Our storyboard:
- The story board and script for our Portfolio Project is key for the overall grade and the quality of the film as we surely need both for sound and to know exactly how the film opening will be. In this Kai which is one one my partners for the project sketched the storyboard which was crucial for our thriller film opening.
The story board:
Media Theory:
One of the requirements that the teacher has said, is to integrate a media theory into our Portfolio Project, which we struggled a bit on due to the confusion on these theories, but together we figured out what media theory we wanted to do. And that is the enigma code from Roland Barthes narrative codes.
Enigma Code:
The enigma code is a narrative technique as stated above, in which a story withholds information to create mystery or leave a plot point unexplained. To keep the audience watching and entertained, the plot is structured in a way that there is jo clear explanation for why anything is happening. Enigma codes are frequently utilized in thrillers, which we want to do, and mystery films due to the suspense and engagement they create through questions that rise but aren't answered.
A little about how we will integrated:
-We will apply the Enigma code in Hollow Point by never revealing what the glowing bag is or what happens to the three friends after they enter the trance, and by having the fourth friend show up. Since the audience isn't shown what is inside the bag and isn't given any explanation of what this trance is, it makes them think of certain things, like, 'Does the bag have powers?', 'Where did the friends go?' and 'How did the bag get there?'
Today was a short one, but a detailed one. Keep tuned for another post tomorrow in which will get a little more interesting.
Stay tuned!
Our idea:
-Our initial ideas is that three friends in a car in an empty parking lot at night, waiting for one other friend. One of the friends in the car notices a strange bag in the middle of the parking lot. He tells the others, then steps out to check it. When he opens the bag, he enters a trance. The others start yelling at him, and they also go out to see what he's looking at, but they are too caught up in their own trance. Then the scene cuts to the fourth friend walking up. When he gets there, the car is still running, with no one in sight except a strange bag and some of his friends' personal belongings lying on the floor.
-This idea is in the thriller genre, and we try to make it at night to seem more suspenseful and intense. We came up with the title being "Hallow Point", as "Hollow" relates to the emptiest part of the parking lot, and to the emptiest of people's minds when they are in a trance. The point that came from the bag is a specific point from the hollowness of the rest. It hints at emptiness and danger without revealing the plot, making it effective for a thriller film, as it can spark curiosity. I believe that the ideas is overall very solid as well as the title. The title represents the overall theme and the whole point of the film.
Our inspiration:
-For the film opening and our idea we surely did research and found some inspiration. We found "Talk to Me" very interesting, later inspiring us to make a possessed type of theme. But instead of doing the horror part of the film, we included the thriller part of it and of course the key thing that happens in "Talk to Me."
-This film really speaks out to us in a way that no other did. So, we go this idea from this film but extracted the horror part like the devil into some other thing so it's thriller and not horror. We haven't gotten an exact idea of what comes after the film opening, even though we aren't doing that part, but of course, we want to establish that. We would not use the horror part of the film just the thriller.
Our other inspiration: "Jaws"
So did we, but not about the sharks and such. We really focused on the opening for our own. The opening starts with a group of friends drinking and eating, really just chilling, like we want to do. Not only the friends at the start but the curiosity after. As the girl starts running in the water, the boy that was following seemed confused in which we are trying to do. The 4th friend trying to find the other three in a trance is confused on where they are as the boy in "Jaws" was about the girl.
That was all for today's blog. Tomorrow I will be back for another post, stay focused and tuned for my next blog. See you soon!
Group meeting #1 reflection
Our group idea: Our own ideas is that 3 friends are chilling, eating and just talking in the car late at night while waiting for the 4th friend. As they drive they come across a bag in the middle of nowhere. One person yell at the rest and they go and check it out. While they wait for their friend, they look in the bag and get cough up in their own trance. While their belongings are in the floor and car is on running, the other friend tries contacting them but can't as they are in a trance.
-We surely need to improve some things as some ideas we got from our peers were, a low angle shot from the bag, maybe include less people in the film opening, and instead of a trance its a portal and they, very fast, close it and take it with them. Some ideas might help and us ourselves might need to change.
Samuel: His Portfolio Project ideas for his film opening seemed a little disoriented as he didn't have any clear idea. Samuel had said that his group's film opening is going to take place in a medical room, as a famous doctor treats a famous person and the famous person dies. As this person died, the doctor gets blamed or everything. The idea wasn't very clear in which more work should b implemented.
