Audience and Institution Practice Essay

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

In the film, industry marketing plays an important role in the distribution and profit of a movie. Through a variety of techniques, marketing can help your film reach your audience or potentially scare them away.    

To begin with, marketing is very effective at spreading knowledge of an upcoming film. For example, many people including me thought that the Harry Potter series was over, however, I came to find out along with many others through the use of cross-promotion that soon a new movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, within the Harry Potter timeline would be released. Although the original Harry Potter fans most likely made up a large portion of the revenue, if the preconceived excitement wasn’t enough, Warner Bros. Partnered with a variety of companies to produce merchandise and promote the film to draw in new fans.    

However, having an existing fan base does not guarantee a successful movie. For instance, STX Films released a movie based on a widely known brand of toys “Ugly Dolls” and the outcome was not as expected. Despite a relatively large fan base, the movie tanked. However, marketing is not where they went wrong Adam Fogelson chairman of STX Films, has a reputable marketing background and went above and beyond in that area advertising through cross-media convergence with McDonald’s, Hasbro, Walmart, Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s, Pinkberry, Ferrero, and Pez Candy just to name a few. The issue seems that the audience felt this line of plush toys did not need a movie to go along with it not to mention the release date just days before the release of Detective Pikachu, a much more popular movie also aimed at a younger audience. This goes to show that while you may have sufficient marketing for your movie, it is not a guaranteed success.   

To add on, in the previous case studies I discussed they had an existing fan base. The importance of marketing shifts when you go from an existing fanbase to a completely original idea. It is harder to get audiences excited about a movie when they don’t already know of a product surrounding that idea. The movie Baby Driver is a good example of this. Sony, the production company had to heavily rely on marketing to stir up excitement. One of the main techniques they used was cross-media convergence. A selling point of this movie was the soundtrack and the production company used this to their advantage by producing CDs with the soundtrack. The producers of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spiderman: Homecoming did something similar by producing a mixtape of the movies' most reputable tracks. My generation is easily influenced by music and it was a smart idea to appeal to a teenage audience through the use of music.   

Finally, the most important form of marketing, in my opinion, social media. I find this area important for films because it is the most unlooked form of advertising. Most often people overlook posters, or advertisements on cereal boxes but seeing that trending tag on twitter or the hashtags on Instagram is eye-catching and hard to overlook. Additionally, it is, for the most part, out of the production companies' control. Teenagers have the ability to make or break a movie solely based on memes they have created.   

Overall, while the level of importance differs marketing still plays a role in the success of movies. It shares knowledge, produces, excitement, and increases the audience.   

Extract Practice: 24

In this extract, the director is trying to convey the theme that “In dire situations, you may have to trust untrustworthy people”. They portray this through the use of camera angles, camera movement, shots, editing, sound, and mis en scene.  

In the first scene, the director uses the dialogue between the man and the woman to portray that there is a lack of trust. The man talks in a very direct tone and the woman provides very little information showing that both parties do not feel comfortable with each other. Additionally, the eye-line match used when the woman looks at the clock expresses that they are in a time crunch. This contributes to the theme by showing that they have little time to solve the problem, so the situation became “dire”. Finally, the director chose to use cross-cutting to cut from the interrogation scene to the observers. This allows the audience to infer that the woman is potentially dangerous and is not to be trusted because she requires observation.  

Next in the second scene, the director added incidental music after the man’s first outbreak. The function of that is to signify the intensity of the scene, something bad is happening or going to happen. To add on, the close-up during the second outbreak shows the anger the man possesses. He is angry at the woman due to her lack of accountability and possibly because he knows she will not do the right thing in this situation. Also, in the second outbreak, the director used a split screen to express the urgency the observers have to ensure the woman stayed unharmed, therefore pointing out her importance.  

