For my group, we were assigned the music genre: rock. Out of four songs, we chose, Time is Running Out because we felt that it had the most opportunities to film and market through its fast-paced, and upbeat tempo.
At the start of our brainstorming process, we researched the different aspects of how to market a song as well as the band. We learned that ads and online marketing have grown rapidly over the past few years (especially following quarantine/COVID-19) and are the primary source for promoting the artist. This is why we chose to approach our band as having a strong social media presence on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Through our research, we targeted popular music production companies and collected note charts on their history and past rock successes. This way we could see what marketing methods worked the best and use that information in our own marketing techniques.
We chose our logo to be eye-catching and to match the name of our band, which we named After Hours. We decided that since this was a rock band we would utilize the punk aesthetic and use mainly black, white, and red for the brand colors as well as colors we would like to incorporate in the music video.
While brainstorming for the music video for Time is Running Out, my team and I bounced ideas off of one another of how we should promote our band. We came to the decision to make the video primarily promotional, instead of stylistic or story-telling. To elaborate, we focused on the lead singer for the majority of the shots and only tight clips of instruments that hint at the band. This way, there is a mysterious aspect of the band, while also keeping the lead singer as the face of the brand. Through the process of planning out shots, we utilized a storyboard to visualize each scene. We decided to use a variety of camera shots and movements to go along with the chaotic nature of the song.
Once we finalized a day when all members were available to film, we chose the main location and filmed various shots to use in our music video. To give the video a more visually entertaining aspect, we varied the locations in our shots and switched up the lighting slightly. We also decided to film in a closed-down road area to go along with the name of the band.
Since After Hours implies rebellion, we thought filming in a location where the public is not normally allowed to enter would go hand in hand with the theme. Furthermore, we chose to film in the daylight to mimic the natural bright light coming through in the shots that are seen in our logo. We hoped to give our music video a touch of early 2000s rock aesthetic, so we used both an iPhone 15 camera and a digital camera. However, once we began filming with the digital camera, we noticed that the shadows around the lead singer made her face and features not clearly visible. This led us to use the digital camera on only a limited amount of scenes in which the lighting had fewer shadows. In addition, the chorus of the song is very loud and chaotic, so we felt a tracking shot of the lead singer running would be best to use during that portion. Once we filmed multiple shots in different locations, we called it a day and decided to start the editing portion.
I am currently in the process of editing the music video, and so far I have realized that I do not have a sufficient amount of cuts. After viewing the video a few times, I came to the conclusion that a chaotic clip is simply not chaotic enough for the upbeat song, or as visually enticing as it needs to be. I plan on mixing and matching a variety of shots from different locations and creating fast cuts to emphasize the messy nature of the song. Other than that, I feel as though we have a wide variety of shots such as low angle, high angle, and camera movement such as zooming. I am confident that the video will turn out a success. Regarding the marketing campaign, my group and I are still in the process of creating it and we hope to complete it soon. One challenge we have faced is finding a time in which we can all meet, as most of us have extracurricular activities after school every day. However, given the importance of the project at hand, I am positive we will get the job done.
The well-liked American-comedy drama series, Shameless is known for it's evident representation of diverse groups. The series centers around six chaotic siblings living in poverty after their bipolar mother abandoned them and their alcoholic father was unfit to care for them. While the show represents a large variety of people and situations, a closer look at the representation unveils several underlying issues.
The youngest child is named Liam Gallagher who, despite having two Caucasian parents, is African American. One might see this and believe the show is creating diversity within their cast, but the show tends to push the character aside. To elaborate, the plot of each episode never focuses a significant amount of time on the character's development. At the start of the show, the character was just a baby, so one could reason that the lack of focus on Liam was due to his young age. However, as the seasons progress (11 seasons total) there is still significantly less of a focus on Liam than the other characters on the show. In season 7, when Liam was unable to attend private school due to all the colored students slots being full, the show sheds light on issues with forced diversity in schools. However, since the matter was briefly discussed and forgotten by the next episode, one can infer that the show's intention was not to delve into Liam's personal struggles, but to just point out a discriminatory matter in private schools. Likewise, at the start of the show, the oldest sister Fiona exposes young Liam to cocaine. The scenes that followed were primarily of Fiona's experience in prison. There was little to no reflection on Liam and how he was coping being in a foster home. Once again, the show depicts scenarios that can happen in the real world, but rarely portrays how Liam's character could be feeling in said situations.
Throughout various of the seasons, each male person of color was portrayed as 'mean and scary'. For instance, one of the main character's friends, Mandy had a boyfriend named Kenyatta in one of the earlier seasons. Due to his large frame and constant angry expression, he was depicted as frightening. It did not help that he was portrayed as consistently abusing and cheating on Mandy. Another character was Nick, a close friend of Carl (one of the Gallagher siblings) while they were in a juvenile detention center. The show made him out to be dangerous as well by showing him stalking and killing a young boy after his bike was stolen. Likewise, the Gallagher's runaway mother, Monica, had an African American girlfriend who was, once again, depicted as angry and aggressive. Like the two colored men, she too was presented as a villain by wanting to take custody of their younger brother Liam and separate him from his siblings when he was still an infant. Each of these characters were shown wearing loose, ratty, over-sized clothing. The viewers can conclude that the show is depicting African Americans as not only violent, but living in poverty. Clearly, the show makes a point of associating people of color with violence and negative actions.