Trisha: Her idea seemed interesting, as it is about an evil robot or some kind of AI. She was a little lost on the fact that she needs to establish a way in which the audience would know the evil that is happening is a robot/AI. The ideas is about a girl in her house, the doorbell rung and she went to check it out. As she looks outside there is no one in view. When she goes back in after checking, she finds that something is off. She had said that maybe the lamp or an object that wasn't there before. This ideas is very good and I liked it, but the way in which she has to make sure the audience knows the evil isn't a person has to be further developed.
Ethan: This was the most interesting film opening idea I heard in the group meeting #1. It is a Sci-fi movie, in which a rocket breaks in space while the astronaut is in it. He has said that the production set will take about 2-3 weeks to make which is very long. He also said, and it was very cool, that for the astronaut he is going to use a stick bot toy, in which is usually used for navigation but in this case it will be as a prop/main character. He had mentioned that the lighting will be what he struggles the most with. But I personally think he can manage it and do his best. I surely want to see the end result of his film opening as it seems very interesting.
Avery: Another well developed and interesting idea was Avery's. Her idea was about a cheerleader that cheers but also is a drug dealer. her in a basketball player work together to deal drugs. Her initial idea was that the cheerleader, after practice, rushed at a van with a kind of black color to signify that she is a drug dealer. Going to the van with drugs after the practice really shows a development and makes sure to leave the audience in a cliff ganger as well as with an idea of where they are going.
That is all for today. I will be back for the next one.
Stay tuned!
Credit scenes: In thriller films, credit scenes are key, as they are treated as part of the storytelling, not just list people. What I mean by listing people, is, credit scenes can be at the start or at end.
They begin listing the cast and other production people who worked and helped develop the film. Credit scenes apart from the cast and production poeple, they provide the title and play music/video.
In this case, I will provide some research about thriller opening scenes, due to our Portfolio Project being a film opening, meaning we need to include the credit scenes at the start, definetely not at the end. I will use thriller credit scenes because our chosen genre is thriller as for now, meaning I will research about credit scenes that contain the genre thriller to gain experience and inspiration.
First thriller credit scene: (Se7en)
Overview: This credit scene shows disturbing close-ups of a person cutting photos, stiching what appears to be skin, and writing a lot into a notebook. This credit scene that not only shows the production but also develops the theme of the film.
It indeed creates unease at the start of the film which initially tells the audience what the film will be about. It shows obsession without any context through using chaotic editing as well as the weird and unsettling music in the backround.
Second thriller credits: (Zodiac)
Overview: This credit scene opening is exactly what me and my partners are aiming to accomplish in our own film opening.The film opens wityh families outside, kids playing, fireworks in the sky as the camera slowly moves around the neighborhood in which the zodiac symbol and credit scenes appear on screen.
This opening appears as joyful as everyone seems happy and just a chill neighborhood, but later on tragic things happen. The film opening tries to establish a tone just for it later to change very quickly which very much affects the overall plot.
Third credit scene: (Vertigo)
Thriller films are exciting and very tense throughout all films. That's what makes thriller films special, so today I will provide three film openings from separate films in the category of thriller genre and discuss them.
I am doing this to not only gain knowledge but to get experience for my own Portfolio Project in which me and my group would make a film opening
First film opening: (The Dark Knight)
Overview: The film opening doesn't open with Batman, instead it initiates with a bank robbery carried out by a group of masked criminals, which states that it isn't a normal super heroe setup. Instead viewers are striked with instant tension, danger, and constant pressure.
One by one each criminal is taken down, leaving one survivor, The Joker. As he walks out, his calmness clearly makes sure the audience knows whos in control.
Some techniques are: Instant tension without explanation, opposite of the expected, meaning not what usually happens at the start, and the use of sound and pacing.
This film opening introduces the antagonist which is the Joker, achieving this by major chaos and such.
Second film opening: (The Silence of the Lambs): I initially saw this in the nearpod the teacher provided for us and I checked it out afterwards and it seemed interesting. So here I am, explaining the film opening!
Overview: This thriller film opening establoshed the characters immediately. Clarice( main charactor) being determined, isolated, under pressure, as the audience understands her personality due to details. As it creates mystery instead of fear, it creates the tension by the audience asking themselves these questions: What assigmwnt she will get, who she will face, and why they called her.
This film opening forms and builds suspense through character psychology, power, and the unseen danger that was expected from beggining to end of the film opening.
Third film opening: (Mission impossible-- Prague Operation)
Overview: Mission Impossible always has impacting film openings that never leave the audience empty handed. They create suspense and great danger, not only at the start but throughout the whole film. Non-stop.
The film starts with a CIA mission led by Jim Phelps attempts to stop a mole from stealing a list of undercover agents. The operation is done carefully, then suddendly it all goes bad with extreme tension.