Finally, throughout the entire extract, the director maintained dim lighting. The effect this has on the audience is to show the gloomy scenario. The situation is not happy or exciting and that is shown through the lighting. Furthermore, the setting of the scene is an interrogation room. The usage of an interrogation room helps express to the audience that the woman is most likely a criminal. This further enhances the idea that she is untrustworthy.  

Overall, the director displays the theme through a variety of techniques to show that the woman is untrustworthy as well as possibly dangerous however incredibly important. The man knows this and is angry that she is the only solution to the problem causing him to have to trust someone he deems untrustworthy in this seemingly dire situation.  

Final Task

Final Task CCR

Progress Blog: CCR for music video

Progress Blog: Music Video

Progress Blog: Commercial

Attempting to re-film during quarantine

We still have not received any information about the postponement or cancellation of the Cambridge exam. As I mentioned in the previous blog my group has been trying to make plans to re-film our movie. Originally we had planned for Wednesday however this date was cancelled. My fear during this quarantine is that the government will restrict any movement outside of our homes unless absolutely necessary. As of now most public areas such as beaches and malls have already shut down. In this circumstance we will not be able to meet to re-film. To me, this is not an option. Our film is not anywhere close to where I would like it to be when we submit it to Cambridge. I have completed my list of scenes to re-film along with reasons why. That way if we are able to meet we will spend the least amount of time with each other to prevent the spread of the virus.
   As of now we have planned to meet this Sunday. As I have continued to say this is an extremely unique situation that I have never been in before. This being said our plans are subject to change if I receive more information. One of my group mates went traveling during the break which means he could be exposed to the corona virus. This is very serious and should not be taken lightly. Therefore, I am still unsure if I would like to meet with them to re-film. However, it needs to get done and because all of my extracurriculars have been cancelled now if the most available I’ll ever be. We plan to re-film some of the scenes that we filmed previously and alter the ending of our movie a bit. The reason we are re-filming is because the sound quality in some of the shots are really bad. We filmed on a windy day and the wind would affect the sound quality. Additionally, we noticed some small mistakes in the direction of the film.

COVID-19

This week the American president Donald Trump announced a national emergency due to the wide spread of the COVID-19 virus. This decision caused all Broward county schools to close-down to prevent further spread. This instilled a slight panic in me and my classmates. We had lots of questions regarding our academic work as well as all of our standardized testing dates. This is a unique situation all around the world so as of now a lot of us do not know what we will be doing during this break. Not only does this impact my academic life but my extracurriculars as well. Since our city government has suspended all large organized gatherings all of my swim practices have been cancelled. This is a big deal to me because I have been practicing almost everyday since I learned how to swim. This unique circumstance has put me in a position where I have to deal with extra time and the mental side affects. In this blog I will discuss what I am doing to maintain a routine to keep myself from becoming unproductive.
My coach has provided us with a variety of at home workouts we can do to stay in shape. In addition, as of now we have not heard about any extension or cancellation of the AICE Media Studies exam, so I will continue to work as planned. My group mates and I are currently discussing a time that we will be able to meet to re-film. This is a bit difficult because of the uncertainty of the situation. Some of them had planned to travel during the break, however we are now unsure if that would be a safe idea. Airports are a place where lots of people from all over come together and they could possibly be a host to the corona virus. To prepare to re-film I have composed a list of all the scenes we need to re-film and what the issues with those scenes were. This will help conserve time and make our time filming the most efficient. This helps me to organize my ideas and gives me a task to complete during the quarantine. Finally, I will be re-drawing our storyboard according to the adjustments we have made to our film.

