Audience and Institution Essay

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

Marketing is a critical tool used by companies to promote their film. The main purpose of marketing is to expose and connect a specific film to the widest possible audience.

Synergy is a major marketing technique that is utilized by film companies. Disney, a huge conglomerate, used its subsidiary ABC to promote the upcoming release of the 2017 film, “Beauty and the Beast.” ABC’s TV series, “The Bachelor” released a special edition episode hosted by the stars of the film. The use of synergy was important to the film’s success because it attracted a wider audience. When the audience of, “The Bachelor,” watched the special edition they may have become curious about the film because both the series and the film have a romantic theme. If the audience liked the movie stars in the series’ special, then they might be more inclined to see the film. Furthermore, Disney used ABC’s “The Bachelor” to connect “Beauty and the Beast” to a wider adult audience because Disney movies are marketed mainly for children. Disney made about 1.3 billion dollars worldwide, which is a huge success, because of what synergy contributed to the film’s exposure.

Cross-promotion is another major technique that companies use to help market their film. Disney and Marvel teamed up with Dairy Queen to create cup prints and a limited-time Blizzard flavor inspired by the new Marvel film “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” The picture on the Dairy Queen cup showcased the title of the film and its release date. The use of cross-promotion was important to the film’s success because it attracted a wider and more diverse audience. The creation of a new limited-time Blizzard flavor would encourage more people to go to Dairy Queen and could possibly cause them to go more frequently. The idea of being one of the only people who get to experience the flavor makes them feel special, which in turn, urges them to go more often. Since the new flavor is inspired by “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” the fans of Dairy Queen may gain an interest in the film because they would want to know how it inspired the Blizzard flavor. Dairy Queen’s customers consist of a wide range of people; some may not be interested in films and others might not be aware of the new film’s release. Furthermore, if the Dairy Queen customers walk around with their cup, then those who walk by them will see the picture on the cup. This advertisement encourages people to go see the movie. The film made about 86 hundred million dollars worldwide, a huge success, because of the exposure created through cross-promotion.

Merchandising is a main marketing technique that companies use to promote their films. Warner Bros. Pictures teamed up with several companies to promote their 2018 film “Fantastic Beast: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” For example, they worked with Hot Topic, a shop that sells pop culture merchandise, to create t-shirts and action figures inspired by the film. They also worked with Walmart, a world-known retail company, to sell movie vinyls and action figures inspired by the film. Warner Bros. Pictures does not own Walmart or Hot Topic, so their partnership is an example of cross-promotion. Merchandise is extremely important to a films’ success because it can create influence on an audience.  If a person were to shop and saw “Fantastic Beast: The Crimes of Grindelwald” merchandise everywhere, then it would be difficult to forget about the film. Seeing a product inspired by a movie everywhere could influence a person to research the movie to see what it is about, which can result in the film gaining a bigger audience. Merchandise marketing contributed to this film grossing about 653.7 million dollars worldwide, a huge success for the film and the company.

Thanks to technological advancements, digital marketing has become a new tool for companies to utilize. Universal Pictures had a virtual Easter Egg Hunt published on the Jurassic Output Twitter page. The Twitter post featured a QR code that linked to images that would promote the 2015 film “Jurassic World.” Digital marketing was important to the film’s success because it excited the audience about the film’s release. The intention of the Easter Egg Hunt was to get people discussing the film on social media and in person. The “Jurassic World” made about 1 billion dollars, partly due to digital marketing.

If a company wants their film to be successful, then utilizing clever marketing techniques is essential. Marketing’s purpose is to promote films to the widest range of people in a variety of ways; however, overpromoting can lead to overexposure. Overexposure can prevent potential audience members from watching a film because they can become bored by seeing the same film promotion everywhere they go. Furthermore, overexposure can cause promotional material to become common and familiar, causing people to overlook it. While overexposure can be an issue, no exposure at all will certainly lead to a limited audience.

Overall, I believe that marketing is mandatory for companies to utilize to promote their film. A film would not be able to attract its widest possible audience and a film’s success would not be as great without marketing. Marketing is extremely important; however, it should not be overused to the point where it causes harm to a film’s success.

Extract Practice: Game of Thrones

The director of, “Game of Thrones,” uses a variety of film techniques to establish an atmosphere of intrigue. When looking at the extract as a whole and examining the techniques the meaning becomes clear. The meaning of the extract is the shifting struggle for power and the tension this conflict creates. The power shifts between the three main characters in the given clip.

The extract begins with an aerial shot of a ship with red sails. The aerial shot of the ship develops the idea that the people on the ship have less power because it looks like they are being looked down on. In addition, the sails are red, and that color can represent power and passion. The symbolic color of the sails develops the theme of power because the audience can interpret that the people on the boat are passionate about gaining power. After the aerial shot, there is a two-shot of Stannis and Davos. The two of them aren’t standing directly next to each other; Stannis is standing in front of Davos. The position of the characters in the two-shot shows that Stannis has more power over Davos because usually leaders stand in the front. In the two-shot, the audience can also see that Stannis' outfit is tinted blue. The color blue can represent loyalty and intelligence. The color of the costume helps to reinforce that Stannis is more powerful than Davos because it shows that people are loyal to Stannis and that he is intelligent enough to have control over people. The colors in the scene are very muted, so Stannis wearing blue directs the focus of the audience to him. Towards the end of the scene, there is a zoom-out to reveal the Iron Bank and a statue. The effect of the zoom-out makes the people on the ship appear to be getting smaller, which makes it look like the power they do have isn’t as significant in the place they are entering. Furthermore, the statue is extremely large compared to the ship, which further develops the idea that the people on the ship do not have a lot of power and how the importance of their power is decreasing. During this scene, there is incidental music in the background, which helps to create a feeling of tension in the audience. The music is at its loudest when the ship is about to enter the Iron Bank which establishes the idea that an important event is about to take place.

               The second scene starts with Stannis and Davos having a conversation as they wait for the bankers. During the dialogue, Stannis states that they have been waiting since “mid-day.” In other words, they have been waiting for a long time. The dialogue shows that the bankers are more powerful than Stannis and Davos because the bankers don’t see their visitors as important and make them wait a long period of time before speaking with them. After the bankers enter, the camera shots keep changing from medium-shots, wide shots, and close-ups. The different camera positions help the audience see what is happening in the scene. For example, the different shots show that the bankers are sitting on higher and bigger chairs, than Stannis and Davos. The height of the chair helps to develop the meaning because it makes it look like the bankers are more powerful because they can look down at Stannis and Davos. The power later shifts to Davos when he stands up to talk highly about Stannis and the camera is at a slight low angle. The low angle creates the idea that Davos is looking down at the bankers. Throughout this scene, there are shot-reverse-shots and this editing makes the characters seem equal in power because it shows that the characters all have reason to been seen and they are all given chances to speak. Another type of editing in the scene is an action match where Davos is pointing at Stannis. In the first shot, Davos is starting to lift his arm to point and in the second shot, his arm is outstretched pointing at Stannis. The action helps to develop the theme of power because Davos shifts the power to Stannis by making him the focus. There is very little lighting in this scene; the only source of light comes from the windows. The windows shed light of Stannis, illuminating him in the dark room. The light looks like it is creating a spotlight on Stannis, showcasing him as Iron Bank’s only hope because he is the last “reliable leader”; therefore, the power shifts to him.

When the director was creating the extract, he had a vision. He wanted to showcase the theme of the shifting struggle for power and the tension it creates. He does this by having the power shift between the characters and in order to this he uses a variety of film techniques. The struggle for power is a complex situation because the person who holds power is constantly changing.

