Brainstorming

Hello! After doing more research, I have come up with a few ideas for what I want to create. Here are a few (very broad) ideas I have come up with:

Virus Outbreak

In this film, a group of scientists trying to control an unknown, deadly virus make a mistake that will plummet the world into chaos. The film opening will set the tone of the story by conveying a sense of impending doom that will be caused by the outbreak of the virus.

A.I. Takeover

In this dystopian film, artificial intelligence takes over society and seeks to destroy humanity in hopes to replace it with a more superior race of A.I. The opening will serve to engage the viewer, as it will feature an A.I. attack that shuts down Earth's networks and power grids in order to insinuate chaos and harm the human race.

Female Criminal

Read NOTE for explanation

In this film, a seemingly normal yet mentally-unstable female character will kidnap a young child. The film opening will serve to introduce the main character by showing her unstable character and foreshadowing the horror she will cause throughout the movie. This film would be unique, as films rarely, if ever, feature a female pedophile character. Has a parent or guardian ever to told you to "stay away from mean men if one was to approach you?" I most definitely have. This film will serve to break the stereotype that all kidnappers and criminals of related crimes are male. It will tell a unique story from the perspective of an (unexpectedly) female criminal.  

NOTE: I tried to include a photo of a lurking female for this section but I couldn't even find one! This further proves my point that females are never expected to commit crimes like this and therefore will make this film unique.


I am going to take some time to decide which of these ideas I am going to pick. Stay tuned!

What in the world do I create?

As I dive deeper into this project, I am beginning to feel overwhelmed trying to pick what idea I will follow through with. I can do anything with this project; there are so many possibilities! While brainstorming what idea I will follow through with, I found a TED Talk from Disney Pixar filmmaker Andrew Stanton. 

TED Talk

His advice on storytelling was eye-opening for me. The most important lesson I learned from Mr. Stanton was that when telling a story, it is effective to "give the 2+2 but never the 4." He further explains this by saying "The audience actually wants to work for their meal. They just don't want to know that they're doing that. That's your job as a storyteller, is to hide the fact that you're making them work for their meal." 

This technique would be very effective with the horror genre as horror is all about anticipating what is going to happen next. I explained this in my description of the Final Destination 3 film opening, where I found that I was hooked on the movie just by watching the roller coaster accident unfold and wondering what would happen next to all the characters. 

I now know how I want to tell my story, but I don't know what I want to tell. For now, I'm going to get back to brainstorming ideas and continue researching my genre.

Portfolio Project- Horror/Thriller Film Openings

Hello! This week, I made the decision to create a horror/thriller film opening for my portfolio project. I have researched my genre and have viewed film openings of various horror/thriller movies. Here are a few of my favorites:

Jaws (1975)

According to WatchMojo, the number one horror film opening of all time is from Jaws. I agree with them, as it is the best horror film opening I watched during my research. From the start, it grabs the viewer's attention with the silhouettes of two naked adults running on the beach. When the female is peacefully swimming and something begins circling around her from under the water, suspense is being created. The suspense is what will make the viewer want to continue watching. In fact, I ended up watching the full movie after watching the film opening. What I found was that the film opening also served to introduce the problem in the film and allude to later conflict. During the opening scene, a leit motif is established to represent the dangerous, lurking shark below. The motif is used throughout the rest of the movie whenever the shark is going to attack/put someone in danger. The combination of audience engagement and tone establishment is what makes this film opening incredibly effective.

Scream (1996)

The film opening of Scream is a perfect example of an effective horror/thriller film opening. In this case, the opening primarily serves to establish the tone of the rest of the movie. I found a few parts of this quite interesting. First, the use of stings during times of panic/danger helps to invoke fear in the viewer. Also, the editing during the hectic parts of the scene was fast-paced in order to create a sense of chaos. Lastly, the transition from bright lighting at the beginning of the scene to bluer lighting at the end conveys a dark, scary tone. These techniques help to make this opening effective at establishing the tone for the rest of the production: dark, ominous, and suspenseful.

