I filmed! Yaaaaaaay!

So I think overall filming went well. There were a few hiccups (which I'll get into), but for the most part I'm happy with how it came out. I will also be calling the Sams by their last names for now on. 

For equipment I used my dad's camera, a Sony A6000, and my own tripod. For audio, I used voice memos. 

Chapter 1: What's Up Studs?

I picked up Pombo and took him to the location, where we met up with Armesto. Nicole came pretty late, so we filmed all of the scenes without her first. As we started of filming, an employee of a nearby store walked over a said to us and said "What's up studs? My servers are wondering what you're filming since we can see you through the window." That was a teeny bit awkward, but once we explained what we were doing and that they weren't on camera they let us keep filming. 

Chapter 2: FLORIDA

I would like to imagine you have two questions right now: What is the first problem you came across? Why are you putting parts of this blog into chapters? The answer to the second question is I have no clue. The first question can easily be answered by this short clip. 

As you can see from the clip, the lighting changed SO MUCH. The clouds kept moving and I had to adjust the iso and f-stop constantly. This normally isn't a problem, but when a shot takes multiple takes it really interrupted flow to have to stop and change my camera settings. Speaking of my camera, you may see this an ask, "Is your lens dirty?". The answer to that question is: it's a mise-en-scene element. 

Chapter 3: STILL FLORIDA

It started raining. Who would have guessed? Luckily it never really rained hard, and all of my equipment was safe, but it once again changed the lighting which was really annoying. 

Chapter 4: We are in public

I never really considered how filming this would look from an outside perspective until someone walked up on us while filming this part: 

The UPS worker seemed mildly concerned...

Chapter 5: Pizza

I realized that I had kind of begged my friends to help me with this, and I was taking up their time during spring break, so I felt kind of bad. So I decided to pay them by buying them lunch.

Look how happy they look!

Chapter 6: Finished!

Filming took about 4 hours in total including time for the lunch break, which isn't terrible considered how much I managed to film. I was very happy with how filming went, and after reviewing the footage at home I was satisfied with most of the shots. This is really the first time I've been able to take control of a project like this, and I'm really excited to see how the final thing turns out. 

Us after we finished.

Filming in the Morning

 Yeah yeah it's 12:07, I should be asleep. This is just a little update for what's going on. So the original plan was to film with my friends Sam, Diana, and Bryan. Well, Bryan told me he had a doctor's appointment that his mom never told him about today, so he can no longer do it. Also Diana had something come up, so she can't do it either. Faaaaaantastic. So I've been scrambling these past two days and I now have two new actors. Lily will now be played by my good friend Nicole, and Elvis will now be played by another friend named Sam. So two Sams and a Nicole. We are filming in 10 hours so if anyone cancels I'm canceling my friendship with them.

Bryan breaking my heart

Diana crushing my soul

Sam V.2 had just gotten a new fancy suit, so hopefully he looks absolutely dapper tomorrow. 

That's it from me. Wish me luck filming.

The Current Plan for Filming

 I have a current date scheduled to film the opening, along with the people that will act in it. The current plan is as follows: 

We will meet up at the filming location on the 25th of this month. Jimmy will be played by my good friend Sam, and Elvis will be played by my friend Bryan. Both have a lot of experience in acting, and they have good chemistry from acting together in the past, which is why I decided to seek them out. Here is a film they acted together in, so you can see their talent. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ruAioQCDs2_7i9edO8h6lR__8WlepGCO/view?usp=sharing

Sam(left) and Bryan(Right)

I then recruited my friend Diana to play the roll of Lily. She is in drama and has a good amount of experience acting as well. 

The plan is to meet up at the town center and film the main opening scene. Then, we will try to film the alley scene in a place there. If that doesn't work, we will drive to another location to film the alley scene there.