The audience is expecting a normal spy mission, but no. The team is wiped out one by one causing shock and a sense that no one is truly safe. The secret signals and cross-cutting technique really helps develop furthermore then what it was originally made for which adds to the great tension the film opening had.
By killing the entire team, it leaves Ethan, which is one of the main characters in the whole series of films, all alone, which is crucial for for a thriller as there is absolutely no support system.
All these films have had a great impact in their film openings, and me and my partners will try our very best to maintain high level film opening attempts like the ones I provided, if we get to maintain the genre thriller without change.
That is it for today, but tomorrow I will be back at it in another blog. Thank you for you'r time. See yall in the next one!
Research of my choice.
Since my past blogs, me and my partners have changed our minds about our genre we considered to be best for our film opening. We have recently agreed to look more into the thriller genre since we have gotten interest by that.
What is thriller?
Thriller is a type of genre in which it creates tension and suspense as well as excitement. It requires a lot of techniques to make a film opening based on thriller but nothing is impossible to do. especially if my mind is fully locked in for the project.
Thriller:
Thriller is usually aimed towards teens (14-45) due to the intense themes, the violence, and the complexity.
Thriller is for viewers who like suspense, crime, mystery, danger as well as fast paced narratives.
The themes:
Crime, justice, corruption, identity, deception, paranoia, survival, and power.
Techniques matter a lot:
In this case thriller requires special techniques such as, low-key lighting, tight close-ups to show fear, handheld camera, fast-paced cuts while the action takes place, and sudden silence before important moments.
My personal best show of all time: "Breaking bad" was and is sill he best film ever created. Breaking Bad was the most peak show I have ever watched and now that I learned more about the media sphere I can see why.
Breaking bad was a thriller/Drama show about crime and how a normal science teacher turns into one of the largest drug distributer and creator in the whole nation. Having the best product, the science teacher changes his whole character. Once a normal father and science teacher, happily married to a criminal mastermind behind the deaths of many.
That was it for today. Our recent change of genre is going to be a big switch off in our blogs in general. Mine specifically!
My Schedule:
Since week 1 already happened, me and my group need to start thinking of how we will schedule what we are going to do. We initially got 8 weeks but now with 7 weeks we need to manage our time. I have came with my schedule plan to initiate everything starting now.
Week 1( already done): (1/16-1/23)
-Research genres/sub-genres
-Start with our initial plan: Research possible ideas.
- The transition the the Portfolio Project.
Week 2: (1/26-2/1)
- Researching film openings to gain ideas from the preferable genres as well as researching credit scenes to not only gain ideas but gain experience for our own film opening.
-What I am doing right now is making my schedule for the whole project which is partt of week 2
- Researching another genre for a possible change of main genre for our own film opening.
Week 3: (2/2-2/8)
-The first reflection based on the group meeting#1 in which the feedback we ger back could be very helpful towards the overall film.
-Research for media theories to see which one works best for our film opening.
-Finding an inspiration towards the film opening.
-Finalizing the storyboard for an overall view on the Portfolio Project.
Week 4: (2/9-2/15)
- Integrating ideas about the characters in the film opening and their development that will be done throughout the film.
-Plan mise-en-scene
-Plan audio elements
-And possibly start filming
Week 5: (2/16-2/22)
-Any planning we add is done this week.
-Design the production logo
-Begin filming and film the process
Week 6: (2/23-3/1)
-Post production and reflection preping
-Film any scenes we missed in our original day we planned to film.
-Edit the footage we have for the film opening
-Research and plan CCR#1
Week 7: (3/2-3/8)
- Research CCR #2/#3 and #4
-Plan CCR structure aswell as content and film approach
-Produce CCR and edit
-Write the final reflection on the overall project
Post the links to finalize the project
Week 8: (3/9-3/17)
-Since we plan to finish before. Week 8 is just in case any unexpected obstacles.
I hope this schedule can work as efficient as possible so that me and my partners can complete this easily by sticking to the structure.
Thank you for the patience, we are so close.
SEE YOU SOON!
Hello friends. The portfolio project is a Aice Media AS level end of the year project worth 50% of the overall final exam grade. It is crucial that this project is done right and efficient to exceed the requirements.
For the Portfolio Project, I will be working with 2 of the same guys that I had recently done another project with in which we did good and got a very good grade considering that the grading is intensely strict. I came into this class just wanting to get the Aice diploma, and I'm not going to lie, I even thought that it was a class in which we would take the final in fall. I even wanted to leave after i really found out was this class truly was. Then integrating myself in the class was when i truly started liking it. Yes, I lack some skills, but now that i am more motivated then ever, I will put my fullest effort to succeed in this Portfolio Project.