Final Destination 3 (2006)

The film opening for Final Destination 3 is another example of a film opening that engages the audience from the very beginning. While the coaster is making its way up the hill, a series of close-ups of the scared girl and the repeated view of the faulty equipment helps to establish a strong sense of suspense. These shots paired up with chaotic music do a great job of showing that something bad is going to happen next. As the scene goes on, the roller coaster malfunctions and people start falling to their deaths. The detailed depiction of each person dying serves to incite feelings of terror into the viewer. The producers want the viewer to be terrified yet interested when watching this scene. It definitely did the trick! The whole time, my palms were sweaty and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what the fate of the rest of the characters would be. The suspense built from this film opening is extremely common between successful thriller films.

Results

After doing extensive research, I have discovered that the most important quality of a successful horror/thriller film opening is that it is engaging and suspenseful. For the horror/thriller genres, consumers expect to be in a constant state of suspense. They watch horror films because they enjoy the fear and suspense that are created by them. When I am creating my horror/thriller film opening, I will be sure to create a product that creates strong feelings of fear and suspense in the viewer that will make them want to keep watching. 

References:

Brayton, R. WatchMojo. Top Ten Horror Movie Opening Scenes. Retrieved from https://watchmojo.com/video/id/12992

Portfolio Project Research

Hello! In class this week, we started our portfolio project! My teacher explained to us what the project entails and how we can use what we have learned so far to make it incredible. I am so excited about this project, as I will be able to freely express my creative ideas in a film opening! After doing research on film openings, I have decided to create a horror/thriller piece.

Horror is a genre, usually fictional, that is intended to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle its viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. Horror movies target 15-25-year-olds because younger audiences are drawn towards graphic images and themes than older ones. Additionally, they focus on males over females as the horror thrills are statistically enjoyed by males more. According to author Mekado Murphy (2017), horror movies raked in a whopping 733 million in ticket sales in 2017, making it the biggest year for horror films in history.

Thriller is closely related to horror. But instead of featuring scary monsters or other fictional characters, thriller takes a more realistic approach to scare the audience. Additionally, horror relies on visuals of blood and gore to gain audience interest. Thriller, however, is psychologically stimulating. The sense of fear that is evoked when watching these films is caused more by what the viewer thinks will happen next rather than the graphic visuals commonly featured in horror films. 

The purpose of a film opening is primarily to engage the audience so they want to continue watching. It can be compared to the "hook" in an essay; it serves to make the consumer want more. I have chosen to do a horror film opening for my portfolio project because the film openings for horror films are usually more engaging than that of other genres. By following the conventions of the horror genre, I will be able to create an engaging film opening for this project.

This week, I will be researching film openings from other horror/thriller films. I am interested to see what I am going to find!


References:

Murphy, M. (2017, 26 Oct). The New York Times. 2017: The Biggest Year in Horror History. 
Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/movies/top-horror-movies-box-office-it-get-out.html?auth=login-google

AMC filmsite. Thriller-Suspense Films. Retrieved from https://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html

Music Marketing Campaign Project

In class this past month, we were assigned a music marketing project. The goal of this project was to create a marketing campaign for an imaginary artist/group that we create. We were responsible for building the brand from the bottom up and using our marketing campaign to introduce our imaginary artist/group to the public.


For our project, three other classmates and I created a new band called Reckless X. We wanted to develop our brand based on the ideas of freedom, independence, and rejection of mainstream ideas for our brand. To accomplish this, we decided that the target audience for our band was a mixture of both male and females from ages 16 to 25. At this age, teens go through the struggle of wanting to be free from life holding them down; they want to be independent in their daily lives. The brand we wanted to develop would be easily relatable by people at this age, thus making it more successful.