Moreover, the show includes representation of the LGBTQ+ community. One of the Gallagher siblings, Debbie meets a woman of color in her workplace named Alex. When the two began to have romantic relations, Alex appeared hurt and disappointed when Debbie realized she wasn't homosexual. It takes time until the young character Debbie comes to terms with her sexuality and accepts herself. Once Debbie came to this realization, her romantic partner Alex was given significantly less screen time. Viewers can conclude that while depicting the ups and downs of a young girl's journey with her sexuality, it came at the expense of a lesbian African American character. Not only have women of color, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community, struggled to gain adequate amounts of screen time, but in Shameless' case, Alex's role was for the sole purpose of developing Debbie's character, not her own. One can infer that while it is important for Shameless to represent the queer community, it should not be at the cost of bringing down the colored female community.
On the other hand, Shameless has done an excellent job with illustrating people with mental illness. To elaborate, one of the main characters, Ian, was shown discovering his diagnosis with bipolar disorder. The show takes the audience along in Ian's journey of struggling with and later getting accustomed to his disorder. Shameless accurately portrayed someone with bipolar disorder by depicting Ian going through the various stages that come with the illness. Including hallucinations, mania, depression, mood swings, among others. While depicting the bad, the show also gives its audience a view of Ian being surrounded by positiveness and dealing with the illness with medication. This allows viewers to see that people with bipolar disorder are capable of living a normal life, instead of branding them as destructive and mentally ill individuals, which is commonly seen in other film representations. Moreover, Shameless points out the hereditary aspect of mental illness by highlighting that Ian's mother was bipolar as well. However, the show depicts how, despite having inherited the illness from his mother, their experiences differ. In fact, Ian was seen standing up for himself numerous times when he was discriminated for his disorder. To specify, Ian was forced to fight back after being fired from his job because of his bipolar disorder. Through scenes such as this one, the show sheds light on discrimination of mental illness in the work place. Clearly, Shameless accurately portrays the many struggles and obstacles people with mental illnesses must overcome.
The film genre action is one that many enjoy for its fast-paced movements and special effects. Like horror and thrillers, action is a genre that people consume for the experience and exhilaration it gives them. It pertains to one or more heroes that go through a series of challenges, whether they be physical or psychological.
One reason why this genre is so popular is due to the various fight scenes, violence, and chaos. With that being said, action is mainly targeted at a male audience. Specifically, the audience is between the ages of 13 and 30. This particular group is more catered for action since they are more likely to seek the exhilarating car chase or sexual content that action movies contain. An alternative audience would be children and females between the ages of 16 and 25. In the case of children, they are more likely to enjoy animated action movies such as Teen Titans Go. On the other hand, females are more likely to watch action movies for the social aspect (ie. interact with friends/family)
There are multiple conventions that go into Action. Firstly, there is almost always a power struggle. In other words, good versus evil. There is the protagonist who has to go through multiple obstacles and do the impossible, and there is the antagonist who stands in their way and prays for their downfall. There is often supporting characters that advise the protagonist along the way. Depending on the film, action could be realistic and include war. A great example of this is Extraction, in which Chris Hemsworth plays the hero in a kidnapping. Or, it could be unrealistic and have fictional characters such as Spider Man: No Way Home. Nevertheless, the action focuses on a hero and his fight against the villain.
Have you ever wondered how action movies make such amazing stunts? Well, the answer used to be that all stunts were real and were often done by a stunt double. However, with advancements in technology, CGI has made it more affordable and efficient for directors to create an action scene. Instead of having an actor perform the stunt, they can use CGI to edit the person into the scene. Moreover, action films often have fast pacing. The reason for this is to emphasize the intense nature of the scene and add to its dramatics. One example of a film that utilizes fast pacing is Mission Impossible: Fallout. The film is part of a franchise that is known for using fast cuts to add excitement and movement. In fact, tight shots are common as well for it's an uncomfortable close-up, and to make the character seem more powerful and intense. You might also see a contrast in an action film. They often capture their shots in high dynamic ranges, and make it, so their shadows darken and highlights brighten. By doing this, filmmakers give depth to their films as well as imagery.
