Genre Research: Then there was "Us"

The movie "Us"is another prime example of a great mystery movie. This movie includes most of the conventions that we found as we researched the mystery genre. The movie Us has the usual camera shots represented in a mystery movie called a wide shot. It shows the back ground of the scene. This happens when the family is at the beach. The shot shows the sand, beach towels, and beach umbrellas showing that the family is at the beach in the beginning of the movie. The movie also follows the conventions with the camera angles. In the movie there are multiple close up angles showing the faces of the tethered. This was in order to create intensity in the film. When the tethered first showed up the camera angle went into a close up to show one of the main mysteries of the film. They also used the close ups in order to instill a little bit of fear and interest in the audience in order to keep them engaged with the mystery of the film.
Another camera angle that the film used to go along with the conventions was the Ariel shot. The Ariel shot was used when showing the house the family was running to when being chased by the tethered. This established a sense of location as to where the family was headed. Us continued to meet conventions by using tracking shots in their film as well. The tracking shots showed all of the characters in the film running away from the tethered. This shot was used the most because of the amount of running in the film. Not only did the film meet conventions by camera angles and movements, but they also met it by the costumes. The film had the tethered in prison uniforms which matches the genre precisely because in most mystery movies the mystery that they are trying to solve is murder and some of them take place in a mystery. Not only was the prison costumes a good match to the conventions, but the casual clothes as well. This is because the costume convention ranges from casual clothes to detective uniforms.
The lighting was another convention that the Us film captured. They used natural lighting for the film. This made some of the scenes dark and some of the scenes light because of the time of day. This is done in most mystery films in order to enhance certain parts of the film and in order to show that time is flowing in the film. The props in the film also match the conventions because they used knifes, scissors, masks and other killing tools. They used these in many scenes trying to kill the family and killing different people. The settings in the film match the conventions as well by some of the scenes taking place in the woods, dark places and everyday places as well. The film also used jump cuts between the tethered chasing the family members to show what happened in each of the scenes affected the other. The film also meets the conventions with the sound used in the film. The film uses a low scary sound in order to put the audience inside the movie and keep them on their toes for whats to happen next.
I love mystery movies like this. They keep me engaged with the movie and have me thinking I am in the movie as well. After watching it another time I was really able to analyze what was happening in the movie and the different shots, movements, camera angles, lighting and effects they were using to enhance the movie. I love how the movie had such a unique plot, because this plot was different from other plots I have seen before in this genre. However, I dislike how much information this movie left out at the end. It left me on so many cliff hangers to the point where I was kind of confused, saying what the point of all the twists were. For our project we will be sure to keep the plot good, but not too complicated to the point where we get our audience confused.

Genre Movie Research: Its time to "Get Out"

Movies similar to our genres are easier to spot being that a mystery genre typically has a plot of solving a mystery.Some noticeable camera shots in the specific movie is the use of close ups . When a film maker use close shots it makes the audience focus on that subject.One of the films i focused on was "Get Out " Produced by Jordan Pelee.  A example in get out of a close up shot is when Chris face is zoomed when being hypnotized , this gives audience the ability to feel his emotions . Another camera shot Jordan Peele uses is the point of view shots . When we take the place of Chris eyes and see the Gardner running towards him . This also makes the audience focus on the gardener and have a curious mindset on what will happen next. Another aspect of this film is the use of low angles . Such as when Chris explains his concerns about him being uncomfortable and Georgina responds . This is also used to emphasize the emotions of Chris concern. However Movements in mystery genres tend to vary , However in this movie they're a lot of tracking shots. Such as when their in the car driving to their parents house . It made the audience feel as if they were driving along side of them. Another movement was the zoom as They closed into Chris face it felt as if we felt his emotions and hurt more and more.