Editing First time around

For our final task we were given a peer review date. By this date we would have to have our final task done for the most part. So we filmed our movie to the best of our abilities in the time frame. However, we did not finish filming until the last weekend before our peer review date. Due to this the editing was a bit rushed. Our group decided since Amelia’s phone contained all of the footage it would be best for her to do the editing with our help. Furthermore, she had the best creative vision for our movie. We used iMovie to edit our movie because none of us had an editing software installed. While we did have access to the school computers that had pinnacle studios uploaded we did not finish filming until last minute and we were still a bit unfamiliar with the way pinnacle studios worked. The night that Amelia was editing I called her and we discussed what footage we wanted to use and how we wanted to edit it together.
During this phone call we went back and forth on the font of the titles. This was a difficult decision because it was a major part of our movie. Eventually we came to an agreement however majority of our time was spent on this. I looked back into my title research to help aid me in this decision. I also used my title research to come up with the title we would be using in our own film. Such as the order of the titles and the timing. We also needed to add sound effects in the beginning of our film. What both Amelia and I thought would be an easy task turned out to be more difficult than we thought. We were unable to find and authentic birthing sound effects. Looking back in this it is probably an unusual sound effect to use, however, it was very inconvenient for us during this time crunch.

Peer review

Today we completed a peer review for our final task. The goal of the peer review is to provide and receive feedback on our final task. We were given this checklist to fill out and organize our thoughts. My favorite part about the movie I watched was the variety of shots and camera angles. I especially enjoyed the POV shot when the character was finding the Ouija board. The effect of the variety of shots gives the audience a better spatial awareness of the movie. This is especially beneficial in thriller movies because it helps the viewer asses the emotions of the characters. Another benefit of using a variety of shots is it keeps the viewers entertained. For example, using the same shot throughout the movie gets boring and does not show the entirety of the scene. The movie I watched did a very good job at providing a variety of shots.
Something I would recommend to the creator of this movie is to add more suspense to the movie. While it is clear throughout the character Sam does not want to play Ouija there is no real feeling of suspense. One way I might suggest they add this is by adding suspenseful music. Music is a great way at giving the audience the desired emotion. Another way they can add more suspense is by drawing out the scene. For example, the possessing scene is very short. The possessing happened very early into the scene without giving the audience much time to process the possible bad outcome and feel the suspense. Finally, another way they can add suspense is to dim the lighting in the scenes leading up to them playing. Throughout the entire film up until the Ouija scene there is very bright lighting. I believe that by dimming the lighting it gives for-shadowing and helps the audience feel suspense.

Filming: Re-film and Re-plan

Yesterday we decided to re-film our opening scene. We originally chose to do this because we wanted to switch over from using a phone to using the school camera. We checked one out and once we were ready to film we realized that we did not have an SD card to film with. This was my fault because I insisted that we did not need to check out an SD card because I had my own to use. The benefit of using your own SD card is that other groups do not have access to your footage. This being said when it came time to film I forgot to bring the SD card meaning that we would not be able to film. While my group mates were pretty upset I did not find it that big of a deal because for this occasion Amelia was available to film and she had an iPhone with the highest quality. If anything I thought it would be easier to film with the phone for the same reasons I mentioned in my previous blog. It gives us more freedom with the footage and does not limit us to only editing in class. After we sorted out the SD card issue I brought the group together to discuss out filming plan. While we did have our storyboards I felt that our idea did not completely fit within our genre and we needed to add more suspense. My group felt the same way so we brainstormed ideas that we could use to keep the majority of the opening the same but still add a factor of suspense. This was a bit difficult considering the group was already on edge because of the SD card situation. Many times I would have to bring the group back to focus on the task at hand. After multiple ideas being thrown around we decided it would be easiest to change just the ending and keep the mother alive. Once we finally finished discussing out film plan we got to the actual filming part. However, discussing the filming plan took up almost all of our time leaving us with a small window to actually film. In this small window we re-filmed the opening scene and began to film the second scene. Although Amelia was there I continued to take on the role of the director. I would give our actors direction on the new script because we changed some of the dialogue and action. Additionally, I was in charge of the shots we used and the order in which we filmed.