The Most Stressful Filmmaking Experience (and what I've learned from it)

    So, as I've mentioned in a previous post, I competed in a competition called Student Television Network. In one of my competitions, we are given six hours to make a short film that goes along to a specific prompt, as well as using a line of dialogue that we are also provided. 

    The prompt we were given was "Off the grid", and the line of dialogue we had to use was "What are you looking at?". I'm going to be honest, I really liked this prompt, there were so many different routes we could take when it came to making a story. 

    Here is the plot we decided on: A guy and girl are on their first date together, and you can tell they really hit it off. As they are together in the park, the guy, Andrew, tries showing the girl something to impress her. Instead, he fails miserably. Even worse for poor Andrew is that a live streamer happens to catch his mistake on video. Andrew is so embarrassed that he decides he has to run away and get off the grid. 

    In the competition, you must write and finish filming all within the first three hours, then only two people can edit in the second three hours. So we finish writing within the first 45 minutes, and leave the hotel to go film. We started off at the park, where the embarrassing incident takes place. That's where we had two major technical issues. The first was with the boom mic, which wasn't working with the micro sd card we were using. We figured we could just use voice memos on our phones, because it's surprisingly good at picking up dialogue. That's when the second problem took place. Hayden, our cinematographer, has a really good camera that he bought. However, it only takes a particular type of sd card, which he couldn't find. After a while, he figured out how to lower the quality of the video in order to take a standard sd. At this point, we now only had 90 minutes to film the entire thing. This led to us not being able to film the last scene as we had intended.

    At this point, we had to run to the convention center where the editing room is to make it in time. We just barely make it, so two of our group members start editing (only two are allowed). So, me and Hayden go with our friends to a nearby mall to go grab lunch, since there was nothing else we could do with the video. And then I get a call. "We don't have any of the audio, it didn't download. We need you to download it onto a flashdrive and give it to us". So here's the problem. I need a computer to download the audio. I also need a flashdrive, which is in a van that I don't know where it is. So, running time. I'm going to spare the details, but I had to run over a mile as fast as possible to get the audio to them in time. I then had to get back because I had just ordered food before I needed to leave, so I had to pay for that. When I got back, I then got another call. "We're still missing audio". You see, we were sending the audio through Whatsapp, which needs wifi to send. This meant there was still some clips that never got sent. So basically, I had to run all of that AGAIN.

    Luckily, even adter all of that, my friends were able to submit on time. A lot went wrong with the project, but it turned out alright. Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eWPfwe6fJCtDRdlpiaS04xuVcS6XVvU7/view?usp=sharing

Although I was happy with how it turned out considering the circumstances, I didn't have high hopes for placing in the top five. It didn't really meet our expectations, and we had some of the plot we couldn't put in. However, the experience was really great, and I',m glad we did it. 

Okay so we got first. In the nation. Holy shit.

What I've Learned From This

First off, I've learned that a lot of the time, things won't go according to plan. I've also learned that it's okay if it doesn't, as long as you one, do your best to fix any mistakes, and two, make sure you learn from them. 

I've also realized that even if something doesn't reach your original vision, it doesn't mean it isn't still well made. 

I am going to make sure I use what I've learned and learn from my mistakes when filming my film opening.

A True Behind the Scenes

 This last week I went on a field trip for a tv production competition. There first day there, we got to go on a studio tour of paramount studios, which was a really awesome experience. We got a behind the scenes look at the place where so many of the most famous movies were made. We also got to learn many different things about the production of movies.

EVERYTHING IS FAKE

Okay we all already knew that everything about Hollywood is fake. However it can be surprising the extend of just how fake some things are. 

Do you know what Star Trek, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The Truman Show have in common? 

They were all filmed in a PARKING LOT

This the Paramount's B Tank, and it is literally used as a parking lot when it isn't full of water. Another fun fact we learned is that they only added a fake sky because California's actual sky looks too perfect.

I love this fact about many movies, it shows how much of movies are faked, and how nothing you see on the big screen is real. 