For this project, we studied a band called “Vampire Weekend” to see what the current marketing trends were within our genre. What we found is that Vampire Weekend uses services like YouTube as a tool to live stream their concerts to viewers, which will show them how much of an incredible experience they are and will encourage them to come to a show themselves. Because of this, one of our marketing tactics was to use Periscope as a platform to live stream our concerts. We would utilize Periscope to live stream our concerts to our own followers, so they can get a sneak peek of how engaging our concerts are and will be inspired to attend one themselves. For the alternative genre, live concerts are still a very successful tool as they have not been grossly impacted by the modern increase in the digital distribution of music. Alternative consumers tend to crave a more personal connection with the bands they interact with, and the use of live shows accomplishes just that.








We also studied an alternative brand called “The Script.” We found that in addition to distributing their music on streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music, they also continue to distribute tangible media on their website. The Script utilizes tangible media because of the personal connection it establishes between the artist and the consumer. This concept is necessary for the alternative genre; so, in our case, it would allow us to be more successful.






Additionally, we decided to create a website to act as a hub for all of the platforms from our brand. On our website, a user can: buy merchandise, purchase tickets to a live show, learn more about the band, take part in discussions with other music lovers, and access all social media and music distribution platforms. Our website serves as a marketing tool to connect our users with all aspects of our brand.











Throughout this project, I learned how each aspect of a marketing campaign is a conscious choice that is made to develop the brand. Moreover, each choice must be consistent between all aspects of a production/campaign. For example, it would not be wise for an artist with a target audience of 15-20-year-olds to do a live show at a 21+ nightclub. Their desired audience would not be able to attend the live show, resulting in an inconsistency between how they want to develop their brand and how their brand is actually being developed. In the music video we created, we made sure to include multiple shots of the band riding into the sunset in a beautiful convertible. The deeper meaning behind this is being free from anything holding you back. This reinforced the ideals that we wanted to build our brand off of: freedom, independence, and rejection of mainstream ideas. Each decision we made throughout the whole project was a conscious choice that served to develop our brand.

Representation Analysis

Before reading this post, take a look at these commercials:

H&M Commercial: https://criticalmediaproject.org/hm-close-the-loop-ad/

Axe Commercial: https://criticalmediaproject.org/axe-body-spray-commercial/


Improper representation is one of the biggest problems regarding media. However, in the H&M advertisement, the producers did a good job of choosing how to represent reality. The message of this advertisement is "There are no rules in fashion but one: recycle your clothes." This slogan is a perfect example of good representation as it highlights the fact that fashion has no limits, and anyone can do anything with their clothing. Also, in this ad, H&M was trying to eliminate common fashion stereotypes by urging people to wear clothing that goes against the norm of their character. For example, in the first 20 seconds of the ad, they feature an Asian male, two short-haired females, an elderly woman (which only 15% of media represent), a man dressed in traditional female clothes, and a woman wearing seemingly outrageous clothing. These choices were deliberate, as they support the overall message that there are no rules in fashion. These representation choices can have a very positive effect on audiences because people favor things that resemble them. So, for viewers watching the ad, the fact that they see themselves represented will make them want to recycle their clothes and shop at H&M.


For Axe commercial, the producers did a very poor job choosing how to represent reality. Some may argue that their choices are positive because they are representing women, who are historically underrepresented. However, the way they represent women in the commercial is far from positive. In the commercial, women are presented as white, skinny "sex animals". For example, the costume design for the women in the commercial is quite revealing and the red bathing suits elicit a sexual psychological reaction in the viewer. This conveys them in a very inaccurate way. Unsurprisingly, these choices may affect male audiences and female audiences in different ways. For instance, females viewing this commercial may feel insulted by the way that they represented women, as clearly the women pictured are not what all women look or act like. On the other hand, men may feel quite positive about this piece. The male depicted using the body spray looked like an "average Joe" as he was not buff or unrealistically handsome. Lots of male viewers can relate to the male in the commercial as he is a good representation of what the average male looks like. This "average Joe" was shown to be the thing that all the female "sex animals" were running to. For male viewers, watching a man that resembles them get incredibly attractive yet unrealistic looking women will further encourage them to purchase Axe products.