We as a group agreed and eventually made a plan/draft:
We decided to make the brother/best friend that hasn't passed away to receive a phone call, whether it's from the hospital or police to communicate to him about the fact that his brother/friend has just passed away. We wanted to be very very close to 2 minutes as that is a rule. We want to make it as realistic as possible, as well as to not make it cringe and to build suspense for the audience to enjoy a good film opening.
Well, that was a lot of detail. I hope you stay tuned and see you in the next one!
Sub-genre: Action-drama
I personally wanted to do this type of film because out of all the films I have watched action-drama has always been my favorite genre. I'm not saying that there aren't any other good genres but this one specifically stood out when I watched these films.
Here are 2 incredible action-drama films that really impressed me and is why I am choosing this sub-genre.
One more that I enjoyed the most was Sinners:
Action-Drama films usually tend to target teens and adults (15–45) who enjoy intense, fast‑paced types of films. These people who enjoy watching this type of genre, just like me, tend to like fast paced narratives as well as sharp thrillers with some drama of course to entertain ourselves. People look for high risk missions and dangerous situations and this sub-genre really helps with that ambition that they seek.
A variety of conventions like fast paced editing, hand-held camera for some realism, and close ups in tense or emotional situations are what action-drama sub-genre films have and help develop many themes throughout the events that occur.
Genre: Action
The usual primary target audience is typically males ranging from 15-45 years old wanting to watch intense like films. For example "mission impossible" is a great example of an action movie which viewers acquire a lot of intense content in which became very popular due to the continuous movies under this title. Audiences willing to watch action movies typically have interest to Thrillers, combat, adventure, crime, and just intense stunts.
Viewers should expect different variations like life or death situation, threats to an individual or just anyone or anything in general, aswell as hand to hand combat, gun fights, car chases, explosions and even destruction.
Some techniques that should be included in action films are: fast paced editing to create a tense tone throughout the film aswell as maybe including hand-held camera movement to create a tone in which nothing is perfect and chaos of some kind is currently going on.
Posters of some kind like the one I provided. In action movies these posters tend to have weapons or anything threatening, in this case tom cruise: main actor: has scars and a meesed up face indicating chaos.
Apart from Mission Impossible another action movie that is great in John Wick. I recently watched the newest one and it was great. A lot of combat aswell as a criminal underworld which overall made the film intense. Again with a gun and very intense backround.(RED)
For the music marketing project process we as a group decided who does what in the project. I am doing a social media resources account on instagram in which I will post different types of things. I will also be doing the story board with specific drawings and such. We planned well enough in which all of us know what will be done each day until the project is due. We planned for Kai to do the case study and where to distribute. Sebastien will be doing the posters, merchandise, and he we planned for him to edit the video. Maraat will act in the video and do the voice overs in the presentation in which Emmanuel will be creating, organizing, and the advertising.
For our research we found out who the artists/band of our song we got was so that we could correctly make merch, video, and the main target for the audience so that we could express who he is and how he will make it into the big leagues as he progresses with his career. We examined the different songs and did our research on who fits better what we are trying to make.
Our activity goals for the project was to visibly and physically show different aspects of our character so others that don't know much can understand our project just as much as everyone else. Our character was in her mid 50s, is a retired singer in which was very popular back in the day. She loved sharing her life lessons and lived a cozy life. We made visual presentations to actively show who our character is and for them to understand our character fully.
We organized our station as neat as possible with concrete and easy visual objects to help others know who our character is and what she did or how she lives. We organized it with books, microphone/music things aswell as music records of her past songs from when she was really popular. We made it a cozy place as our character lived in that circumstance.
We developed our character as easy and simple as possible so that others could understand what she goes through in her live and who she is. As a group we all noted and applied some key things from the notes so we can fully represent our character. we added stereotypes of our character so that others can easily find clues about who she was and still is. Our process to this project was easy and hard as we struggled a bit in making the online quiz type of thing but when we got the hang of it it got easier and good enough for others to find it simple aswell. I think it turned out very good, and we should be proud aswell as everyone else that applied an effort to this project.
Action movies are some of the most interesting kinds of
films ever made. They are full of adventures, heroes, and challenges. Directors
like James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, and the Russo Brothers make action
movies that keep people on the edge of their seats.
One reason action movies are so popular is because they are
fun for almost everyone. Kids, teens, and adults all love watching heroes fight
bad guys, save people, and go on missions. These movies usually have a lot of
movement, special effects, and stunts. Some famous action movies like Avengers:
Endgame and Top Gun: Maverick made billions of dollars because they were full
of heart-pounding scenes and strong characters that people cared about.