Here's another example: soundstages

If there is a movie scene that takes place indoors, there's a 99 percent chance it was made in one of these. These massive rooms are almost completely silent because of it's insulation on the walls, and the construct entire rooms in here for movies. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the soundstages from the outside due to confidential unreleased film stuff (Marvel was supposedly filming in one), but you can kind of see the outside in this photo where I tried to recreate the Pink Floyd cover art.

I'd say we did a decent job recreating the picture.

How Long Can Filming Two Minutes Possibly Take?

When it comes to getting this project done, I've realized there's only one thing that truly concerns me about finishing it. The filming. I mean I guess that seems obvious, because if you don't film, you don't have a... film. In all seriousness, I'm very stressed out about the day I'm going to have to film. I'm going to have to go to different locations around town, with three of my friends, and I really really really don't want to have to reshoot anything. It's hard enough convincing my friends to act once. If I get them to act again they may not like me anymore. 

Luckily, I've recently come across the realization that I am more than capable of filming this thing relatively quickly. I know I am because I've done it before. In fact, I've done something much harder. 

A short film. How long do people generally take to make one. A couple weeks? Months? Well recently I've had to make one in SIX HOURS. May I introduce to you: STN Individuals! The premise is simple: Six hours, a prompt to follow, a line of dialogue to include, and a prop. You have three hours to plan, write, and film an entire short film, then three hours to edit. This can be REALLY HARD. However, it's something that I've done, and I know that if I can accomplish something like that in six hours, I can make a two minute film opening with the planning already done. Granted, I had three other people working with me on that short film, however, I have time to actually plan in advanced for this project.

You may be wondering: how good can a short film made in six hours be? Well, I'll show you the latest one my team has made. 

Maximum time allotted: 2 minutes

Prompt: Never again

Line of Dialogue: "Don't cross me"

Prop: A cone

I want you to think of what you would make given that information. Now, watch ours and see if it looks similar.

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yj3okej5Z_TGMExM0vzkfZd946K9GTTq/view?usp=sharing

The Struggles of Writing

 So this is my first attempt at scriptwriting so far. I posted a picture all of portion of what I've typed. I'm utilizing a program called Celtx, which has been working very well. Although I've done some writing before, this is my first time writing complete dialogue in this form. It's kind of weird, how I can imagine a scene a million times in my head, but as soon as I try to put words on paper (or a screen), it feels so much harder. 

I've found that what helps me best with writing is saying everything out loud. If you saw me in class the other day, you would have probably thought I was talking to myself. Before I wrote anything, I would say it like my character would, making sure what they said both made sense, was useful information, but also felt natural. 

After a good amount of time writing, I finished the first scene in my opening. (I posted a portion of it above). This has been really helpful, as I now have a good idea of how to write my script, as well as how much time I will need to spend. Celtx has this really cool, but also stressful, feature that shows your writing time compared to thinking time. I'm not sure if fifteen minutes writing vs fifty minutes thinking is a good ratio, but I'm happy with my pace so far.

The Ending to the Beginning

I have finally figured out how the opening is going to end, which means I finally have the full plan for my opening, which means I can fully commit to my script. So here is what is going to happen after Lily escapes from Jimmy and Elvis.

The next scene will take place in a sort of office, where the illegal business Lily works for takes place. As she walks in, she places the briefcase the two men were after on the table and says to her boss that she doesn't get paid enough for this job, and asking who the two men who went after her were. The boss will reply something along the lines of that she seems perfectly okay, which she is, and that he's sure that whoever sent the men will have gotten the message that they aren't to be messed with. 

The bosses face will also not be shown in this scene, to add a little bit of mystery to the character. It will look not too different from Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction. 

The Characters

 Jimmy Romero

Jimmy is one of the two main characters that we follow at the start of the film. He is part of the mafia and works with (insert second character). He is more responsible and put together of the two. He is always on time, and is most concerned with getting the job done. Jimmy has a lot of experience in the field of crime, and he has learned from his past mistakes, and takes all of his jobs seriously. 

