creature which creates all the conflict and the scary vibes. Even though there may be multiple characters, there’s always one specific victim which is faced by impossible odds  or a monster that is possessed by evil. In any horror films, there is always one simple question to ask: Who will win, hope or hell?

The Nun:

The Nun is an extremely popular movie in the realm of horror films because of it’s great techniques and special effects incorporated. Sister Irene and Sister Victoria come up against a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun and the main victims of the film since they two have two risk their own faith and very souls. The Nun is the antagonist which really helps establish the film with scary parts by acting as an evil presence in the film. The location of the film really helps establish the tone. To further explain this, the setting takes place in Romania’s Carta Monastery in but the place was not used since the 15th century. Moreover, since the place is abandoned, the film shows a dark place where the only source of lighting are tourches. These character elements and the setting creates a freaky feeling throughout the film and helps develop this spooky genre. The picture below shows what the setting is like.

The Boy:

The Boy is another famous movie that is extraordinarily popular in the horror community. The monster or the alarming antagonist of the film is a doll which seems to be alive. Greta is supposed to be babysitting the doll and following a list of strict rules. However, she fails to follow them and has to pay the consequence by believing the doll is alive. Greta is the victim and the Boy is the antagonist. The film takes place in a large house where it’s only occupied by Greta and the Boy. The extensive amount of space can create a terrifying feeling to what’s going to come next and from where. All these elements helps establish the horror genre in these specific ways mentioned that differentiate from all other genres. The picture below shows how the odd monster/doll looks like.

See you soon! :))Ramirez, Rachelle. “Secrets of the Horror Genre.” Story Grid » Genres Have Conventions and Obligatory Scenes, storygrid.com/secrets-of-the-horror-genre/.

Music marketing campaign - summary:

𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕔 𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕘𝕟 - 𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪:               Juan Echeverria

𝒶. With the help of Giuliano Lupica Tondo and Parker Repp, we created a music marketing campaign to help the artist ScarBoy achieve his dreams. ScarBoy is an Alternative Rock musician with the passion of ranking to the top musicians out there (in Alternative Rock). The campaign consists of marketing strategies as well important information for the fans to know: For example, tour dates and release dates of upcoming songs. A lot of our marketing is done through social media (instagram and website). We also created merch to help ScarBoy start getting more attention and increase number of fans. We created a music video of the song “Float On” which shows ScarBoy singing with a story based on what the lyrics are saying. ScarBoy is just starting and is being introduced into different platforms like Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music, youtube and much more!

𝒷. The research was based on the background/history of the genre Alternative Rock and our case studies. One of our case studies was Maroon 5. This band is widely popular in the Alternative Rock community. They have a large audience of over 40 million in Facebook. Not only that, but also that in 2017 they went on a world tour and visited 30 countries and were supported by over 2.5 million people. Since they are extremely connected to their fans through social media, they email each of their fans their upcoming tour dates and events. Imagine Dragons is the next case study we have researched. A lot of their marketing is done through social media as well with about 5 million followers on Instagram and 15 million on Facebook. They like to promote their albums through the show Late night with Seth Meyers which is watched by most of the band’s target audience. These case studies have informed me how ScarBoy should target it’s songs and to who it should be targeted since they all fall under the same genre. It has gave me ideas of how my marketing campaign should be set up and what kind of posts/info should I incorporate in the social media.

𝒸. One way we have advertised ScarBoy is through social media (like our case studies do). We want to create ads that will direct people who are interested in Alternative Rock to our social media; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Website. The instagram page seems very attractive and pleasing since it looks nice, contains nice fonts, and has everything the fans need to know about ScarBoy like for example a post showing a poster of the upcoming tour dates. This post states that the fans will be able to attend the show of April 1-3 for free and to not miss it since the ones after that will require a certain fee. This is a good marketing strategy/selling point that will help ScarBoy have fans attending his shows and discovering his amazing talents. Also we have created a website of Scarboy which lists tour dates as well as his merch. His merch is another marketing technique we created that will help spread the word around about “ScarBoy”. People seeing the name on these hoodies will help this artist be recognized and known later in the future. We also decided we wanted to contract top alternative rock stations for ScarBoy’s song “Float On” to be featured in.

Link to website: https://giulilupica.wixsite.com/scarboy

Link to Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarboyy_/

Link to Twitter: https://twitter.com/scarboy15

𝒹. The Marketing campaign our team and I have created has teached me many things along the way which will be very helpful for my portfolio project. It has taught me how to target and market a product to a specific target audience. I learned a lot about the genre Alternative Rock and how different bands (case studies) grow to be one of the most known bands in the realm of Alternative Rock. Moreover, It has taught me little things like creating a website and creating merch. It has improved my production abilities (shots, props, movements, clothing, colors).