Action movies usually have a brave main character who has to
stop a bad guy or save the world. There are often helpers or sidekicks who make
the story more fun. The hero might be a superhero, a spy, a soldier, or even a
regular person who becomes a hero. The story takes place in places like cities,
jungles, space, or secret bases. There are always tough battles, car chases,
and moments when the hero has to be brave and never give up.
Action movies also use special production techniques to make
everything look real and exciting. The camera moves quickly during fights and
slows down during big moments to make them more powerful. There are loud sounds
like explosions, crashes, and music that make your heart race. The lighting
changes too — bright during the day and dark when things get scary or serious.
Special effects make it possible to show things like spaceships, dinosaurs, or
superheroes flying.
Studios work hard to market action movies so people want to
watch them. The posters show the heroes in cool poses, sometimes with fire or
smoke behind them. The trailers show the most exciting parts of the movie to
grab people’s attention. Taglines are short and powerful, like “The World Needs
a Hero” or “One Mission. One Chance.” Big studios like Marvel, Warner Bros.,
and Universal make most of these films and sell toys, games, and clothes based
on the movies.
It has superheroes like Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor
working together to save the universe. There are giant battles, teamwork, and
emotional moments that make you cheer and sometimes cry. The movie uses awesome
special effects and music that makes everything feel epic. The poster shows all
the heroes ready for action, standing together against evil.
This movie is about dinosaurs coming back to life in a theme
park. At first, it seems fun — until the dinosaurs escape! Then the heroes must
run, fight, and survive. The movie has amazing computer effects that make the
dinosaurs look real and exciting chase scenes that make you feel like you’re
there.
Action movies are so much fun because they let us imagine
being heroes too. They show courage, teamwork, and never giving up — even when
things get tough. Whether it’s superheroes, spies, or everyday people saving
the day, action movies remind us that anyone can be brave.
Some other great action movies are Spider-Man: No Way Home,
Black Panther, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Transformers, and Guardians of
the Galaxy.
What I learned from both of the sound projects was how to use techniques on video sound to create a story or a short film without any video showing and when it is showing. These techniques helped myself understand and comprehend how to use sound to develop different aspects of how to make film with or without video viewing.
For the first sound project me and my partner had to create a film only with sounds and techniques provided in class and canvas where we had to develop scenes within the film and apply sounds to help develop what the film is about using only sounds. Brainstorming took time but we developed a clear and neat understanding of our time travel approach we had made for the sound project number one .In the other hand, for the second sound project me and my partner created a sound outline to use some of those into our one word film project from a while ago. Since we had to split and work individually, I added backround noise as well as pencil sounds and footsteps. These type of sounds allows the audience get a clear understanding of where the setting took place and other little aspects of the film itself.
Overall we used clipchamp to organize our sounds we got from the internet in which we downloaded and imported in clip champ. What could have been done better was adding a more suspense type of sound throughout the sound project one. For sound project two, what could of been improved was adding some sound that creates a hateful tone as that was the word assigned to my on word project. What was one well in both was the sound timing as everything was aligned well for a clear understanding of the setting and how it happened and what was happening.
The one word project was a project in which we were assigned 1 word and had to film and edit the video so we could later on submit in the link the teacher specifically noted and put into the assigment.
Our approach in this project was to create a short story in which me and sofia were a couple but i hated her, so in the film i had to hate her as our word was hateful. We showed that in the film aswell as the brainstorming sheet and the storyboard. Both the storyboard and brainstorming sheet helped with the film as we followed the timeline in which we provided in those sheets. During brainstorming we figured out what to do and correctly fimed it aswell as writing it down. We edited in the Imovie app in which we did many transitions and many cuts throughout the film we recorded.
I think that we could improve some things including, movement techniques, specific editing techniques, and maybe the storyline to make it seem more hateful as the word was. What was done wll was the plot and the connection it had with the word. Even though somethings could be improved, it was well organized and followed directions as stated in the assigment on canvas.
d The group project, Camera shots quiz was 15 pictures reflecting about a story in which students like myself had to make up and complete in a powerpoint.
My partner and I made up a story about a student that had to pick whether it was a pencil or a pen so the student could write with it.
My partner and I completed this in class and organized it in a way it was completely visible and understanding. We approached the development in a unique way but easy to understand for myself and everyone else. We used a lot of different shots and angles that were provided in the details on the quiz aswell as different angles and shots we decided to pick on our own. We would have improved our shots used since we repeated some of them a little too much.
My name is christian, I wanted to make this blog for my class Aice media studies and learn more about how this works. I wanna learn more about different things and aswell as me learning I will be posting much more aswell.Thank you for joining me on this journey. I look forward to engaging with you and sharing knowledge that can make a difference.