Elvis Hernandez

Elvis is Jimmy's partner in crime( as in they are literally criminals). Elvis is a lot more laid back than Jimmy. While Jimmy is more focused on getting the job done and making a living, Elvis enjoys living life, picking up girls, and never seems to worry about things he should. He has a bit more self confidence than he should, which can sometimes affect the choices he makes.

Lily Rose

Lily is also part of the life of crime, however she is not in the mafia like Jimmy and Elvis. She works for an illegal business, but they are completely separate from the mafia. Lily is extremely competent at her job, and her boss knows it. Many people often underestimate her because of her being a girl, as well as not looking very intimidating, which she uses to her advantage. She is more similar to Jimmy, but is also more daring in her actions. 

This what the Jimmy and Elvis wear normally: 

I'm not yet sure what Lily's character will wear, because it depends on who I choose to act for her and what clothes they have.

Group Meeting

 Yesterday I had my first group meeting for our film openings. This was our chance to get feedback from our peers about our openings and what we had planned so far. 

I started out by just going over what I had planned for the opening so far. I talked about each of the scenes in the opening, along with some of the shots I would use. I explained how certain scenes would develop the characters. For example, I explained how the opening dressing up scene would establish the characters as well put together, while also being criminals. 

I then talked about how I discussed with my media teacher how I should incorporate the female character more into the film. I asked my group how they thought I could include more of the character after the alleyway scene. My group members asked me what I imagined the rest of the story being, which is where I realized why I was having trouble coming up with what happens next. I had really only been focusing on the opening to the film, and not what the whole movie should be.

So, my step plan is to figure out what the whole plot of my movie will be, just a general idea, and I think that will make the process so much easier than it has been so far.

Looking at my planned schedule, I'm a little bit farther behind than I would like, however I'm glad I'm taking the extra time to make sure I have a complete and well thought-out story.

Dialogue

 My film opening is very dialogue based, which can be kind of unusual for these kinds of projects. I think this is probably because it can be hard to write good dialogue, as well as visual elements being preferred. Although my opening will use a lot of visual elements for storytelling, I also want to use dialogue for exposition as well as context, and learning about the character. I decided to find some movies with good dialogue that is similar to what I may end up using. 

This first clip from Baby Driver (2017), may seem a bit unusual because of how Baby doesn't pay attention for most of the conversation. However, when Baby explains the plan, it does two things. It shows how Baby really does understand what is going on, and is well prepared. It also tells us what the plan is and lets us know what is happening next in the movie.

The next scene of dialogue I want to show is from Inglorious Basterds (2019). It's one of my favorite movies, but I unfortunately can't import the clip like normal due to it being a teeny bit graphic, so you can watch it here. This bit of dialogue unveils information about who the characters are, as well as letting you know the plan for the rest of the film. 

I want to use the dialogue in my film in a similar way to these examples. I want my dialogue to show who the characters are, some of their traits(such as them being cocky), how skilled they are at their job, and I want the viewer to be able to know exactly what they are about to go try to do. 

Possible Locations

 A crucial part of the planning for the opening is going to be finding good locations for all of the scenes in the opening. Because I live in the suburbs, there aren't that many good locations to film in. However, I did think of a few that I can use for some scenes.

The Alleyway

By far the hardest part was finding a good alley in my hometown. As you may have guessed, there aren't many intimidating dark alleys in my home town that looks like this. 

However, after some searching, I found what I think is suitable location. It's a passageway behind my local movie theater that is pretty dark, and although it's not technically an alley I think it would still work. 

I didn't have time to go out and take a picture of it myself, so take this google maps street view in the meantime. 

The Diner

Although I'm not sure if I will actually end up having a diner in my opening, in the chance I do, I found a few locations. 