Filming: Opening scene

This weekend we filmed at Gavin’s house. However, like I stated in the previous blog we did not have enough actors. This was a frustrating experience for me because I know that I reminded them that we didn’t have any actors and they didn’t seem to understand the severity of this problem.  We did not get to film as much as I had hoped due to this so we are currently discussing another time that we would be able to film and who we would be able to use as actors.We were left scrambling to think of actors we could use. Eventually I came up with the idea of using one of my friends from school who I know lives very close to Gavin. I texted him and he said he was able to act in our movie. With the actors we had, we filmed the opening scene of our movie. Amelia, our director was not available to film so I took on her role as director. Amelia’s absence affected the filming process negatively, however while she wasn’t physically there we were still able to contact her. My role as “director” was to make sure we were filming according to our storyboard. I also told our actors if they needed to change their demeanor or add more emotion. In addition, I let our camera person know if they needed to alter the angle they were filming the actors.

Filming blog : Preparation

Our group planned on filming this weekend for our final task. We will be going to Gavin’s house to film. To make for an efficient filming process I will have to do all my preparations before hand. This includes props, actors and camera equipment. For props we need to have “adoption papers” I will create this by using an envelope and printing the characters name on it. We will also need to set up the living room for the scene where the old lady and the teen talk. For our camera equipment we will be using someone’s phone to film. We thought this was the best idea because using the school cameras has potential risk. The camera has a limited battery and I do not want to risk the camera dying in the middle of us filming. Additionally, we will be using a tripod to help prevent shaky footage. Also, if there is a circumstance where we need to re-film and the camera is not available the footage will not match to the new footage we filmed. We finished the storyboard but we haven’t completely decided which camera angles we want to use so before this weekend I will meet with my group and we will discuss which camera angles we want to use for our opening. Tomorrow we plan to film majority of our movie starting with the establishing shot outside of the house. The only scene i do not believe we will be able to get done is the cemetery scene. We do not have a way of driving to the cemetery so we will have to schedule another time to film. We also have not confirmed our ability to film in the cemetery. I have discussed this with my group and we plan to reach out once we confirm a scheduled day to film. One issue that we have is we have not fully confirmed with the actors that they will be able to film. This is a major problem because without actors we cannot film at all. I have been contacting them and if we need to we can reschedule our filming date.
Attached you will find my attempts to contact the actors.

Planning : Storyboard

This is our storyboard for our final project. This year in AICE media studies was the first time our group was introduced to storyboarding. We have learned all about why they are important to a film. Storyboards help us plan our film ahead of time. Not only does it help with the planning aspect but the visual too. By having to draw every scene we think ahead. This helps us eliminate any issues we might run into for filming. This also helps our group work together. If one person visualizes a scene one way and everyone else is thinking something different then it could cause issues during filming. This way all of our group members are on the same page and we are ready to film.

Planning: Title Design

This is our title design for our final project. We decided to make a powerpoint and break up different aspect of our title design sequence to make it more organized. While allowing us to be more organized this also helps us plan ahead. By planning ahead we eliminate any mistakes we could have at the last minute and not be able to fix. We separated our design into font, color, spacing, and transitions. Using google slides also allows our plan to be easily shared with our group members. By using google slides we can also easily embed our slide into our blogs. We have easy access to our information and won’t lose our hard work. We did run into some problems while doing our title design powerpoint. But now those problems are resolved and my group has an idea and plan for what we will be doing for our final task.

Planning

This is the planning for the final project. In this PowerPoint, my group and I go over the planning aspect of our final project. The power-point goes over; the locations that we will use. The music that will be playing and making sure that it cannot be copyrighted. The participants are labeled, positions such as the director, actors, filmer, and editors. It also covers health and safety in the film. Things such as how to prevent injuries and in the event of an injury what we should do. Our schedule is also detailed in the power-point. It is important to have a schedule because of all the extracurricular that my group is involved in we need to organize our availabilities. That is what we discussed in the power-point.