Climate change

Climate Change

   An extremely important issue that's been going around is climate change and its big, scary potential. Climate change is defined as a change in global or regional climate patterns. One of the biggest impacts on the atmosphere is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal which generate energy. This results in a release of 70% more carbon dioxide than gas. This generation of heat is causing more greenhouse gases. The more of these gases... the warmer the planet gets. Humans and the wild life are facing new challenges throughout this climate change as it gets worse and worse. Melting glaciers and rising sea level are harming animals and the areas where they live in.
   Climate change campaigns are bringing awareness to the public through the social media world. Articles  from the New York Times are introducing the issue and are stating the negative impact this issue can have in the future. This a great way for this important topic to be spread around and is able to reach many people. In the media, these articles are being looked as a big warning sign and many people are taking action based on the information given. Even though these articles on climate change is not changing every viewer's actions and decisions for the benefit of the planet, it has made a lot of people be aware. It is giving motivation to the viewers to take care of this planet by simply stating the consequences and showing ways to prevent these problems. Moreover, Unilever is another example climate change is represented in the media. Unilever is a company that is main focus is to serve the environment and protect it. It's main goal is to become carbon positive by 2030. It will eliminate the use of fossil fuels and use renewable energy in the environment. Also, they want to eliminate single use plastic packaging.
   I feel these representation characteristics are great ways of helping with the environment. Companies like Unilever and news about climate change are great ways to motivate people to change their way of living in some ways to help the environment and in some ways actually care about it after acknowledging the consequences. From this type of media, I will retain a thoughtful characteristic and really think through the terrible environment that our world is developing. I'd challenge myself, as well as many people like friends and families, to take actions and treat the planet the way it should be treated. One way of doing this is by not littering nor using the car as necessary and use bike in any possible situation.

Genre #2- Horror analysis

1. Horror

2. Main purpose is to create fear but entertain the viewer as well. The protagonist is usually the hero/victim. The villains are usually monsters, demons, serial killer, etc. Even though scary moments might really scare a person, the scaring part is also inserted to make the viewer be more involved and into the film. Films that fall under this genre are made to panic and frighten their audience. Most of the time, they take place in lonely areas where the characters are far away from help. Pathetic fallacy is also used as well to enhance the characters’ bad surroundings. Examples can be like thunder and rain. To add into the feeling of fear, wind, creepy shadows, and unexplainable noises are integrated. A main characteristics in these types of films is when characters go where they are not supposed to or towards danger. Often conclude in a crazy and unexpected finale.

3. Lighting is used in horror films to give a feeling that something terrible is about to occur. This can be done by light flickering and use of shadows to show the evil is present. Diegetic sound is used to create more tension and exaggerated scene. Sometimes, these sounds can change to really loud to scare the audience. Also, there’s use of colors like red and black which suggest danger and death. Point of view shots come extremely important depending on the situation which can show a visual through the monster’s eyes. Depth of field is also important for the audience to lose sight of the monster coming: a shot taken far from the action.

4. Paranormal activity 2007 - Katie and Micah move into a house and notice a weird presence. In result of this, they decide to set up video cameras around the house. They find out about many paranormal activities that happen during their sleep and horrible events approaches them. This movie falls under horror because of it’s scary scenes like for example when Micah’s body is driven super quick into the screen, which is a scene that tends to scare some people. It also falls under this genre due to the fact that the movie takes place in a house surrounded by the evil (really hard to get out). Knowing that the movies that take place in places where help is very far, not at all, or hard to access, it fits in with horror. Also, it has many pop up like for example when they show Katie’s face really close to the screen while she’s possessed.

5. Psycho 1960 - The movie Psycho, starts with a women working on her desk and is so stressed she decided to go take a shower. While this is happening, a shadow starts forming in the background behind the curtains of the bathtub. The killer approaches and begins stabbing the women in the shoulder. As soon as they show the serial killer—who’s wearing a costume and is holding up a knife like a lot of horror films— a foley sound is adjusted to create more intensity. With the use of quick cuts, the film doesn’t need to show the girl being stabbed because the quick cuts help the audience know what has happened.

6. “Friday the 13th”

- “It”

-  “The Ring”

- “Veronica”

- “Annabelle”

- “The Nun”

Links:

http://iconicpictures.weebly.com/conventions-of-horror.html

https://www.vox.com/a/best-horror-movies-scary-scenes

https://www.filmsite.org/horrorfilms.html

Genre #2 - Intro

Hey there! I'm back again and for those of you who don't know me my name is Juan Echeverria.  I'm a current student of Cypress Bay High School and I'm here to introduce you about about the horror genre. Horror films are those that are meant to entertain the audience by frightening them or make them panic. My main goal is to help you understand the the typical genre conventions and the production techniques. Also, I will be giving you examples of different horror films, what they are about, and the reasons why they fall under this genre. With all that being said, let's get started!