This is the first one I found, which I would give the name, but I won't so I don't dox myself. It's a local diner that's been there for a while, but there's not much special about it. The second one I found is one with a 50s aesthetic, which I like a lot more. (Also the food is better, which doesn't matter for the film but worth noting). 

Out in Town

There is a scene where the characters are walking around in town talking to each other. For this part, I need a background that looks like the kind of place where there are gangs and crime. My hometown doesn't look like that, which don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for, but it makes it hard to film here. The only possible location in my town would be the town center. However, it's a little too cheerful for my purposes. However, it will work if I can't find a different location. 

I do think that I could make the bright colors work if I needed to, as I could make it part of the aesthetic. 

The Idea

So it's about time I finally have a concrete plan for what my film opening will actually be. As you know, the genre I am going for is Drama/Thriller/Crime. So, here was my original idea, and then I'll go through some changes that will be made. 

The Original Plan

The film would start off by introducing two people getting ready in the morning. As we watch them getting ready, we would establish two things about them. One, by showing them getting into suits, putting on nice watches, sunglasses, we would establish they are professional and have a good amount of money. The second thing we would see is them taking knives/brass knuckles, or some other kind of weapon to establish they are criminals. 

The next part of the original plan was to have the characters meet somewhere, such as a diner, where they would meet with someone. This person would tell them about a task their boss has told them to do. They are told to get something important from a girl carrying it. (What she has is to be decided later).

When they find the girl, they take her into an alley and tell her to hand over the item so she doesn't have to get hurt. The next shot would be her walking out of the alley, and the camera would pan to find both of the men on the ground, unconscious.

The Revised Plan

After discussing the plan with my media teacher, we came up with a few revisions to make the plot make more sense, as well as being easier to film. 

The girl clearly is the most interesting character in the opening. There is lots of mystery behind her, because how could this girl, (who is small and short compared to the two men), able to beat them in a fight so easily? This is why I'm going have part of the opening spend more time on the girl, perhaps introduce the character in some way. We also decided that it would be smart to cut out the diner scene, for both time purposes, as well as me avoiding having to call a local diner and ask for permission to film. 

Within the next week, I will figure out exactly what is going to happen, and then write the script for the opening.

 

Music and Mood

 I want to be able to set the mood of the opening right away with the song that I choose to use. A film that uses music to set the film amazingly is the film Almost Famous (2000). Here is a clip from one part of the movie. The song Misty Mountain Hop by Led Zeppelin fits the mood super well, the upbeat beat and lyrics matching the fun the characters are having in New York, as well as matching their conversation. 

Then in a later part of the movie, a part that is more somber, they play Tiny Dancer by Elton John. It marks a part of the story where the good times are coming to an end. 

Another movie that uses music to set the mood very well is the movie Joker (2019). In the end, when the city is in chaos, the song White Room by Cream plays, a hard rock song that has lyrics that reflect going insane. 

For my opening, I want the music that plays to introduce my characters as important or cool. I also want to make sure the song I use could be good for music sync. One song that could be good for this is Sing Child by Heart. 

Another great song for this could be Sunshine of Your Love by Cream. 

Both of these songs also have the benefit of having good instrumentals, and being fairly easy to play, meaning it would be very possible to cover these songs if I wanted to use them.  

Project Schedule

 One of the most important parts of a project going to plan is, well, actually having a plan. And an important part of having a good plan is having a good schedule for the project. I've constructed a project schedule to help me stay on track.

• Week Three:
•  Finalize Idea
• start on script
• write storyboard
• Week Four
• find song for opening
• finalize storyboard
• Week Five
• Find location
• Find actors
• Plan on filming date
• Week Six
• possibly record cover song
• find fonts
• prepare custom design/props
• school trip*
• Week Seven
• finish school trip
• start filming
• Week Eight
• finish filming project
• start editing
• Week Nine
• finish editing
• graphics
• peer review
• final reflection

It may seem unusual how late filming is in the plan. The reason for this is something called Student Television Network. Every year, they hold a competition called Crazy 8, in which schools compete to create an 8 minute news package in just 8 hours. We are given a prompt, and we must make all the news stories fit the prompt. We must then find something in the local area of Long Beach, California, where the competition is held, and write, film, and edit the entire thing. My team practices every weekend for ten hours for this competition, meaning I won' t have enough time on a weekend to film until after March 18th. This is why lots of planning is important to make sure I will be able to fully film on time.