Planning: Shooting Script

This is the shooting script for our project. This can also be used as the “directors script”. We created the shooting script as somewhat of a written form of our storyboard. We separated our opening sequence by scene and did a breakdown of what we will film. We included the camera angles, camera movement, shots, and a brief description of what the characters will be doing in each scene. The importance of making a shooting script is to ensure a smooth filming experience. If we neglected this step in the planning process it would almost certainly result in error and many circumstances in which we would need to reshoot. Due to a short time frame and a busy schedule, we do not have the luxury of filming an abundance of reshoots. Another reason we do this is to organize our thoughts. Writing out the script for our opening sequence allows us to visualize what the opening sequence and make edits if we feel necessary.

Planning: Sound Script

This is the sound script for the final project. We separated our opening sequence by scene and indicated exactly what the audience will be hearing in each scene. We included the dialogue, voice-over, any diegetic or non-diegetic sound and the music heard in each scene. The importance of making a sound script is to ensure a smooth filming and editing experience. If we neglected this step in the planning process it would almost certainly result in an error and many circumstances in which we would need to reshoot or re-edit. Due to a short time frame and a busy schedule, we do not have the luxury of filming an abundance of reshoots or much time to re-edit. Another reason we do this is to organize our thoughts. Writing out the script for our opening sequence allows us to discuss whether we feel these sounds make sense in our movie and if the dialogue is clear and understandable for the audience. The sound is a major component in guiding the viewer on how to feel and portraying the emotions of the characters. For these reasons, we found it necessary to write out our sound script before starting the filming process.

Title sequence: Trapped (thriller)

Finally, I watched the opening sequence off Trapped from artofthetitle.com
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? In the opening sequence, a total of 31 titles are shown. It ends with the creator of the movie and the title of the movie. Its duration is one minute

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? The pictures in the title sequence are close-ups of dead bodies and the lethal wounds that led them to death. It also shows the location of the movie which is in the ocean due to the fact that the movie's setting is on a boat in the middle of nowhere.

What connotations do the images carry? The pictures are shown to tell the viewer how the movie is going to go. It does this by displaying these images that consist of foreshadowing and setting. It uses graphic and action matches to switch between the 2 types of images, in turn, making the titles more exciting.

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? The thriller genre is reinforced here by the suspense within the images. It also alludes to the genre being a thriller by showing a dead body but not the killer leading the viewer to create suspense in the story and make it more exciting.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset? The outset in the film is used to set up a kind of tension or surprise inside the viewer's mind. As well as giving the target audience these interesting images without rationalization. This tactic makes the viewer need more and end up extra invested in the film.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? What was said previously also applies here. It leaves the viewer with questions that could only be fulfilled in time within the movie. It appeals because the target market would be thriller/mystery fanatics and how they continually want to solve what's happening earlier than the film suggests it. To do this you have to be absolutely attentive towards the movie. This is why the strategy is so effective.

How has technology been used effectively? There were many different technologies used. These consist of low lighting, ominous music, close-ups, establishing shots, action matches, and graphic matches. The low lighting and ominous music add to the mysterious tone of the movie which also helps the thrilling side. It makes use of close-ups when it is displaying the body parts of the dead body. It makes use of establishing shots to expose that the setting is in the ocean. It uses the graphic/action matches to interchange between the establishing shots and close-ups.

Title research: Skyfall (thriller)

With the intentions of learning more about the genre we will be filming about I decided to to watch and study another film. The film I have chosen is Skyfall. I chose this film because of its unique filming techniques that really grasp the audience. I'm using www.artofthetitle.com. to help research the film.
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
32 titles were displayed in the opening sequence.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
The images displayed in the opening sequence are clips of the main character drowning.
What connotations do the images carry?
These images in the opening sequence connote that maybe the main character has lost his touch and is not as good as he was.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The film shows guns and graves which hints towards death in the film which adds to the thriller in the movie.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The film provides the audience with clips of the main character dying which makes the audience question if it is the last movie.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
The directors' used strategies that are dark and gloomy to make the audience have a sense of anticipation.
How has technology been used effectively? (camera angles, transitions editing techniques)
The opening scene is made up of clips of the main character. They have a subtle fade editing from clip to clip which adds to the tone.