CCR Interview: Final Task

In this blog, I have attached my Creative Critical Reflection (CCR) for my Final Task. The video is supposed to be between 12 and 15 minutes long. In this video, I answer and reflect on four questions in the style of an interview. I will be discussing my video and the overall process of making my film opening. The video will also include scenes from my final task and pictures showing the process of creating the Final Task.

Creating the CCR Interview was very stressful. The stress was mainly caused by COVID-19 because the virus caused my school to move to online teaching, which means I had no classroom resources to work with when creating the interview.

Before I could make the interview, I first had to plan my responses to the questions. Over the span of a few days, I wrote out my responses to the questions. I rewrote my answers a few times until I felt like I answered the questions. After I answered the questions, I created an intro and an outro script. I established lines for myself and my interviewer, who was my group-mate during the Final Task. I had Leila come to my house one day to film the intro, outro, and the questions. Before she came over, I set up our location and the camera. My next step was to film myself answering the questions. I recited my answers twice before I decided to dump the footage onto my laptop. After I imported everything, I started to trim and add footage to the tracks. I also took notes on anything I needed to re-shoot. When I couldn't edit anything else until I filmed again, I set up the camera and did a re-shoot of some of my answers. After the re-shoot, I went back to editing. Over the next few days, I continued to edit until I finished the CCR Interview. On one of my re-shoot days, I started to lose my voice, so I apologize if it is hard to understand what I'm saying during some parts of the video. The background music that plays when the questions are on screen is the same music in the beginning of my final task.

I think that creating this interview has really helped me reflect on everything I have learned this school year. When answering the four questions I was able to look back on the other projects I did and see how much I had improved. Overall, this interview caused me to have a lot of stress. In the end, I know that my interview has mistakes, but I'm happy with how it turned out under the circumstances. 

Final Task: Film Opening

In this blog, I have attached my third and final film of the school year. I had to make a 1 minute and 50 seconds to 2 minutes long film opening. I was excited to start this project because it was what I was preparing for all school year. I had already created two films, so I felt prepared for this one. For the Final Task, I worked with my music video group-mate again. We were very productive together during the music video, so we thought it would be a good idea to work with each other again. The film my group-mate and I decided to create is titled, "Dysfunctional Spies," and it is an action film. The film's pitch is a spy movie where two teenage spies are on a mission to track down and briefcase. During the process, their friend gets kidnapped.

There was a lot more planning involved with this task than the other two. I began the project in January and had until April to finish it. I was given a lot of time to research, storyboard, film, and edit this opening, so I made sure not to waste any time. During the process of this project, I had the roles of researcher, storyboard artist, camerawoman, director, actress, and editor. When I was researching, I would look up the conventions of an action movie and take notes on the ones I wanted to include in my opening. I also watched action movie openings and took notes on the titles. This was my first project that needed to have titles, so I wanted to make sure I knew how to add them to my film correctly. As the storyboard artist, I outlined the scene for my group-mate who would later add more details to the drawings. When I was filming I took many takes from different shots and angles. I would also let the actress know if they were in the frame. A new role I had for this project was to be an actress. I didn't act in the commercial or music video, so this was a new experience for me. I wasn't a part of a lot of scenes, but I believe that the experience was very valuable. As the editor, I dumped and imported the footage. Furthermore, I organized the footage to be in the correct order. 

During this assignment, I learned a lot about titles and sound. I was able to gain knowledge of the different placements, fonts, designs, and sizes of titles. I didn't have to work with a lot of dialogue in my other two projects, so during this task, I learned the importance of how lines are said. Also, I learned how to adjust the sound to make the dialogue louder, so it would be easier for the audience to hear.

The process of making the opening was honestly very stressful. I came across a lot of issues and had to re-do many things during the span of this project. When I was supposed to be doing the finals edits on my film my school closed because of COVID-19, which created many editing issues. However, I learned how to overcome all the issues I faced during this project and I learned that things don't always go according to plan. In the end, I really liked how my film opening came out and I think I have improved a lot since the beginning of the school year.

Music Video Project

In this blog, I have attached my second AICE Media Studies Project, a music video. I was assigned to create a music video that is about a minute long. For this project, I grouped up with one other person who was also in my group for the commercial project. I could choose to make a video to any song, within reason. I discussed with my group-mate a few songs and we decide on a song titled, "Honey," by Kehlani. We narrowed it down to this song because it has LGBT+ representation. The lack of LGBT+ representation is an important issue to us, so we felt that making a music video to this song would help increase the amount of representation the community gets.

This project was very different from the commercial. For starters, I had a lot more time to plan, film, and edit. The length of the video was longer and I got to film outside of school. Since I was able to film outside of school, I decided the best location for the video would be at a park because, in the video, two girls would be having a picnic together. To plan for this video, I watched a variety of music videos to get an understanding of what they look like and to figure out the conventions.

My main roles for this video were the same roles I had doing the commercial. I was a researcher, camerawoman, director, and editor. Furthermore, I gained a role as a storyboard artist. I was in charge of drawing all the pictures for the storyboard. As a researcher, I simply just watched videos and took notes. As a storyboard artist, I learned what details needed to be included in the drawings. Storyboarding was an interesting experience, especially because it was my first time drawing one and I love to draw. When I was drawing, I made sure I drew the actresses where I wanted them to be in a scene and what props I wanted in the shot. As the camerawoman, I filmed each scene using a variety of angles and shots, so I would have a lot to work with when I edited. I would also inform the actresses if they were out of frame. As one of the directors, I directed the actresses on how they should act in the scene. For example, I would tell them to smile and act happy. As the editor, I was in charge of dumping the footage from the SD card and importing it onto Pinnacle Studio, an editing software. When all the footage was imported, I arranged the footage in the correct order and cut them to my desired length. I also changed some of the lighting in the video to add to the story. When I finished editing, I exported the music video.

After I was finished with the music video, I realized that I learned a lot from creating this video. Overall, I was able to better my production skills. This was only the second film I had ever created and I was extremely happy with it. I believe that I had improved a lot since the commercial project.

Commercial Project

In this blog, I have attached my first AICE Media Studies project I have done this school year. My first assignment was to create a commercial about 30 seconds long. I had never filmed and edited anything before, so I was excited about the project. I was given a list of things I could advertise in my commercial and I chose to make one on Gatorade. I worked in a group for this project that consisted of myself and three other people. I only had a few days to plan, film, and edit. My main roles during this project were researcher, camerawoman, direct, and editor.

Before I started storyboarding the commercial I went online and researched Gatorade commercial. I did this research, so I could see what the conventions were for this type of commercial. After watching a few videos, I quickly learned that most Gatorade commercials are also sports commercials. After I learned this information I decided with my group that we should film on the school's track film. For this project, it had to be filmed at school. During the filming process, I was mainly the camerawoman. As the camerawoman, I got to learn about all the different angles and shots I could film at. This was my first time filming and I thought it was a very interesting experience. As one of the directors, I learned how to properly give instructions to other people. In the beginning, I did struggle to explain to the actress what I think they should do in a scene, but by the end, I was better at giving instructions. When I was editing, I learned how to dump footage onto a laptop and how to import it onto Pinnacle Studio. I also learned how to trim and add footage. I was also able to make a split-screen. During the end of the editing process, I exported the commercial.

After I had finished this project, I was happy with it. It was my first time creating a video. I thought this commercial was a great first attempt. When I look back at it now, I can pinpoint all my mistakes because I have gained a better understanding of film by doing other projects. Even though this may not be a perfect video, it is still the first video I had ever created so it is special to me. It special to me because I was able to learn so much by doing it.