Movies such as Get out tends to use the same editing strategies.One editing strategy i took note of is the jump cuts .Such as when the camera cuts away when Chris looks at something . During the scene of the Gardner running away the camera cuts away as he turns . Which emphasize the curiosity of why the man is running . Another editing strategy i saw was the insert of the pictures during his hypnotism . They inserted the pictures to show his memories . The sound of the movie had typical scary movie music . Which included the taunting sound of having the audience believe that something is happening .
It wasn’t many customs in the film . They were just everyday clothing and job attire . However the lightening played a significance in this film such as the darkness during the hypnotism which made us connect the dots during the hypnotism . Also the actors even tho they were plan regular people if the Maid and garner didn’t act in such way we wouldn’t have been curious of the workers. The close up of the maid showed the audience her make up which made the audience question her character. Another aspect of the film was is the props being used such as the axe or even the tea cup during the hypnotism. The setting made the movie which every different idea was in a different science which made us connect all pieces of the story together .
I love mystery movies , it keeps me on the edge of my seat . Get out especially kept me on the edge of my seat with the different camera shot tactics. Being that i learned about all the reasons why movie producers use different angles and shots it made it more easier after watching it another time . The movie became clearer as i understood the emphasize of the angles, movements , and sound and editing . However there are somethings that i dislike about this genre . I dislike how a mystery genre tends to have the same plot . I also dislike how the conventions tends to be a dark setting rather than a a sunny or lighter . Alot of mysteries happen during the day so for our project we will hopefully twist the conventions a little.

Finally chose a Genre

Previously, my group members and I researched three genres. These genres were Crime, Mystery, and Musical.  After researching all of those genres we decided to go with mystery. We went with mystery because when we were brainstorming ideas for the genres mystery was the best idea out of all. Not only was it the best idea, but the idea was rational. We have the tools and means capable of doing this idea more than the others. We also liked the different clamps and conventions in this genre as well. The movies that we watched that fell under the mystery genre fit well with our movie idea.  In the mystery genre, they use close-up shots and naturalistic lighting. We felt like mystery was one of the best genres that engages with the audience. As people watch our film, we do not want them to get bored.

Mystery/Musical Genre Research

The first genre that we are researching is musicals. In common musicals, to show actors dancing, pan movement and tracking shot is used to keep up with the dancing. By using eye-angle, audiences can experience the actors dancing like front-row seats. The lighting is generally bright (high-key lighting) to create a bright mood. Also, cinematic lighting is used to show drama between actors. Bounce lighting is used to reflect soft light onto an actor. Wide shots are often used to show locations especially to show where actors are singing. In pop-themed musicals, subtle props such as flowers are used. In action-themed musicals, props such as swords and shields are used. In most musicals, costumes are used to match the mood of the scene and role of the actor. Sound elements typically used are ballad and live music. I don't like musicals where every scene actors sing. However, I do like the lighting used. It creates a happy atmosphere. With all these facts, this is why we chose this genre.
One additional genre we're researching is Mystery. The mystery genre is typically when a mystery is being solved. The usual Camera shots in a mystery movie is wide shots to show the background. While camera angles have a large range. Some camera angles are an Ariel shot which establishes their location and close ups which exaggerate the close object. Movements in a mystery thriller usually have a tracking shot to show the moving of a person. Usually costumes range from detective outfits to everyday casual clothing. The lightening in mysteries are typically dark dim lightening or sometimes bright if it's being solved during the day. The actors are all a different type of people. Props usually used knifes, guns, ski mask, and other killing objects or even just plain note pads. The setting is typically woods, dark areas, or even just everyday places. One of the most important editing tactics is jump cuts from scene to scene to emphasize the correlation between the two. The sound is typically dark scary music to make the audience feel inside the movie. I love how this genre keeps me on the edge of my seat, it is so interesting. However, I don’t like how it tends to have the same plot twist. All in all, I hope we go with this because this is one of my favorite genres.

Beginning of Genre Research

At the beginning of the school year, we were assigned a genre to research. The genre that we were assigned was crime. We looked at the common lighting, angles, movements, mis-en-scene, and sound. When we conducted enough information, we created a PowerPoint to present our findings. My group members and I worked diligently to design the PowerPoint. To enhance our PowerPoint we used pictures and videos. The project was interesting because we learned more about the characteristics of the genre.