Title research: Godzilla: Final Wars (thriller)

To further my genre research, I watched another movie opening from my genre. The movie opening was from the movie “Godzilla: Final Wars”. I watched it on the website www.watchthetitles.com.

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
During the opening sequences of the film 20 titles are displayed.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
Images that are prioritized in the opening sequence is a nuclear blast, Godzilla destroying buildings and things, and Japanese people and police being terrified of this monster.
What connotations do the images carry?
These images connote Godzilla’s metaphorical significance. The first image of a nuclear blast represents how the Japanese are as scared of a large dragon with atomic breath and they are of an atomic bomb.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The genre is reinforced because the outset establishes tones that are found in the thriller genre. By seeing images of people running scared, we know the movie is a thriller filled with suspension and action.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The outset establishes and enigma by using jump cuts and showing partial clips. In the outset we only see people running and screaming. We know it is from Godzilla but it leaves the audience with an enigma of “how did Godzilla escape?” “is Godzilla defeated?”
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
Strategies the film uses to appeal to its target audience is keeping main characters, having the same score/theme song, and franchising. This movie is one of the Godzilla franchise which means that they kept their target audience by franchising and giving the audience the same content just in continued movies.
How has technology been used effectively? (camera angles, transitions editing techniques)
Technology has been used effectively throughout this entire film. It is mostly used through editing. Godzilla doesn’t exist and they edited a big monster which is the antagonist of the film. The editors edit buildings being destroyed and fire coming out of its mouth.

Title research : Code 8 (thriller)

To further my genre research, I watched some movie openings from my genre. I watched the opening of the movie Code 8 from www.artofthetitle.com.
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
32 titles were displayed in the opening sequence.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
The images displayed in the opening sequence are clips from news articles and broadcasts.
What connotations do the images carry?
These images in the opening sequence connote wicked and powerful effects of science and technology on society.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The opening of this film shows very alarming media broadcasts this allows the viewer to pick up on the thrilling aspect of the movie. Also, the way the media broadcasts are displayed as glitchy contributes to the suspense of the opening scene.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The film provides the audience with small clips of the main conflict in the movie but cuts to the next clip before the viewer can discover the cause or outcome.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
The directors' used strategies such as a feeling of suspense and the use of social media to draw in younger audiences.
How has technology been used effectively? (camera angles, transitions editing techniques)
The opening scene is made up of clips so the director used technology to ensure the clips were properly edited together and in a way that would provide a feeling of suspense. In addition, the clips were edited to have a glitch effect which would also help the viewer feel on edge which is the effect the director is going for.

Title research : artofthetitle.com

In order to understand more about our genre and films in general our teachers assigned us a task. To research the titles used in films of our genre. In order to do this my group and I will be using a website call www.artofthetitle.com. What this website does is takes a movie that you searched and shows you the titles.
The reason our teachers have assigned us to do this is for our benefit. In researching titles we further understand the elements that go into our genre, thriller. My group and I now understands the components needed to a good title transition in a movie. For a typical thriller movie, the titles will happen just before something extremely important. The reason for this is to leave the audience on a cliff hanger so that they stay engaged even though they now have to go through the not so engaging titles.
However, having said that the titles are boring, film producers are constantly trying to make the titles more engaging. They are accomplishing this by having titles that have a meaning to the movie. In many thriller titles the film will show something of significance in the background. Whether that be the main character of the antagonist it keeps the audience guessing and engaged even though titles are going on.
So overall, the title slides are very important because they give credit and also illude to the theme of the film. That is why it is important that we research them and use the tricks the pros use when we film our short movie.