Re-Edit Blog

There were some difficulties I faced when re-editing my film opening. The first issue was caused by COVID-19. Due to this pandemic, I wasn't able to re-edit the week I planned too because Spring Break was extended to a week earlier. Since I didn't have access to the school or the laptops that already had my editing software, Pinnacle Studio, I had to figure out a way to edit. My first idea was to use the default editing program that came with my laptop; however, it wouldn't allow me to open my film on it because the film was created using a different program. Due to this issue, I was left with two options: re-edit my video from scratch or buy Pinnacle Studio. I discussed with Leila the pros and cons of both ideas and we concluded that purchasing Pinnacle Studio would be the best option. Before my parents very kindly and generously bought me the program, I tried to see if I could finish the film just using the free-trial version. I could finish my film using the free trial; however, there would be a watermark. I didn't want there to be a watermark on my film, so I bought the program.

Since I never had Pinnacle Studio on my laptop, I had to download it. The downloading process took about an hour, so my re-editing time was delayed. The time was furthered delayed because after the program downloaded, I had to import all the footage I had collected over the process of this project. Hundreds of footage needed to be imported, so more time was wasted. Once everything I imported I could finally start editing. I knew that there was a lot of editing changes, so I started as soon as I could.

Before I started editing, I watched the film to remind myself of what I had already finished editing and what needed to be fixed. One of the main things that needed to be fixed was the ending. The ending was extremely choppy, it didn't flow at all. It was also very hard to understand what was happening during some parts. To fix the choppiness, I added transitions and made some of the scenes longer. In order for my audience to have a better understanding of what was happening, I reordered some of the scenes. I was added in more footage that helped to develop the story. While I was editing the ending, I cut out one of the shots of Cori saying her dialogue and replaced it with one of the takes I filmed on the re-shoot day.

The next part I wanted to re-edit was scene 3. Leila and I decided to completely re-do scene 3 with the footage we gathered from the re-shooting day. The new scene was a conversation between the spies about being ready to go on their mission. I cut out the old scene and placed the new dialogue in the order Leila and I discussed and decided on during the re-film day. When all the footage was placed in its correct placement, I decided to watch it to see how it looked. I quickly realized that it looked extremely choppy and that it was missing aspects that would make the dialogue make sense. After I made this realization I contacted the actresses and asked if we could meet up to re-film again; however, due to COVID-19, both of the actresses were able to meet to film. This meant that I had to work with what I had. The footage was originally placed in an order that created a shot-reverse-shot, which was something we needed in our film. I tried reorganizing these scenes in a way that it wouldn't ruin this type of shot, but nothing was working. In the end, Leila and I decided that for scene 3 to make sense we would have to get rid of the shot-reverse-shot and order the footage differently. I added a piece of dialogue from the Monitor in between the spies' conversation, which made the scene flow better.

A smaller change that was made was volume adjustments. Since new dialogue was added, I helped Leila go through and make some of them louder and others quieter. I also added fades to the music to make the opening flow better.

When I opened my film on the Pinnacle Studio program on my laptop it changed the titles, so I had to re-do them. After Leila and I finished adding in all the titles I tried adding in the title transitions. After multiple attempts, I realized that the program was not going to let me add in the transition after I created the title and that I had to make the transition before the title. I had to go through the film and delete all of the old titles and replace them with new ones that already had the transitions. After the blank titles with transitions were added, Leila and I wrote what we wanted them to say. After Leila went over all the titles to make sure they were all correct, I went through them all and placed them in their correct positions.

This is a picture of me and Leila editing our film at my house.

Re-Shoot Blog

During my re-shooting day, I was able to get a lot done. I had to re-shoot some of the scenes from George English Park and Leila's house, but before I started to film I wanted to create a plan. Before Leila and I decided to film we established a list of everything we needed to make sure we wouldn't forget anything.

This re-shooting day began at George English park. There was a lot of filming that needed to be done at this location. I just needed to re-film the actress, Cori, saying her dialogue. This was because she was extremely hard to hear in the film. I was in charge of being the camerawoman while she recited her lines. I had her say her lines multiple times, so I could get different angles. Besides from filming, I also helped to direct. I would direct her where to stand to make sure she was in the frame of the camera and also where to look. Furthermore, I would let her know if she was being loud enough. I wanted to make sure she had enough volume when saying her lines because that was the reason for re-shooting scenes at the park.

After I re-filmed everything at the park, I car-pooled with Leila and Cori to Leila's house. Before we could film any of the scenes at Leila's house I had to wait for Kat to arrive. I didn't have to re-shoot any of Kat scenes at the park, so I told her she didn't have to come until later. While waiting for Kat, Leila and I sat down and discussed new dialogue for scene 3. Since we decided to no longer have comedy as a sub-genre we decided to change the original dialogue of scene 3. I suggested dialogue ideas and write down any of the ideas we came up with. This way we can have an overview of all the dialogue and chose what best fits the scene.

Once Kat arrived, no time was wasted and I started filming. Like a George English Park, I was in charge of being the camerawoman. Before I started filming, I told the actress where they needed to stand and to not move until I tell them otherwise. I didn't want them to move there position a lot because it was going to be a still conversation scene. During their conversation scene, I filmed over-the-shoulder shots, so I moved around a lot to get the shot I needed. When Cori was saying her dialogue I would stand behind Kat, and when Kat was stating her lines I would stand behind Cori. While I was filming, I was also helping to direct. During some parts of the scene, one of the actresses would start to smile. Scene 3 is meant to be a serious scene, so I would inform this actress when she started smiling and she would go back to being serious. I would also notify the two actresses if they were being loud enough. After I finished re-filming everything at Leila's house, I put all the equipment way, which brought the re-shooting day to an end.

This is a picture of Leila and me discussing the new dialogue.

Editing Blog: Sound and Changes

The plan for this editing day was very similar to the previous editing day. The plan was to work on sound and make any changes needed to the film opening. I wanted to use the entire class time to finish the film; however, I ran into a laptop issue. The laptop I usually use for editing was almost dead. This doesn't seem like a huge problem because the simple solution would be to get a different laptop. It wasn't that simple though, when I started up Pinnacle Studio on a different laptop I realized that I had to re-import all the footage and music in order to edit anything. Importing the footage takes an extremely long time which means I wouldn't be able to get a lot of work done and would waste a lot of valuable time. To not waste time Leila and I sat on the floor next to the laptop cart, which is where the laptop chargers are and did our work on the original laptop. About halfway through the class, the laptop had charged to about halfway so I suggested we go back to our desk and do our work from there.

Before I started editing I watched the opening from the beginning to see what was finished. If I noticed any issues I pointed out to Leila who was writing down everything that needed to be fixed. The main issue I noticed throughout the opening was that it was extremely difficult to understand what the actresses were saying because either the actresses were too quiet or the music was too loud. To fix this issue I suggested to Leila the volume we should have the dialogue at because she had control over the laptop at the time. I also suggested that we should lower the volume of the music a little bit, but not too much so it wouldn't ruin the intensity of the scenes. When editing the music towards the end of the opening, I proposed to make the fade-in longer to have a better transition. Also, to have the music end abruptly to increase the seriousness and intensity of the Monitor being attacked. I helped to line up the 'bang' sound made when the Monitor gets hit to her dialogue. The dialogue that was used wasn't a complete sentence to make it sound like the 'bang' sound interrupted her and prevented her from finishing her sentence. This was extremely hard to do and it took me and Leila many attempts to get it right.