There is a chance I will find time to film parts I can film before the competition, in which case I will post how it changes my plan.

Some Inspirations

     After going through a few potential ideas, I have decided the genre I want is Action/Thriller. I want to do this genre because of the artistic style I want to use. A movie that I really love the opening to is Baby Driver (2017) by Edgar Wright. The movie opens up with a car chase scene as they try to get away from robbing a bank. However, right before the chase, we see Baby in the car waiting for his associates to rob the bank. Here, we get introduced to the character with his interaction with the music . The opening credits to the movie in the next scene are done super stylized. Every. Single. Little. Action is synced to the music that is playing. I love the idea of setting up the mood of the film with the song that is playing.

    While I love how every movement is synced with the music, I don't want to do a long shot as my opening take. When I use whichever song I choose, I want to sync the music with both cuts and movement.

I really want the shots in the opening to feel well placed. There are times when I'm watching a movie or tv show, and I look at the shots and think to myself, "Wow that looks really good". You can make any shot make people think that if you frame it well. A good example of a film that does this a lot is Pulp Fiction, although most of Tarantino's movies are shot very well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsfIB98b-8c

When I make a storyboard for my opening, I will spend a lot of time planning out each shot so every shot looks carefully planned and pleasing to look at.

Week One Post 1

 As we begin the next stage of our class, we are moving on to the film opening portfolio project. This has been something I have been looking forward to all year, as I have always wanted to create something like this. I'm currently thinking that I want to work on this project alone, because I want to both be able to get all of my ideas onto the screen, as well as seeing my abilities as a filmmaker. 

My current plan for the project is that once I figure out what I want my story to be, I will work hard to make sure I have a good plan for the project. I don't want the filming or editing process to be rushed for this project. I want to have a good shot list that I can stick by, to make sure that I can get as close as possible to what I envision. 

I think the hardest part of the planning for me is set design and a location. There are many ideas that I have that would require filming at a place such as a dinner or dark alleyway. That is an element that would require a lot of planning in advanced to make the project workout. 

Music Marketing Post #2

     When we were first assigned the genre, we started off with our cases studies on the genre. We analyzed the different bands images and how they portrayed themselves for their brand. We learned about how different bands like to express themselves with their lyrics and videos.    

    For the music video, we decided that a promo was the best option for our band. This is because a band just starting out wouldn't have the resources to spend more on a music video. We also would want to use a promo to develop our brand. A promo would allow us to introduce the band members to the world, as well as portraying the band as rebellious and crazy. 

    

    

Music Marketing Post #1

     The genre we had received was heavy rock/metal. The song we had chosen to do was Blind by Korn. For the research on the genre, we decided to make our case studies on Columbia Records and Warner Records. We decided on these companies because both of them have been around for several decades, and have a large variety of music under their name, including metal. For Columbia Records, we studied the artists System of a Down, and Payable on Death. System of a Down is a popular metal band that often has politically charged lyrics. Payable on Death is a lesser known band that has a large variety of music. For Warner Records we used the artists Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed. Avenged Sevenfold is well known for tackling issues such as depression and suicide. Disturbed is best known for speaking out against political issues. 

    For the music video we decided to make a promotional video. We thought this would be the best video for our upcoming artist because it would be the best way to introduce the artist to the world. It would also allow us to show the world their image. It would be a lot harder for people to get to know the members of the band if we used a story-based or artistic video. It would also take much less resources, making it ideal for an artist that is just starting out.