The Battle Of The Pitches

It was very hard to narrow down to two pitches. We tried merging them together and unfortunately it didn't work until we looked at other trailers . Once we looked at other trailers and looked at other Aice media examples we decided to go with these two pitches .The first pitch is He met this girl thinking he was going to fall in love , the whole time she was plotting something sinister, something he might not survive.While the second pitch is Someone follows three teenage girls while getting ready to have fun at their first college party. One goes missing and now they can’t find her. Both of this pitches were great plus the incorporated all of what interested them . Out of the 3 pitch ideas these two was our favorites.

We narrowed down the three pitches into two. The first of those two pitches is, He met this girl thinking he was in love, the whole time she was plotting something sinister. Something he might not survive. We chose this pitch because we have a whole plan formulating on what we want to do. We want to have one of the female group members to trick someone, me, into falling in love with them while she plots with the other members to set me up. This is also a very rational choice as well. We did not want to do something too complicated that we can not finish within the allotted time. It is also the more rational idea because we can do this with the group members that we have. We also looked at other factor such as the props, costumes, make up and places where we were going to do the pitch. Looking at these factors and more we all decided that this was one of the top contenders.

The second pitch that we chose to do is, Someone who follows three teenage girls while getting ready to have fun at their first college party. One goes missing and now they can't find her. This was a very great pitch that we chose because it was a good one that we all agreed on. We combined our first round of pitches in order to make this one. We have a very solid plan that we have come up with and that we have decided is a very rational plan. We already have a location picked out, costumes picked out, and have the people we want in the film picked out as well. We have the ways we want to film mapped out and we know exactly where we want to go with the story. Knowing this makes it easier for us to make an opening scene to the film because we know what we want to do after the scene. This makes this one of the best pitch ideas that we can choose from.

After debating on which pitch was the best, we finally came to an agreement. The pitch that we agreed on was pitch number 3. The third pitch was, Someone follows three teenage girls while getting ready to have fun at their first college party. One goes missing and now they can’t find her. While deliberating, we found that pitch number three had the best ideas. We also felt confident with the pitch and the plans we had for the film. This made it a perfect pitch for us. It fit our needs and addressed all of the concerns we had. 

Starting the Final Task

Hello, my name is Chad and I am in the 11th grade. I go to Fort Lauderdale Highschool and I am in the Cambridge program. I am still 16 years old and will not turn 17 until June 21st. I have been progressing a lot in AICE Media since the beginning of the year. My film skills and knowledge have grown from nothing to a vast array of different terms such as a high angle, low angle, god's eye, and a pan shot. These things have enhanced the way I see most TV shows and movies now because I always point them out when watching something. My production skills have increased immensely from the beginning of the year as well because of the different projects that we have been doing. I've learned how to create different angles while filming such as making high angles by standing high over the object of filming and to create low angles by filming below the object. I am working with my group mates before named Shania, Kerin, and Kaliyah. These are the group mates I am the most comfortable working with and I know that we will do an amazing job.
In the last two projects I have learned so much. This ranges from my production skills to my editing skills. It also boosted my planning skills as well. My production skills have increased tremendously because I have done it twice now. The first time I was not there for much of it, but the second time I learned how to use the camera in order to make certain shots and angles that I wanted. These shots helped enhance the way the film looked and progressed as well. I also believe the previous experience will help me when it comes to filming different shots for this film as well. My editing skills have also increased. I now know how to speed up and slow down a film, I know how to zoom into the film, I know how to add music and turn off the sound, and etc. I am more excited for this film because I can put all of the new knowledge I learned from the other projects in order to make the film even better than the last ones. I am more excited for the filming and editing portion of this film because I believe that I can film the film much better than the other ones and we have a more solid plan than the other ones. I'm excited for the editing because I want to test new ideas that we have for the titles and for the film itself. We want to test some music and also some new transitions.
Pitch is a Hollywood term used to describe an idea where a film is encapsulated in 25 words or less. It is usually done within one sentence.
Pitch Idea #1: Micheal and Naomi fell in love on their first date. The love was short lived once Naomi fell for Steven. Micheal wanted Steven dead.
Pitch Idea #2: He met this girl thinking he was going to fall in love, the whole time she was plotting something sinister... Something he might not survive.
Pitch Idea #3: Someone follows three teenage girls while getting ready to have fun at their first college party. One goes missing and now they can't find her.