After all the sound was finished we asked a classmate to review it for us and if they could tell us if they could understand what was happening. The classmate gave us very helpful criticism on our opening. They informed us that the conversation in scene 3 was choppy and look displaced. Also, they recommended having the Monitor appear in more scenes for the audience to understand that the Monitor is friends with the spies. I fully agreed with this because I believed the story didn't make sense with the Monitor only appearing in two scenes, one at the beginning and one at the end. To fix these issues Leila and I planned to create new dialogue for scene 3 and re-shoot it and to add in more scenes where the monitor is present.

Closer to the end of the day, Leila and I realized that we needed to make a big change to our film opening. This change involved getting rid of the sub-genre, comedy. The original plan of this film opening was to be a comedy but before we started filming we changed the genre to action with the sub-genre of comedy. Now, we realized the comedy aspect of the opening doesn't work.

This is a picture of me editing the final task.

Editing Blog: Minor Details and Sound

On this editing day, almost all of the footage had been added so I just needed to make some minor detail changes. These changes included trimming and speeding up or down footage. Before I could add in any changes I watched my film all the way through. While I was watching the opening I told Leila where I think there needs to be a change so she could write it down. After the list of changes was completed I retrieved the storyboard it case I need a reference when I'm making the changes.

The main changes I needed to make was to cut the footage more and add transitions. Some of the scenes went on for too long so I had to cut them to make them shorter. In some of the scenes, the audience could hear my voice or Leila's, so I had to trim out our voices. While watching the opening I noticed some of the transitions were choppy, so I added in fades to make it look smoother.

I also got to work on sound this day. Before Leila and I could add in any sound we had to re-import the music because the old import wasn't loading. After all the music was re-imported, Leila and I listened to all of the music to remind ourselves what we have to choose from. While listening to the music I was also making sure if we had enough music to choose from or if we needed more. After we listened to all of the music once, we went back and listen to it a second time and wrote down notes. These notes consisted of the parts of the songs we wanted to include. Whenever I came across a part I found would work with the opening I would tell Leila, so she could write it down. After I listened to the music a second time, I started adding in the sound. I would help to adjust the length of the music and where it should be located. I also added in the fade-ins and outs in the music to help transition between the different music more smoothly. After a lot of the sound was added, I watch the film and realized that some of the original music planned for a scene didn't sound right for the situation. For example, the original music for the montage scene didn't transition well from the previous song. I tried fixing it with different lengths of fade, but it still wasn't working. In the end, I recommended extended the previous song over the montage and getting rid of the original montage music. I really liked the outcome of doing this, so instead of finding new montage music, we decided to just you the song from the earlier scene.

Another part of the sound I was able to work on briefly was adjusting the loudness of the dialogue scenes. Due to the background music, come of the dialogue was to quiet which would make it very hard for the audience to understand. I went through the different dialogue scenes and made them louder until the class ended.

This is a picture of myself editing.

Editing Blog: Drafting the Final Task

This blog consist of everything I did during three editing days. Leila and I discussed that we should put these three days in one blog because one of the days we got out early, another day was the second half of the peer review day, and the last day was a full editing day. My roles were the same for each of the three days.

On each of these days I started off by taking out the storyboard like I have done every previous editing day. Having the storyboard keeps me organized when I'm editing and helps me to not waste time. I definitely didn't want to waste any time on these days because I didn't have a lot to begin with.

My main role on these days was to add the footage to their respective tracks. On day four, I worked on creating scene 3. This was one of the longer scenes, so a lot of work needed to be done. I started off by having Leila read me off which take would be added from the checklist. This checklist was made by myself and Leila a few days earlier, so we wouldn't waste time picking out takes the day we planned to edit the scene. After all the footage was placed in the correct order I started trimming. Some of the footage consisted of an actress saying her line multiple times. This was done so all takes of the line could be found in one place. This meant when I was editing I had to cut out the takes we weren't going to use and save the one we were. When Leila had control over the laptop and was trimming I provided input on where the footage should be cut. On this day I also added in a split screen of the actresses getting ready.

On day five, I worked on create scenes 4-6. These scenes were relatively short, which is why I was able to edit them all in one day. On this day, I did mainly the same thing from the fourth day. I added the footage to the tracks where they belonged and cut them to the right length.

On day six, I worked on editing multiple scenes. There was a slight issue with viewing the footage on this day. I had to try to open the footage using different ways until I found one that worked. This delayed the amount of time I had to edit. After the issue was fixed I started editing. I added in the footage to the tracks and trimmed them. After adding in a lot of the footage I realized that there was still a lot in and we were almost at our max minutes. This meant that we were going to go over the 2 minute limit. In order to fix this, I discussed with Leila on what need to do and we decided to cut out some of the scenes. On this day I also helped Leila de-attach the audio from the footage to create a voice over. Furthermore, I slowed down some of the footage because it was to fast and hard to understand due to its original speed.

This is a picture of me ( ) viewing the footage.

Filming Blog: George English Park Part 2

On the fourth day of filming, Leila and I went back to George English park to film. The plan for this filming day was to film from scene 7 to 9. Originally, scene 9 was supposed to be filmed at a middle school; however, I discussed with Leila that we should film that seen at George English instead. I thought that would be a better idea because time would be wasted driving to another location. We didn't have a lot of time to film on this day. There was also a perfect spot to film scene 9. I didn't have a long time to film due to one of the actresses needing to be picked up at a certain time. One of the issues we had that wasted time was one of the actresses forgot their leather jacket. I had to go with the actresses to her house to get the leather jacket. I didn't want to use a different leather jacket because it wouldn't look the same as the one originally utilized.

Before I started filming, I reviewed the storyboard and checklist, so I could remind myself of what I needed to film. Similar to the other filming days, my main role was to be the camerawomen. I performed the same task I did every filming day, like videoing the scenes from multiple angles and shots. After I finished filming a scene, I would view some of the footage to make sure I had something to work with when editing. I learned by doing this I wouldn't have to re-shoot the scene later if I discovered there was nothing to use when editing.

Another role I had was to direct. I would direct the actresses on how they should act in the scenes and what emotions they should portray. I mainly remained them that they needed to act serious. I would also inform the actresses that they needed to speak their lines louder, so when sound is put over it, during editing, the audience can still hear them. During scene 9, I told the actress, Cori, when she was saying her line, "Hello, hello, hello, are you there?" to sound more worried after each "hello." I also gave her some examples of how to say it by saying the lines myself.

My last role was to act. This was the second day that I got to practice my acting. I didn't have any lines to say, but I did have different emotions to portray. In most of my scenes, I acted seriously, but when my character found out she was being followed she acts surprised.

This is a picture of me (middle) filming Kat.

Editing Blog: Piecing Footage

On this editing day, the goal was to finish scenes 1 and 2. On the previous editing day, I started to edit these two scenes; however, I ran out of time and couldn't finish them. Fortunately, I was able to grab the same laptop I used last class, so I didn't have to re-download the footage. Which also means there was more time to edit. The program, Pinnacle Studio, also didn't have too many issues. It loaded up fine but was a bit slow. However, I prefer having a slow working laptop then three that don't work. While the program was loading, I took out the storyboard to have a reference of the film opening. Furthermore, I asked Leila to get the checklist to have another reference. Having these two sources of references made editing easier and quicker on the second day of editing, so I felt that it would be important and logical to use them during this day too.

After Pinnacle Studio finished loading I opened up our film and got to work. I started by watching all the editing completed previously, in order to have a recap of the work done earlier. After reviewing scene 1 and 2's editing draft I discussed with Leila changes we needed to make. While I was tripping the footage Leila was providing me with input and I did the same when she was cutting. I felt that when one person was using the laptop it was important for the other to always suggest input and ideas. This way, if the scene wasn't looking right, the other person may know how to fix it or know how to make a scene look better. When I was cutting, I made sure to cut anything we don't need, like footage with long seconds of no sound or movement, or if Leila and I were talking in it.

