Partner chat about in class meeting

    I wasn't in school due to the lockdown but my partner was. During the class they had a group meeting to go over topics for the film openings and brainstorm how to make them. My partner and I talked about what took place during the meeting and I feel more prepared. 

    We realized that our planned plot was too simple and superficial, and that a major theme is necessary to create a well made story. This will improve the quality of our work and allow the film to represent something more meaningful than just slapstick comedy.

    In order to stay on task I researched more into the comedy genre to find out ways to incorporate humor into films without making it seem silly. These are examples of films I have found.

Don't Look Up

DeadPool

Jojo Rabbit

Genre Research: Comedy

 Researching Genre

For my project, I have three genres I want to possibly pursue: Comedy, Drama, and Action.

For the next three blog posts, I will do a deep dive into each genre and explain possible ideas for a film within each. First I will start with comedy.

Comedy

Comedy films are known for being extremely funny, and not very serious. Most people think of comedy films as silly and with no purpose other than to be funny however, there are many subgenres of comedy. Through research, I have found slapstick, romantic, parody, and dark comedy. Each subgenre has its own unique traits that make it different from the rest.

Slapstick:

These comedies focus on exaggerating physical stunts or silly gags to entertain the viewer throughout the film and usually have relatively simple plots. Think of Jim Carrey's silly movie roles. He usually plays a silly character, where he exaggerates physical movement for humor. 

Examples: Dumb and Dumber and  Liar Liar

Romantic:

These comedies focus on a battle of the sexes theme, where a strong female lead goes against a male lead. Usually, the two end up as a couple at the end of the movie except for some exceptions such as, "Legally Blond" and "My Best Friends Wedding."

Examples: The Princess Bride, Coming to America, and Groundhog Day

Parody:

These comedies mock existing movies to an extreme and are usually simple and silly. Parody films allow the audience to laugh at the seemingly ridiculous part of serious movies. These films serve the purpose to criticize art and make something new out of it.

Examples: Space Balls, Young Frankenstein, and Scary Movie

Dark:

These comedies focus on darker, more taboo themes while still being funny. They take a serious topic such as death or war and express them through a comedic lens. The idea is to represent something terrible in a comedic way without showing the disturbing realism of the situation.

Examples: Parasite and The Death of Stalin

For a comedy film, I would do a darker comedy in order to focus on serious topics that I can spin to have humor. I don't like the idea of slapstick or parody because they seem too silly and WAY too many of these types of films have been made (a lot being unsuccessful). With dark comedy, I can create a comedic story that is also well-written and worth more than being silly for laughter.

https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/genre-breakdown-comedy-film/

https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a26115125/romantic-comedy-definition/

Film Opening Techniques

 The Part Most People Don't See

    The title I chose for this post references the excessive amount of time that goes into any production. With this project, I have to dig deep into how to make a good film opening. In the beginning, I was at a loss for where to start so I said to myself, "Oh well," and started watching random film openings.

    After watching some I learned of different film opening techniques:

Dark Knight

Enter The Villain- 

Showcase the antagonist in the opening to show what they are capable of.

Examples: Dark Knight, X-Men First Class, Avengers Infinity War

Enter The Hero-

Focuses on the protagonist in the opening

Examples: Sky Fall, Guardians Of the Galaxy

Sky Fall

Plot Catalyst-

This technique focuses on the problem and main issue that the film will focus on.

Examples: Uncut Gems, Thor The Dark World

Genre Films-

This technique takes a genre and uses its connotations in the opening

Examples: Lala Land (Musical), Dumb and Dumber(Comedy)

 

Flashback- 

This technique uses a flashback to show a story of the past to relate to the plot of the film.

Examples: Creed, The Lord of The Rings, Death On The Nile

Flash Forward-

This technique involves the film opening at a certain point of the film and during the film, it shows how it got there.

Examples: The Wolf of Wall Street, Memento, Forest Gump

 

 

Red Herrings-

This technique is used to mislead the audience about what is actually going to happen.

Examples: Psycho, Shutter Island

 

Beginning of Final Project

Ideas Ideas Ideas

    I have been tasked with an assignment that seems extremely overwhelming, although I am excited to show what I have learned. This project will test my ability to work on longer projects from start to finish. I have some ideas of what I want to do, yet none seem possible. So many stories I could tell. So many characters I could develop. So much is going on in my mind right now, and oddly enough, I am ecstatic. This will be my first creation from scratch and I can't wait to get started. 

    There are so many genres I could choose, including, action, adventure, drama, comedy, horror, romance, mystery, and many subgenres. My mind is telling me, "Do action films." "Do a comedy." "Mystery would be cool." I'm having too many thoughts and I need to take a step back and do a deep dive into how the different genres work. I have a feeling I know which genre I will end up doing, but I want to keep that to myself for now. With this project, mental blocks are almost guaranteed and I'm anxious to see how I will overcome the hurdles of creation. From here on out, this account will document everything I do in process of creating this project. 

Wish me luck! I will definitely need it!

Music Blog Post #2

    During the process of planning the music video, my group was able to create a storyboard during class. This freed up time to do a photo shoot for the Instagram page, and to work on the website. This was crucial in marketing our brand as we were heavily utilizing social media. The process of filming took two separate days of shooting and the presentation was mostly made during school time. Editing was done by one member who took extra care in making the music video the way we envisioned it to be. 

    Because the filming process took two days, we had to work around the members' schedules but we made it work thanks to the detailed schedule that one of the group members made during the first planning session. During the week we had to change it a little depending on how much we got done and that taught me that even detailed planning can't predict everything. That valuable lesson is one I will take with me into the next project.

    When we presented the project, it went really smoothly. Each slide of the PowerPoint felt easy to speak about and all the information was conveyed accurately. Each member played a crucial role in the presentation as there was no major stumbling of words and everyone was enthusiastic. Overall, we did a good job presenting our project.