    For the promotion of the band, we are using all different forms of social media. We will use instagram a lot, because it is most commonly used by our target audience. Our target audience is mostly male teens to young adults. Our plan so far for the promotion of our band is to release a teaser for the music video on Instagram a couple weeks before the video is released. To increase awareness of the band, we would have them participate in local music festivals, where thousands of people can be exposed to their music.

 A big challenge we have faced so far in the project was planning on how to film the music video. We had an idea for what we wanted to film, but it was extremely hard finding a location that would suit the theme. We have hopefully found a location in Markham park that will be a suitable location.

   

Representation

 Media: Avatar the Last Airbender

Avatar the Last Airbender is an animated tv series that came out in 2005. Although it is an American cartoon, the show is heavily inspired by Japanese anime. Because of this, majority of the characters in the show are of Asian ethnicity. The show has a variety of different Asian cultures. Although the show takes place in a different world, the countries represent different cultures. 

For example, the Fire Nation is heavily inspired by Japanese culture. One thing that shows this is the presence of dragons within their culture. The Fire Nation is also clearly based off of Imperial Japan. However, even though the Fire Nation is the antagonist in the tv show, the show still humanizes the people of the country. There are a couple episodes where the main protagonists are under cover in the Fire Nation. During their time spent there, they learn about the nation's rich culture, and how most of the people there are not bad people. It teaches that the citizens of a country may not agree with their country's actions, and that they are separate from their leaders.

The show Avatar has a several disabled characters in the show. One of the main characters in the show, Toph, is blind. When the main protagonists first find her, they learn how her parents don't let her Earthbend because she is blind, and they believe that she isn't capable of taking care of herself. This shows something that most disabled people have to go through. Many disabled people have to deal with people thinking less of them because of their disabilities. There is another character in the show who is also disabled, Teo. Teo is wheelchair-bound, but that doesn't stop him from enjoying life. His father, an inventor, made him a special wheelchair that allowed him to move faster. His father also made him a wheelchair attachment with wings that allowed him to fly. Teo never really talks about himself needing to use a wheelchair, because he still is able to live a full life. 

The show also mentions the issue of sexism in society. In the very first scene of the pilot episode, Katara is angered at her brother for saying that men should be the ones that hunt, and women should stay at home taking care of families. The show has many of these moments in the show where they mention societal issues like this.

Avatar the Last Airbender manages to represent many different cultures and societal issues, despite being in an entirely fictional world. The ability to do this so well in a show targeted towards kids, in a show focused on saving the world and lots of action, makes it a truly great series, in both representation and just a great show in general.

Genre Research Activity - Drama

Drama Films: The Art of Emotion

Dramas typically tend to have a story that is more grounded in the real world. This allows the viewer to connect more with the characters and have an understanding of the world it takes place in. The drama films generally have conflict, as most films do, but they are often focused on the character development of the characters and how they evolve throughout the story. The main character/characters almost always finish the story a different person than who they started out as. Dramas also often spread awareness of certain issues, from widespread social issues to problems many people experience. Some dramas even cover real events, for example Titanic. However, they often stray from what actually happened to create an immersive experience. 

Dramas tend to use shots that add intensity to what is being shown, for example, close up shots, which can be used to show the emotions a character is going through. Dramas also have complex scripts, with many different layers to the storyline. If you completely unable to predict what happens in a story, you know it was well made. 

Dramas are not based off of necessarily intense stories to make them intense, like action movies. Instead, they often are intense due to what the characters are feeling, and their personal and emotional stakes, not physical.

A great example of a drama film is the move Whiplash (2014). Directed by Damien Chazelle, it tells a story of an inspiring drum student and his abusive band instructor. The movie is based off of experiences that the director himself went through when he was in band.  His main message is about the pursuit of greatness and its cost. However, the movie also shows what the effects of emotional abuse can be, spreading awareness of that issue. There are really only two main characters in the entire movie, and the storyline itself seems fairly simple. However, with the use of masterful dialogue, genius camera angles, and twist and turns in the plot, Whiplash ends up being one of the most intense movies I've ever seen. 