After the cutting process for scene 1 and 2 was finally complete we moved on to sound. Leila had more experience with sound, so she was mainly in charge of fixing it; however, I tried my best to help by sharing my opinions, like if the music was to load or to quiet. I also helped to create the fades in the music to have a better transition between the songs.

A new skill I learned on this editing day was how to insert titles. While the plan was to add titles closer to the end of the editing process, we felt that it would be a good time to practice since scene 1 and 2 were mainly finished. The plan on how the titles should look were previously established before the editing process. This meant that I just had to create them. While Leila created the first title, I watched her, so I could learn how to do it for when I made the next one. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to do it, but after a few trials and errors, I was able to figure it out. I adjusted the size, font, and color of the titles. I was also able to find how to edit the titles, so they would fade in and out of the scenes.

This is a picture of me (grey jacket) working with Leila (black shirt) on the film opening.

Editing Blog: Cutting and Sound

On my second day of editing, the issues with Pinnacle Studio, the editing software, continued. The program was not opening up. Leila and I attempted to restart the laptops multiple times, but the program still refused to work. After attempting to open the system on three different laptops, I was finally able to find one that worked. I was glad to be able to edit on Pinnacle Studio; however, I already wasted a lot of time because it wouldn't open earlier. To make the situation worst, I had to re-dump all the footage onto the laptop, because we were using a different one from before. This took an extremely long time because there was a lot to download. I then had to import all the footage I had previously collected onto the program. While the footage was downloading, I took out the storyboard, so Leila and I would have something to reference when we were going to edit.

After the importing process was finished, I had Leila read of the checklist we had made on our first editing day, while I added the footage to the tracks. Having this checklist made earlier saved a lot of time because I didn't have to look for the footage to include in the film due to it already being written down. I added the footage according to the order it comes in the opening in order to stay organized.

After I was able to add scene 1 and part of scene 2's footage to a track I started to cut the footage to the length I wanted. When cutting the footage, I took Leila's input on where to cut and my own to figure out what was best. During this time I also added in some fades to make the scenes have a smoother transition. While Leila was adding in the sound, I provided input on where the sound should be placed and where it should start. After we finished editing and adding sound to scene 1 and 2 we watched it all the way through and made any changes necessary. Changes included: making scenes slower or faster and making scenes longer or shorter. Due to all the issues, we didn't have a lot of time to edit, so we did our best to use the time we did have wisely.

This is a picture of me adding footage to a track on Pinnacle Studio.

Peer Review Blog

On my peer review day, my group was assigned to review a film opening created by group 13. Before I got to watch group 13's film, I had to finish exporting my own to give it to the group who would be reviewing mine. After the exporting process was finished, I gave my flash drive to the group who would be reviewing it and received the flash drive of the film I would be reviewing. I made sure I looked over the peer review worksheet that my teacher had provided before watching the opening, so I would know what to look for. The first time I viewed the film I wrote notes on the worksheet. After it had finished, I went through and answered the yes or no questions and left the ones I wasn't sure of blank. The second time I watched it, I specifically looked out for anything I had missed the first time, so I could finish answering the questions I couldn't earlier.

While watching the film opening, I noticed many interesting aspects the members of group 13 had used. One of the additions the members made that I was interested in and impressed by was the graphic match. The graphic match started with the father closing a bag and then transitioned to the daughter opening a bag. I really liked how smooth the transition was and how creative the idea was. Furthermore, I liked the sound quality the creators were able to establish. I could hear most of the dialogue clearly, but there were a few lines I had difficulty understanding. If the background music was lowered during the scenes with dialogue, that would fix the problem because it would allow the audience to better hear what is being said. 

One of the things I found that group 13 could work on was fixing the lighting. The lighting throughout the film was very dark which made the scenes very difficult to see. Some of the scenes that took place outside were so dark that I couldn't see anything at all. If the group makes the scenes brighter then that would make it so the viewer can better see and understand what is happening in the film.

Overall, I liked the direction group 13 is going in to create their film opening. The opening is very interesting and is attention-grabbing. I believe that their finished film opening is going to be very good.

The two pictures below are of the peer review worksheet.

Filming Blog: Hannah's House

On the third day of editing, I filmed with Leila at my house. The filming took place in one of the bedrooms. The plan was to film all the scenes that included the Monitor, which is played by Leila. These scenes mainly consisted of the Monitor communicating with the spies through a headset, on her computers, and getting kidnapped. Before Leila arrived at my house, I wanted to create the set design. I cleared off a desk and then placed a few pencil cups and folders on it. I wanted to make the set design simple. I also removed any unwanted objects that may have ended up in frame if I didn't move them. After the set was mostly finished I took out the camera and practiced what shots and angles I wanted to film at. Once Leila arrived at my house I was able to finish the set; I placed my laptop and Leila's laptop on the desk. I then pulled out the storyboard, so I could look over it while I was filming. Doing this allowed me to make sure I wouldn't skip any scenes I needed to film.

Once again, my main role was to be the camerawoman. I have done most of the filming since the first filming day, which means I have gotten a lot of practice and I now know how to dodge mistakes I made previously. For example, some of the scenes I recorded were shaky, but I learned as long as I steady my arm on something, like a table, the camera will not shake as much. As the camerawoman, I filmed from many different shots and angles, so I would have a lot to edit with later. I would also let Leila know if she was in the frame, or if she was talking loud enough for the dialogue. A small issue I ran into was with the lighting. I wanted the lighting to be dark, but the problem was it was too dark, making it almost impossible to see Leila through the lens. I helped Leila figure out the lighting by turning off and on numerous lamps to see which worked best. In the end, we were able to find lighting that worked. Also, to make the lighting look better, I set the camera to night mode, so it would be easier to see everything in the shot.

Another role I had was to help direct Leila on what she should be doing in each scene. I told her to type on the computers for some scenes and for others I directed her to hold the phone. I world remind her what her lines were if she forgot them. Also, I would let her know if she was portraying the right emotion for the scene.

This is a picture of me figuring out the cameras setting for the scene.

Editing Blog: Dumping and Checklist

On my first day of editing, I had to dump the footage collected from Leila's House and George English Park onto a laptop. I received an SD holder from my teacher, so I could transfer the footage from the SD card to the laptop. There was an issue with finding the footage on the SD card, but after receiving help from the teacher, I was able to find it. Before I dumped anything, I created a folder to store all of it, to stay organized. Another minor issue was, that downloading the footage took a long time because the laptops were extremely slow. This decreased the amount of time I had to edit.

The editing process took place in class, so I didn't have a lot of time to edit due to the dumping issues mentioned earlier. Even though I didn't have much time, I made sure to use every minute wisely. Once everything was dumped, I pulled up the footage, so Leila and I could review them. I watched the footage in the order it will appear in the opening, so I could check that I filmed everything needed. To make sure I was viewing the footage in the right order, I took out the storyboard and reviewed it. If anything was missing I informed Leila, so she could write it down. While watching the footage we also discussed whether or not if the piece of footage should be used. I provided my opinion on if a scene needed to re-filmed. If the piece of footage was shaky, if the actresses were too quiet, or if the actresses were smiling when they weren't supposed to, I suggested that we should re-film it. I also proposed ideas on how some of the footage should be implemented into the opening. While I was able to watch all the collected footage, I wasn't able to edit anything on Pinnacle Studio, the editing software, because it wasn't working. The program wasn't loading, which meant I couldn't import the footage for editing.