Title research: watch the titles.com

To further research movie openings related to our genre, we took the time to look through the webiste, "www.watchthetitles.com." Our teachers told us that this website consists of several movie openings from a variety of genres. They said hat it would give us a great idea of how we want to begin our final project.
          Our main goal in researching is to end up resembling one of these famous movies' openings into our final product. If we take the time to assess both the pros and cons of each film's openings, we can definitely find a way to incorporate these movies'  best features into our project. This will not only help us perfect our final project, but it will make our movie opening more appealing to those who view it.
          After watching a few openings from the thriller genre (our genre), I realized that both title fonts and music help set the mood for the movie depending on what genre its categorized in and what its theme/message is. In fact, because of genre is thriller, we want the components of our opening o resemble the elements of our genre. This includes suspense, tension, and excitement.
          Special effects are also important in a movies' opening, especially one associated with the thriller genre. After watching more thriller openings, we realized that effects play a big part in making openings more appealing/attractive. Openings that incorporated more editing seemed to look like they would be better than those who didn't at all or not as much. It would not only help us set the mood for our opening but to attract larger, more diverse audiences.
          Overall, this website gave us a general idea of how we should structure our opening and what elements we should focus on. Surprisingly, it also reminded us that the credits are also a major part of properly/professionally ending an opening/trailer.

Genre research: Taken 2

Finally I watched Taken 2. Here are some common camera angles, movements, and shots found in this movie:
High Angles: Used mostly to establish chasing scenes in this movie with a wider, more full view.
Dutch/ Candid: Used to add suspense to some important, intense scenes.
Tracking Shot/ Pan: Mostly used in chasing scenes as well. Also used, however, to establish the main idea of the movie (that he is looking for his ex-wife).
Zoom: Adds suspense to the film. Mostly used on the main character, Bryan Mills, to emphasize/ intensify the idea that he is serious and will do anything he can to find his ex-wife.
Close up: Mostly used on the main character to intensify the suspense of the film.
Here is common mis-en-scene associated with this film:
Costumes: In this film, there were no differences in clothing between the antagonist and protagonist. Both character groups wore suits.
Lighting: Used mostly ambient light to capture the idea that the main character of the movie was traveling around the world trying to find his ex-wife.
Actor: The main character/actor in this film was Liam Neeson who plays Bryan Mills. He is known because of his skill set and intelligence.
Make-Up: Mainly used in fighting scenes. Injuries, scars, bullet wounds, etc.
Props: Most props revolved around violence as there were many knives, guns, other weapons present in the movie.
Setting: The setting of Taken 2 was Istanbul, Turkey. The antagonist group was from there and his ex-wife had happened to be vacationing there when she was kidnapped.
Common editing found in Taken 2:
          The editing found in this movie ranged depending on the situation at hand. However, general editing transitions used in this film can be described as fast, random, and rapid. This is mainly to maintain the suspense associated in the thriller genre. One editing technique that was used a lot were jump cuts. This was mainly to build upon the suspense of the movie with the constant change of direction/ plan of the main character. Flashbacks were also used a lot, but not for the same reason. Because his ex-wife was taken, another theme of the movie revolved around their lost relationships. Flashbacks were implemented to show the audience that he loves and misses her.

Common sound found in Taken 2:
          Loud, intense, and upbeat music was mainly used throughout this movie to build upon its suspense and keep the audience on their toes. It was probably the driving force of the film. However, some other sounds were implemented. For example, lots of dialogue was used to establish the movie’s situarion/ the idea that his ex-wife was kidnapped and that he would do anything to find her. Diegetic sounds were even used to portray the idea that kidnappings happen in real life all the time.

Elements of the Movie in Comparison to the Elements of the Thriller Genre:
         Taken 2 is definitely categorized under the thriller genre because of the suspense associated with the movie. The audience is overwhelmed by the idea that Bryan Mills may not find  his ex-wife or will die in the process. Taken 2 is also told from the point of view of the protagonist which is typical in most thrillers. It is also clear that the antagonist in this film (which is the Turkish group) has a plan/scheme. This is common in most thrillers and also helps build the theme/ purpose of the movie.