Another example of a drama film is the Quinten Tarantino movie Inglourious Basterds (2009). This movie takes place during WWII, an event everyone knows about. However, the plot itself is completely fictional: A group of Jewish soldiers who get revenge on the Nazis in WWII. The plot is far from real, but the setting of WWII helps the viewer understand the context. Inglourious Basterds doesn't rely on a fast pace to keep the viewer intrigued. There are many singular scenes that last well over 20 minutes. To add intensity, the movie uses intense dialogue and situations that keep the viewer wondering what will happen next. The best part about the movie is that the viewer isn't sure if the movie takes place in our world until the very last scene. We know how WWII ends, but will the same thing happen in the movie?

Here are some more great examples of drama movies:

1. Pulp Fiction (1994) - Quentin Tarantino: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110912/

2. Almost Famous (2000) - Cameron Crowe: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181875/

3. Shutter Island (2010) - Martin Scorsese: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/

4. Baby Driver (2017) - Edgar Wright: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3890160/

5. The Breakfast Club (1985) - John Hughes: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/

Sound Project

 In our project, you can hear a taxi pull up and drop off a passenger in the city. The woman walks to a line of people, where she gets her id checked by a bouncer. She then walks into a nightclub. However, soon after, the police come crashing in, causing the party to stop.

Outline: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jKZpOPFQ-ZBdE0-LFDWBvnNdY5uzllKK/view?usp=sharing

We started out by trying to think of a situation that was both interesting and easy to convey through just sounds. We thought both taking a taxi in the city and going to the nightclub would be interesting to portray, so we combined those two ideas. We then thought the police coming in at the end would be a shocking and unexpected way to end it. We thought having just silence in the very end after all the loud noise would add an interesting juxtaposition to the project.

We started out by figuring out which sounds we should record folly for. We decided the footsteps of the heels should be done with Foley as it would allow us to control the pacing of the entire soundscape. It also allowed us to record the same heels on different surfaces. We also decided to record the velvet rope clip and the wallet with cash with Foley as we wanted to get a very specific sound. When editing the project, we started with the base sounds of the soundscape. This included just the sound of the car and the city background. Then we added the sounds of actions, such as the high heels walking, the audio for the dialogue, the wallet unzipping, the velvet rope at the bouncer, and the police bursting in. After that, we added details such as people walking by and chattering, glasses clinking and being filled, cheering at the party, and glass breaking when the police show up. Finally, the music in the club scene was added after the quieter sounds were already mixed.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16VZElXfU_yySCSNiq1XCaotLgcY05a7W?usp=share_link

Final Project: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gJTMI5EY4SHah7Tr8D3wsv7pAMRCFI4G/view?usp=sharing

Preliminary Project: The Camera Shots Quiz

 For the camera shots quiz, our assignment was to tell a story by taking 15 different shots to show our knowledge of different kinds of shots and camera angles. The twist was that we would have to tell a story using only inanimate objects.

My partner and I had decided to tell the story of a pencil. We started at the pencils "birth", which was the pencil being taken out of the box, newly sharpened. We would then show different events in the pencil's life, including the tip being broken and newly sharpened. The last scene would show the pencil, much much smaller, being thrown away, a new pencil taking its place. 

I think we did a pretty good job telling the intended story. However, I think we should have had a greater variety of shots. I also believe we should have tried to frame the shots better so they looked more like the shots they were meant to be. For example, it was hard to distinguish between a close shot and a medium shot of the pencil.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VuDiPcn56M8ckMcQfhWESORy5Nsmyk_b/view?usp=drive_link

 Hi, my name is Zach, and I'm an AICE Media student for the 2023-24 school year. I am fascinated with movies and film, and I hope to one day pursue that as my career. I hope you enjoy the process of my Cambridge Portfolio!