At the end of class, I looked over the list Leila had made that stated what footage we will be using in the opening and what needed to be re-filmed. I provided input on the list, like if anything was missing from it.

This is a picture of me viewing the footage.

Filming Blog: George English Park

On my second day of filming, Leila and I went to George English Park with the actresses, Cori and Kat, who play the spies. Once we all arrived at the location, I prepared the camera for filming. Before I started filming, I wanted to look over the storyboard, so I wouldn't forget to record anything. After I discussed with Leila and the actresses what we needed to film, I was able to start filming.

One of my roles on the second day of filming was to be the camerawoman. As the camerawoman, I was in charge of making sure I filmed all the footage that will be included in the opening. I made sure to take multiple takes of each scene and at different angles, so there would be a lot of footage to chose from when editing. The footage I filmed at the park consisted of the scenes where the spies were following and watching the Target and the spies setting up the trap. While filming, I had to make sure the actresses were in frame when they needed to be. I also had to make sure not to have other people in the park in shot. I was filming during the day, so there were a lot of people at the park.

Another one of my roles was to direct the actresses. I discussed with Leila what the actresses should be doing in each scene. I would then help explain to the actresses how they should act and say their lines. For example, I told Kat that she needed to act as if she was looking around for the Target when she was hiding in a tree.

While I wasn't filming or directing, my role was to be one of the actresses. I am playing as the Target in the opening. As the Target, I had to act serious. My scenes mainly consisted of me walking around holding a briefcase, which is what the spies are after. I had to repeat the same scenes multiple times in order to guarantee having a good take for the opening. I quickly learned that it was tiring to be an actresses because I had to do my scenes many times. This was my first time acting in a film that I am creating and I believe that it was an interesting experience.

A picture of me acting as the Target.

Filming Blog: Leila's House

On the first day of filming, I met up with Leila at her house. Before going to her house I had one of the spy actresses, Kat, be dropped off at my house, and I picked up the other spy actresses, Cori, so I could drive them to our filming location. I was in charge of providing transportation for the two actresses. Once I had arrived at Leila's house the filming process began. I pulled out the storyboard and a list of all the footage we need that I organized a few days before. I made this list because I felt that it would keep us more organized during filming and it would help us not forget anything that needed to be filmed. After I looked over everything and going over the plan, I believed we were ready to film.

One of my main roles was to act as the camerawoman. The first thing I wanted to film was the house establishing shot, so I went outside. While outside, I filmed many different shots and tried my best to avoid getting the house number in frame. I also filmed the zoom in on the front door before I headed back inside. The next step was to film all the scenes that took place in the kitchen, but before I could do that the set design needed to be made. I provided help on where the props looked best and if there was enough lighting. After the set design was completed, I was able to start filming. After these scenes were recorded I took the camera and tripod into one of the bedrooms to shot some of Kat's getting ready scenes, while Cori was getting her makeup done. When her makeup was finished, I shot her getting ready scenes. The last footage I needed to film that day was the conversation between the two spies and them putting their bags into a trunk. Filming the conversation scene was a little difficult because I needed to make sure the actresses didn't move from where they were standing; they aren't supposed to be moving around when they are talking. Everyone then went outside to take the shots that included the car. Overall, while I was filming I made sure to take many types of shots and angles, so when it was time to edit there would be a lot to work with. I also made sure to record multiple takes to make sure there was at least one good one to include in the opening.

My other job was to direct the actresses. I told the actresses how to act during the different scenes and what emotions they should be portraying. For example, I informed the actresses that they needed to act worried when their characters realized they made a mistake. I also discussed with Leila how the actresses should be acting.

Planning Blog: Storyboard Blog

Today in AICE Media Studies Leila and I finalized and uploaded the storyboard. The Storyboarding process was a tedious process that required critical thinking. During last week, Leila went over to my house to draft a storyboard to understand which camera angles, shots, movements, transitions and editing techniques that might be included in our final task. Also, I began to sketch rough drawings of the storyboard. These first sketches were figure out the amount of details we wanted to include and confirm the storyboards are on the right track. During this week, I mostly did the drawings while Leila finished Scenes 9 to 10 and typed out the sentences for our other blogs. Also, Leila drew the extra details to make the frames more realistic.

In the Google Slide attachment, we attached pictures of the storyboard to each slide. On each Google Slide, we attached pictures of the storyboard to the corresponding scene. In the storyboard, it will detail the camera angles, movements, camera shots, and Mis-en-scene involved in each scene. Also, the storyboards will  list the editing techniques and lighting that will be included in each frame.

Planning Blog: Location, Participants, Health & Schedule

Today in AICE Media Studies Leila and I finalized our planning blog for locations, participants, health,/safety, and schedule. This is where we edited our schedule and decided whose name will be included in the titles. We also grammar checked our responses and added the images of our locations. During the weekend, Leila and I met at her house to draft the locations, health/ safety, participants, and schedule. In the Google Slide Attachment, one some of the slides, it will  detail where we are going to film and the safety procedures we will be following. It also details our schedule for our production of our final task along with the list of the participants involved in the making of this film.

The most challenging part of the this blog was the schedule and the locations. Scheduling was difficult because we had to coordinate it to our actors' schedules school-calendar and our own schedules. Planning the locations was not difficult but, it involved critical thinking. For instance, when we can film on the middle school since parts of the middle school is public property. When we were planning the participants it was uncomfortable because we both wanted to give each other more credit. We were able to finish these blogs this evening and we can start on our storyboard blogs.

Planning Blog: Title Design

In AICE Media Studies Leila and I planned our title design for our final task. This was a tedious and lengthy process because we reviewed different types of fonts, sizes, colors and spacing of  our titles. We didn't realized how much calculation was involved. We had to perfectly time the titles' entrance and format to fit the action conventions. We reviewed the different combinations of fonts and sizes of our Working Title and occupation titles. Then, we had to figure out how long the title should stay on the blog. The Title Design Blog will detail how the titles will appear and disappear throughout the movie. In the Google Slide attachment, it it details how our Working Title and other titles will be formatted. Leila and I will reference the Title Design Planning Blog, when Leila and I are going to inserting Titles into the movie.

Planning Blog: Sound Script

The second assignment Leila and I received during this week was the Sound Script. A Sound Script is a script of all the sound that will be included in the final task. This will range from the diegetic sounds in the characters' world and the nondigetic sounds of instrumental music playing throughout the title sequence. The Sound Script is another key element in Production. The Sound Script will be referenced to ensure the correct lines are being said and the audience can experience the characters' world. Our Sound Script will be presented onto the Google Slide attached to our blog. Similiar to the Shooting Script, we chose to present the Sound Script because it is simple, easy to read and accessible. The Sound Script will also be key in the Post-Production process. The Sound Script will act as guideline to when certain instrumentals should end and begin.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

Today in AICE Media Studies Leila and I finalized our Shooting Script for our final task. The Google Slide uploaded below will illustrate details of the Shooting Script. The main reason our Shooting Script is on a Google Slide because of its accessibility and its simple themes. The Shooting Script is one of the first guidelines for our final task. During the Production days, we will use the Shooting Script as a guide to ensure we included all the required camera angles, shots, and movements. It will also act as a guideline when we edit the takes during the Post-Production days. In the Shooting Script, it will detail how the camera angles, shots and movements will help create an enjoyable two-minute opening sequence. In some of our scenes, there were less elements while some of the scene contained multiple events occurring at the same time. Also, the Shooting Script details the lighting and color design. We only mentioned a conversation because the dialogue will be in our Sound Script in the next blog.