Hello! Today I will be talking about one of the most popular production genres: Horror. Horror is a genre, usually fictional, that is intended to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle its viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. Horror movies target 15-25-year-olds because younger audiences are drawn towards graphic images and themes than older ones. Additionally, they focus on males over females as the horror thrills are statistically enjoyed by males more. From 1995 to 2019, horror movies raked in a whopping 11.1 billion dollars in revenue.

Horror movies usually share common content conventions. To start, horror movies almost always revolve around an antagonist. Common antagonists include monsters, psychos, possessed people, and mass murderers. Horror movies usually play on standard human fears, such as the dark, strangers, isolation, death, violence, and insanity. Also, many horror films feature the use of weapons. Weapons add to the feelings of fear and make the production scarier. Lastly, most horror films utilize a black and red color scheme. This color scheme helps create feelings of danger, villainous power, and the unknown. The use of red and black hues elicit the psychological reaction of terror, thus increasing the level of fear in a production.

Horror films also share similar production techniques. They utilize a standard chronological structure and focus heavily on climaxes. Films usually have heavy use of foreshadowing which increases overall suspense. Also, they focus on unnatural very high or very low camera angles to convey dominance, innocence, and power as well as extreme close-ups on the victim’s face to show intense emotions. A blend of jump cuts and point of view shots from the villain are effective in frightening the viewer. Additionally, a shallow depth of field when filming makes whatever is behind the protagonist blurry and as a result, builds suspense. These production techniques are apparent in almost all horror films.

Productions of the horror genre also follow common institutional conventions or marketing strategies. The nature of these films allows them to be marketed extremely well. For horror films, Hollywood pays special attention to the concept of mystery. In movie trailers, they try to leave viewers slightly confused and do not reveal much information about what the movie is about, which hooks them into finding it out for themselves in theaters. Companies also focus on the usage of Ethos marketing. Credible testimonials and quotes from well-known agencies are included in movie trailers to help attract more viewers. Lastly, horror movies are extremely creative with their budget; they use simple equipment which, in turn, makes their production cheaper to make. The simple equipment also makes the film look more realistic, which makes the movie scarier. This results in cheap to make yet high-quality movies raking in millions of dollars in profit. These institutional conventions make horror movies a force to be reckoned with in the film industry.

 An example of a movie that embodies the qualities of the horror genre is Paranormal Activity. In the movie, most of the characters are young. This makes the film feel more real to young viewers, thus making it scarier to them. This is a great example of a movie focusing on its target audience. Also, many sequels of Paranormal activity were produced. This turned it into a successful franchise, as viewers will continue to see the movies because they want to see how the story continues. Paranormal activity was also a huge money-maker. The first Paranormal Activity had a $15,000 budget and went on to gross more than 193 million at the box office, making it one of the most profitable movies of all time.

Another example of a movie that embodies the qualities of the horror genre is A Quiet Place. This film is unique, as it takes a different route and focuses on the fear associated with families being in danger. This now attracts adults too, as they can relate to the struggle of trying to protect your children at all costs. These qualities make the film an easier sell for a mainstream audience. The marketing strategies for this movie are unique, as the trailer has little dialogue and their slogan is “If they hear you, they hunt you.” The slogan itself just leaves you to wonder, “who are ‘they’ and why are they hunting you.” The mystery and tension created by the marketing help to attract viewers who want their questions answered. The film has grossed over 188 million dollars in the U.S., making it the second-highest-grossing horror film in the U.S. in over a decade.

Here are some examples of horror movies:

Get Out

IT

The Conjuring

Cabin in the Woods

Cloverfield

Split

A Quiet Place