To wrap up this blog, I am going to talk about the elements of this movie that I liked and disliked. To start, I liked how the storyline revolved around a man trying to find his kidnapped ex-wife. I feel like it made his journey more personal and subsequently connected the audience to film more. To be real, I don’t think I disliked anything about this film. I genuinely thought it was good. However, if I had to criticize something it would have to be about the antagonist group. I feel like the movie company could have kept the audience engaged more by making the antagonist group originate from a different country/ethnicity. This is because subtitles sometimes distract audiences. Some people don’t even read them.

Genre research: Split

The next movie I watched was Split. Split is a psychological thriller that is about three teenage girls who get kidnapped by a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder. This means he has 23 different personalities and the viewer is constantly in suspense of who he is and what he is going to do. Some common camera angles are the low angle, high angle, close ups, long shots, and establishing shots. The low angles are used when looking at the kidnapped girls. The high angles are used when looking up at the antagonist named Kevin. This establishes a sense of dominance. The establishing shot isn’t until the end of this movie. When one of the girls is rescued the shot shows her walking out and being surrounded by animals. This establishes that she was being held captive in the maintenance area of a Zoo for the entire movie.
Common camera movements in this film are zoom, fade in, tracking shots, and jump cuts. When the girls are first abducted it fades in into a shot where it shows the room they are being kept in. The tracking shots and zoom are used in action scenes where they are trying to escape. Jump cuts are used throughout the film. The sharp jump cuts add to the suspense of the movie. Common sounds in this movie are non diegetic sound, sound bridge, incidental music, and dialogue. Non diegetic sound is used a lot in this film. It is used when the are kidnapped and they scream for help. A sound bridge is used when one girl finally escapes and the music gets louder and she nears freedom. Incidental music is used for many scenes in the film where the beat and music matches whats happening and increases anticipation and tension.
The Mis en Scene in this film helps make it more enjoyable for the reader and adds to the authenticity. The costumes are regular modern street wear. As the film progresses the customers get dirtier; one example of this is when one girl pees herself. The costumes also change as Kevin changes personalities. The lighting in this film is low when they are in captivity but get brighter when they are saved and outside. The actors are young teenagers who are abducted by one man who plays 23 different personalities. The makeup starts off minimal but towards the end of the movie it turns into special effects makeup as some of the girls are killed. The props include murder weapons like knives that are commonly found in thriller movies. Elements of a thriller movie include suspense, tension, anticipation, surprise, anxiety, terror, drama, and action. I enjoy the drama, suspense, and anticipation of the girls being rescued. I didn’t like the suspense, tension, or action that the movie had throughout.

Genre research: Get Out

The second movie that I chose to study is "Get Out". I Chose get out because of its unique aspect on a thriller. To further inspect how it uses the thriller genre I decided to research the movie using CLAMPS. CLAMPS stands for camera angles, lighting, actors, makeup, props, and setting.
Camera angles- In "Get Out", there are a variety of types of camera angles. However, the most commonly used camera angles are a lot of close up shots. The reason for these close up shots is to limit the audiences perspective. This leaves more unknown areas making the movie more scary.
Lighting- The lighting in this film was bright. But it was bight with a strong dark contrast. That makes the movie more eerie. Which in turn makes the movie more like a thriller because the audience gets the sense that something is not right.
Actors- The actors in "Get Out" were majority white except for the main character who was black. The difference in skin color gives an intruding feeling. That feeling again hints to something being off in the film. Which further adds to the scare factor.
Makeup- The makeup is not that noticeable in the movie. Leading me to believe that they didn't use any that is out of the ordinary. That makes unorthodox compared to a typical horror film which normally uses a lot of makeup.
Props- The props in this film are everyday house hold items. Which allows the movie to hit close to home. Making it even more scary.  The costumes in "Get Out" are average white clothing. This helps power one of the underlining themes of racism because the main character who is black seems out of place.
Setting- The setting in this movie is in an average white suburban neighborhood. This also gives an intruding feeling being that the main character is black.