Title Research: Sky Fighters

Out of the 6 blogs assigned, 4 of the blogs are about title sequences in our genre. The last title sequences we have reviewed is "Sky Fighters". The primary reason we reviewed this movie because it is in the action genre. This is one of the most difficult title sequences to analyze because the action was planes.


1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? 

There are 11 titles in total. The first tile is the name of the film company. Then, it is followed by "Products of" and other film productions included. After, it is followed by "Avec la participation de".  7 of the titles were names of the actresses and actors included in the movie. The last title is the name of the movie.


2. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? 

The images that were prioritized in the entire opening sequence were the air crafts and jets because most of the scenes consists of the jet flying or the blueprints of a jet.


3.What connotations do the images carry?

The connotation the images carry is action-packed. In the title sequence, it was accompanied by dramatic and intense music to foreshadow the action-scenes.


4.How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

The main elements that reinforce the action genre was the sound and transitions. As we mentioned before, the dramatic and intense music helps create an adrenaline rush. This causes the audience to feel like they are watching the air show. The camera movements of tilts, pans, and tracking shots help capture the action and fast-paced jets.


5.How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

The film establish enigma because of mystery/ vagueness. In the title sequence, there are a significant amount of vague details. This can cause the audience to question everything. For instance, the audience might have questions: "Why are the planes flying? How is this action? What will happen? Will someone die? " The intense scenes of the planes makes the audience wonder why the planes are racing.


6.What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

Strategies that are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience by including France and advertising for foreign films. There were little information about this movie's targeted audience but, we concluded the target audience is French people and people who like foreign movies. This movie was film in France on Bastille Day- an important day in French history. By using France as the main setting, French people would view this movie because of  its location in France and they would want to watch the movie to see themselves. This film targets an audience who watch foreign film because the entire movie is in French. Since it is in French, it sparks curiosity in the French film production.


7.How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques? 

Out of the four title sequences we reviewed, "Sky Fighters" have the least editing techniques and transitions used in the title sequences. The main elements that are emphasized are the jets flying and the blueprints of the planes. The blueprint scenes act as titles placers and  help transition into different angles of the race. The different angles help with these transitions because there are scenes from a low angle to demonstrate a commoner perspective.

Title Research: Charlie's Angels (2000)

The third title sequence Leila and I reviewed is called "Charlie's Angels". The primary reasons we choose this movie because of its accessibility and it is an action movie. This title sequence is found on "Art of the Title" / www.artofthetitle.com. This title sequence is about 1 minute and 30 seconds so, there will be less information about this particular title sequence.


1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences in the film?

There were 4 titles in total: one title of the movie and three titles of protagonists, which were Natalie, Alex, and Dylan.


2.What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

The images that are prioritized in the opening sequence is the three girls. In the title sequence, most of the scenes have the girls together or separate. In the title sequence, it displays the events of the girls lives like backstory and interest.


3. What connotations do the images carry?

The connotations the images carry is empowerment and happy. Since the three protagonists are female, female audience would feel empowered because they can do action-packed scenes, be spies and go on adventures.  The images carry a happy connotations because of the music. The background music for one part of the title sequence "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" by Wham! . This upbeat  and catchy song helps convey happy feelings.


4. How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

The genre was reinforced through the kidnapping  and their music. In the opening scene, it opens to a guy being kidnap on the boat. In most action movies, there are forms of kidnapping or violence. So, by having this scene it reinforce the action genre. The music in the first 15 seconds and in the scenes with the trio, there is dramatic music with a deep tone to foreshadow something bad is going to happen or something action-packed will occur. In the title sequence, there was a variety of angles: high, low, and eye-line. In the kidnapping scene, it was shot from a high and low angle to demonstrate the vulnerability of the man and the power Drew Barrymore's character possess.  The last way this title sequence reinforces the action genre is the presence of fire. Although the fire is graphic, it reinforces it because in most action movies fire is a by product of explosives.


5. How does the film establish enigma from the outset?

The film establish enigma from the outset by the kidnapping scene, scenes from the movie and curiosity for the three angels. In the opening, the title sequence opens with a kidnapping scene. It is implied through the man yelling at them and is trapped on a boat. This leaves the audience to wonder how and why they kidnap that man. Also, the title sequences foreshadows scenes in the movie. For instance, there was one scene where one of the girls were in handcuffs. This makes the audience wonder why and how she is in handcuffs or whether is was used for a comedic effect. The last way the film establish enigma is through the girls. Through the scenes, the audience sees their individualism and their teamwork. This makes them wonder how and why they became "Charlie's Angels".


6. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The target audience is adults . The primary way the film appeals to its target audience is its inclusion of women. The main characters are female and in most action-packed movies, the spies are male. This targets the female audience because it shows women can feel empowered and do action-packed scenes. The film appeals to male because males love to see beautiful women as the main protagonists.  The main protagonist are played by Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and  Lucy

Lu, three beautiful women in 2000.  Also, it targets audiences who watch "Charlie's Angels" because this movie is a remake of the Tv series "Charlie's Angels" as a nostalgia moment.


7. How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions and editing techniques.

There was a variety of editing techniques used in this movie. The primary editing techniques are wipes and split screens. The wipes were used to transition to the next scene and the split screens were to emphasized the individualism of each woman and how their different background help develop a good team dynamic. Other editing that was used to emphasize their differences was the sound. During the split screen of each individual girl, different music was used  to accompany the scene. For Natalie's backstory, the sound "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go " was in the background while in Alex's backstory,  the song "The Best Thing is Life Are Free". The lyrics were about being the best can demonstrate how Alex wants to be free from being perfect.  Minor editing techniques that were used was flash in and out. When the photography took a picture of Alex wining an equestrian competition, the flash in/outs help transition into Drew Barrymore's character. . In the kidnapping scene, it was shot from a high and low angle to demonstrate the vulnerability of the man and the power Drew Barrymore's character possess.

Title Research: The Land of the Lost

The second title sequence Leila and I researched was the title sequence of "The Land of the Lost". This title sequence is located on www.watchthetitles.com  and is a title sequence of an action movie.


1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

There was 25 titles in total. The first title was movie title. Then, it was followed by: Directed by Written by, Based on, Produced by, Produced by , Executive producer , Executive producers , Director of photography, Production designer, and Edited. After the Edited by title, it was followed by 5 actor titles, Casting by, Music by, Co-producers, Costume designer, Visual effects supervisor and Creature design by. The last three titles were A Sid & Marty Krofft Production , A Mosaic Production and A Brad Silberling Film.

We noticed the all titles were capitalized. The title that was not white were Directed By because it shows who directed the movie. We noticed most of the titles were not perfectly align and the position of the titles would alternate from the left side of the frame to the right side. Also, the actors' and the production companies' were titles were the same size font. Most of the titles consist of a smaller text of the occupation and a larger text of the person performing the job.


2. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

The primary image that was prioritized in this opening sequence is the a man in a suit/ sci-fi creature  because there were multiple times were this image would show up.We think this image prioritized because we feel like this character is crucial or has significance to the plot. Usually, the directors would foreshadow or emphasize an image to hint to the audience of a deeper meaning. The other images that were prioritized was the journey. Throughout the opening sequence, the audience follows a journey to different climates with different animal. We think these images foreshadows the journey and adventure the main characters will follow.


3. What connotations do the images carry?

The images carry a connotation of action-packed and curiosity feeling. These feelings are maintained throughout the opening sequences. The background music enhances the expedition to be more action-packed. The images ignite a sense of curiosity because there are unknown creatures and habitats that are unusual to the audience.