Action films do so well because of their excellent marketing. They do this by having imagery of the heroic protagonist, who is often toned and attractive. Whether they are male or female, it makes the audience want to not only watch it but want to be the character themselves. This was the case when actors like Brad Pitt and The Rock brought in millions because of their role as the lead. The two have starred in some of the most successful movies. For instance, Brad Pitt's Bullet Train grossed $239.3 million worldwide, despite only having a $90 million budget. In addition, most action film advertisements include suspenseful cliffhangers. This as well as the promise of a squeal can enhance the film's attention and leave the audience wanting more. Marketers will often utilize social media platforms to advertise their films and include bright imagery containing some of the film's violent, action-packed scenes.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith is an action film in which there are two main characters: John Smith (Brad Pitt) and Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie). The movie is about a young couple who fell in love and abruptly got married while they were each on their own spy mission. While they were married, they kept their distance until they discovered they were both enemy spies. This is where most of the violence in the movie commences since each of their bosses orders them to kill the other, so throughout the movie, the two use various weapons and car chases to get one another. The film contains multiple fast-paced scenes and tight shots of violence, emphasizing on the couple's movements toward each other. While there are some light colors, the primary color is black. This is to give each scene a sense of secrecy and violence. However, the poster depicts the two characters facing one another. While the background is white, their clothing is black. This contrast is used to emphasize each character and show how they themselves are dark, since they are both spies/hitmen. Their reason to be facing one another is to represent themselves as a unit, or marriage. In the end, they decided to not kill each other and instead run away and learn about one another. This leads the audience to assume that the message of this film is to honor your commitments and have honesty with those you love. Since all that chaos occurred due to the couple's lack of honesty, it is clear the film in advising the audience to be truthful.
The Suicide Squad is a film in which a group of the world's most devious criminals are asked to come together to help defeat aliens for lighter prison sentences. The costume design gives each villain character and depth. The Joker for example wears lots of purple because the color is connected to ambitiousness, and green because of his greed and thirst for wealth. Each villain is accessorized with tattoos, or metal teeth, in Joker's example. There are various scenes that cut to each villain's past life before they were arrested. These cutaways include children and past lovers who were left behind. The reason behind this is to show the audience that the villains are not necessarily evil and that they do have a heart. In addition, the film had various fast-paced, fast cuts, including violence and fight scenes. These were made to enhance the fight and make it look gruesome and challenging. Only when the villains accepted who they were, were they able to defeat the aliens? Specifically, they worked together and did what they knew they did best. With that in mind, the audience can infer that the message is to be yourself, as well as work as a team. In the poster, there is a graffiti-like design as well as the smile formation gives the film a sense of mischief and adds to the fact that the group of people are devious. Each villain is seen in a high angle looking upward. This angle makes the characters seem small and insignificant. One can infer that the reason behind this was to show how in the movie, they are being forced to help the police in a desperate attempt of getting out of jail.
For this project, our directions were to tell a story through sound effects and auditory techniques. We were each assigned a partner and had a few days to brainstorm different project ideas. Each story was meant to be comprised of action that would occur in a realistic 1-2 minute time frame. Our goal was to convey the plot of our story using only sounds. We were instructed to use four Foley sounds as well.
While creating our outline, my partner and I decided to make our story about a father making an egg for his young daughter. In our outline, we mentioned primary sounds that would be apparent, such as footsteps and the sounds of him opening the fridge/cracking the egg. Some secondary sounds that we chose to include were the sound of his daughter's TV show and her laughter. We approached this project by wanting to include as many sounds as possible. For instance, the sound of the father picking up a plate or picking up a pan. The Foley sounds that we chose to recreate were the tapping of the egg against the pan, which we recreated by tapping an empty plastic water bottle against the pan. As well as the crack of the egg, which we recreated with a crack of lettuce. Other Foley sounds included spraying disinfectant spray to mimic anti-stick spray and making light footsteps with flip-flops to mimic the young girl's light steps.
Overall, I believe my partner and I were able to provide a variety of different sounds in the kitchen. As well as accurately create a story that people could follow along with the sound alone. However, I do think we could improve on adding more layers to the sound, specifically for the secondary sounds. This way the story has more depth, and it becomes a more realistic environment.
Hello! This week we had to do a One Word Film project in which our goal was to create a short film that represents a word. In my case, the word was contemplative. I approached this project by making a storyboard and planning how I could depict the word 'contemplative'. My partner and I decided to depict a young girl who just experienced a loss and to show her in the process of contemplating what happens when one dies. For instance, we planned on having a clip that represented heaven, indicating that the young girl contemplated if her loved one went to heaven. We filmed this on our school campus and made small props. To specify, we created a small fake tombstone out of cardboard and a small fake bouquet of flowers out of chenille stems. We edited the project using Adobe to create small transitions. We were able to clearly show that the young girl was having a thought by zooming and blurring her eye. However, in the future, I would like to improve on our shots by having a wider variety of them to make the scene run smoothly and look more realistic.
The purpose of the activity was to use inanimate objects to create a story while also using camera shot techniques to illustrate the story's message. I developed the project by planning out the story, and what specific shots I would use. Once I had figured out what each shot would be and how it would move the story along, I began to take the shots. By working with a partner, I was able to take a variety of different shots, such as dutch angles and high-angle shots. During this project, the long shots that were used to represent the water bottle moving toward the person made the scene more realistic and therefore was successful. These shots created movement in the story and contributed to the plot. However, I would improve the story by using more types of shots. During the project, I noticed that I primarily took medium/long shots. Moving forward, I believe using more angles/shots would add to the story.