4. How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

The main elements that reinforced the action genre was the non-diegetic sounds and the transitions. As we previously mentioned, the expedition was accompanied by fast paced music. This reinforces the genre because in most action movies, the music is fast paced and intense. The transitions reinforced the genre because of their speed. Most of the transitions were about 5 seconds. This helps develop and foreshadows the fast paced and intense scenes in action movies. From an audience perspective, the fast paced transitions help the audience feel the adrenaline rush of discovering these locations. The different locations and creatures symbolizes the different interdimensional worlds.This was achieved through the different color designs for each location. In the mountain location, the color scheme is blue tones while in the jungle location, it has green tone.


5. How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

This film was able to establish enigma from the outset by the fast paced transitions and locations. The As we previously mentioned, the fast paced transitions help transition into the different locations. This sparks curiosity in the audience because the most audiences are not knowledgeable on different climates and organisms. The fast-paced transitions also allows the audience to experience the adrenaline rush of exploration. The fitnal way the film establish enigma is the subtle clues and organisms. For instance, in one of the scenes, there are eggs hatching. This establishes enigma because it creates a mystery on the creature inside the egg.  The audience can deduce the creature is dinosaur-like because of the footprints. The other moment in the outset that establishes enigma through mystery is the words "BEWARE OF SLEESTALK". Although it is a subtle detail on the tree, it leaves the audience to question: Who and what is a sleestalk?


6. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

 Strategies that are used to ensure the film appeals to it target audience are the  70's design and the comedians. The film might appeal to the older generation because the movie is capturing the 70's design and feel which is the same design used to produced the "The Land of the Lost" Tv show. If the film production recaptures the originality of  the tv show, older audiences would be targeted because they would reminise about their memories. The film appeals to the younger generation because of the cast of characters. One of the main character is Will Ferrall and Anne Frield . Younger generations might watch the movie because it contains these comedians.


7. How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing technique?

During this particular opening sequence, it was more focused on the expedition than the actors.Most of the opening sequence was wide-shots and medium-close ups to close-ups. Some of the angles were either eye-line or low angles to show how big the world is.  In the opening sequences, it consists of cutaways and graphic images to demonstrate and foreshadow the journey and sequence of events. The primary editing transitions that are used in this opening sequence is graphic matches, action matches and zooms. An example is when the images are transitioning to an arctic/ mountain climate to a nest to emphasize the T-Rexes. Graphic matches were used to transitions from the hole of the mountain to the inside of a nest. In this opening sequence, there is not a significant amount of reaction-shots,  eye-line matches, and shot-reverse-shot because there wasn't conversations.

Title Research: Mission Impossible III

One of the first title sequences Leila and I reviewed is the title sequence of "Mission Impossible III". The primary reasons we choose this title sequence because of its accessibility and it is one of the few action sequences on the website. This title sequence comes from www.artofthetitle.com.


1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

There are 27 titles in total. In the first 30 seconds, there were 11 titles: ten of them consists of actors/actresses and one included the name of the movie. After the titles of the actors, the first title of the job description is the casting director. Then its followed by: Music By, Music Supervisor, Co-producer, Visual Effects Supervisor, Visual Effects Producer, Costumes designer, Edited By, Production Designer, Director of Photography, Executive Producer, Based on the Television Series created by Bruce Geller, Written by,  and Produced by. The last title is Directed by.

We noticed most of the titles are condense and spread out. For instance, there would be 5 titles followed by 20 seconds which is followed after another. The titles were the same size, space, and font. Usually the titles would alternate from left side then right side and switches


2. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

There were many images that were prioritized in this open sequence because it was about 5 minutes long. In the 30 seconds, the images that were prioritized is lighting a bomb and the sparks its produces. Between minute 1 and minute 4, the images that are prioritized is his love interest and relationship. For instance, in their scenes, the backgrounds are more blurry. The final images that are prioritized is the call scene. Once Tom Cruise receives a call, there is a close up for him talking on the phone.


3. What connotations do the images carry?

The images carry a connotation of  dramatized and action pack feelings. This is shown in the first 30 seconds and in the scene he receives a call. The background music causes the scene to be more intense and produces an adrenaline rush feeling.  Other images carry a cheerful and happy connotations because Tom Cruise's character is in engaged to his fiancee. Most of the scenes has the relationship as a focal point.


4.How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

In the opening sequence, we noticed there wasn't a lot of symbolic codes from the outset. The elements that reinforced the action genre is the action-packed scenes and the dramatic phone call.  As we previously mentioned, while a bomb is lighting, dramatic and spy music played in the background. This reinforces the genre sequence because it emphasizes the action and it foreshadows an action pack event. Also, during the phone call scenes there were a drastic change in music and close-up shot of his expressions. This reinforces the genre because in most action movies, close-ups and extreme close-ups are used to emphasized the shocking news or help develop the suspense of the movie. Moreover, the lighting design helps reinforce the genre because in the more serious scenes, the lighting design consists of shadows and a little light. This is used to emphasize the intense emotions in that scene.


5. How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

The film establish an enigma from the outset by using the phone call scene. In this scene, the phone call is shot from a close-up shot and it accompany  by dramatic music. Also, during the scene, the music drastically changes and Tom Cruise looks at his love interest. This causes the audience to wonder what is going to happen and if he will accept the job offer.


6. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

One of primary strategies the film appeals to its target audience is the main actor. The main actor is Tom Cruise. Many people would want to see an action movie with Tom Cruise because he was in Mission Impossible 1 and 2. Since Tom Cruise was able to successfully act in these movies, the target audience is expecting Tom Cruise to play the protagonists. Another primary strategy the film appeals to  its target audience because it includes fast-paced scenes and violence. This allows the film to target it audience because majority of males find these concepts interesting.


7. How has technology been used effectively? You want to consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques.

Technology has been used effectively to enhance the drama and suspense the audience feels. The technology does this by including the graphic images of the lighting of the bomb. As we previously mentioned, dramatic music accompanies this scene. This enhances the drama and suspense because the tempo of the score makes the audience feel like they have an adrenaline rush. This also builds suspense and make the audience wonder what the mission is and how it will affect Tom Cruise's character. The editing is responsible for the development of the suspense. For instance, there was reaction shots, eye-line matches and shot-reverse- shot to illustrate the perfection of Tom Crusie's character. As the events become more dramatic, there were eye-line matches from Tom Cruise to his love interest to demonstrate the internal conflict of  accepting or refusing a mission. This makes the audience wonder if Tom Cruise will choose the mission over his love interest.

Title Research: Watch the Titles

Today in AICE Media Studies, Leila and I began our titles research for out final task. Cambridge and our AICE Media Studies teacher recommended two websites to use for title research: Watch the Titles and Art of the Titles. This blog is about the research of "Watch The Titles".

Once I enter www.watchthetitles.com into the search bar, the first thing I see is the home page. On the home page, the titles sequences are in alphabetically order. After, I scrolled on the homepage, I clicked on the title sequences option and clicked the feature films.  Under this page, it lists all the title sequences of feature films. A few problems of this website is its navigation and disorganization. I noticed on the feature films page, some of the title sequences come from tv shows. Also, the order of the title sequences are not in alphabetically order and it is difficult to find its genre. For instance, I had to research  One of the advantages of this website is the information box. Not only the information box gives a description  of the movie but, it provides details how the movie targets the audience.  For instance, I had to look up sky fighters to confirm it is an action movie. I learned in majority genres, the director's title is usually the last title before the movie begins and title of the movie is the first title. Also, most of the titles are spread out. For instance, there there will be a maximum of three names.There is consistency in the titles. For instance, titles are capitalized, same font, and same spacing.  The titles would alternate from the right to the left side or vice versa. 

This is a screenshot of "Watch the Titles" website.