Genre choice for film

 After doing our research we’ve decided it’d be best to choose ‘thriller’ as our genre. The reason we chose thriller as our genre because it best suits the vision we have for the movie. Since our pitch is ‘ A normal day you bump into someone that can change your life, but the fate of your future is out of your hands’, we’ve determined that it would best fit into the thriller genre. The film deals with a stalker that meets her stalkee randomly, hence the ‘A normal day you bump into someone’ part of the pitch. However, the part that fits the thriller genre the most is the ‘but the fate of your future is out of your hands’. Our film will deal with suspense and tension, the main aspects to a thriller film. We think that the researched helped a lot in determining which genre our film fit best in. But the fact that we had the ability to watch different films, the different aspects were really shown to us. Our pitch fits perfect within the thriller genre. There was no need to edit or make any changes at all. While choosing the initial three genres we felt it would be more productive to choose three genres that we could see fit our film in the future. 

My group member and I definitely have our work cut out for us. We both have high expectations for our film. We want to make it the best it can be. And that means working endlessly towards our vision. Since we’re both humans we have our doubts. This is the first time we’re working together, we don’t know if its a perfect match. Even though we came up with our pitch together, we might have different visions for it. We’re trying to keep a positive mentality when it comes to how our film will turn out. But not being able to work with each other in person might affect our film in a negative way. Fingers crossed it turns out great!

Genre research- Thriller, Romance, and Mystery

Genres we would like to research

 On to the next step in making our film! Although we’ve already envisioned what we’d like our film to look like, it’s always important to do the research that’s necessary to make our film the best it can be. We’ve decided that our pitch would best fit into three genres. The genres are thriller, romance, and mystery. We’ve watched countless films that fit into each genre so we feel our pitch matches them. Each genre has different qualities to them that could potentially fit our film. A thriller film is ‘characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. A romance showcases romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theaters and on TV that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. It also shows their journey that their love takes them through dating, courtship or marriage. A mystery is characterized as a story that focuses on a puzzling crime, situation, or circumstance that needs to be solved.

Even though we’ve watched films in these genres and know the definitions, we still need do more research. Research is very important when it comes to the success of our film. Research allows the film to be accurate. We will conduct the necessary amount of research so our film can be the best it can be. In the past, group members have neglected the research aspect of developing our film. I feel that the problems we faced later on could have been avoided with conducting research. I hope with the research that’ll go into this film, we will be able to do better than last year. We want to make sure that we’re doing what we need to, while having fun. It’ll make the experience better and more memorable. 

Pitch time!!!

 A normal day you bump into someone that can change your life, but the fate of your future is out of your hands.

Second time's the charm

 Just like last year, we were given the option to work in groups. Now, the thing is, I would prefer to work by myself. Last year, for the first few projects I had worked with a group. When I was in a group and turned in projects I weren't happy about, I blamed the lack of experience. Yes the lack of experience may have contributed but I think it was because of the difficulties working with a group brought. Finding time to film with all of our different schedules was probably the biggest problem. I liked working with my partners but since they were in their last year of high school, they put in the minimum amount of effort possible. This made my job harder. I was in charge of everything, the editing, the directing, and the filming. I figured that I should just do the last project by myself and take all of the credit. That's what I did. On the last project I worked by myself and I would've been able see out my expectations but the pandemic shut everything down. 

This year, I decided to take a different approach. Instead of stressing myself out my last year of high school, I decided to have a partner. I wanted to give this year my all. In order to do that, I need to think about preventing anything that might spread me out too thin. The final project alone requires a lot of energy. I'm going to put the past behind me and go through this year with a partner. My partner for this year is Jonathon Mungal. Although he might be in a different class period than me, he's still taking the same course I am. I hope I made the right decision in choosing to complete this year with a partner. I think it'll take some weight off of my shoulders. This way, I'll be able to make a project that I'm nothing but proud of. 

Back in business!!!

I'm back! Yes, the rumors are true, we are back in business. Taking the second part of this AICE course is very exciting. Brand new things are coming my way. I was pumped to take the second half AICE media studies because of the sad ending of last year. The pandemic really rained on parade last year. I wasn't able to really fulfill the vision I had for my final project last year. The place where I was filming closed and the actor I needed to film with had to quarantine. It became hard when I was trying to put the scenes I had together. It wouldn't make sense and it didn't match the idea I had in my head. I ended up having to change my storyboard a lot. In the end, I was able to put something together but it wasn't my best work. 

I learned a lot from last year. I know this year will be different. I feel like I'm prepared for anything. If I was able to make my final project with the circumstances the universe threw at me, I can accomplish anything. The final project for this year sounds really interesting. In class today we went over the different aspects to the final project. It's not just a short film. the final project actually has big components. We have to act as a marketing team, a director, and an editor all at the same time. I still have to decide whether or not I want to work alone. I know working in a group will make my life easier. However, working alone allows me to be most creative. Either way I'm super excited for this year. I can't wait to see what I'm capable of doing. 

Audience and Institution Practice essay

1. Assess the importance of marketing in the media area you have studied. 

When evaluating the success of a film, marketing plays a very influential role. Marketing is a strategy that has been used ever since the Victorian Era. No matter the technique of marketing, it is still important to the success of a film. 

Marketing is important to film because of the huge impact it can have on its success. Nowadays, films are considered successful based on the amount of profit they gain.  If marketed well, a film can make hundreds of millions of dollars. Marketing allows for the film to become noticed and gain a following before it even comes out. One of the main forms of marketing includes releasing trailers before the movie comes out in order to intrigue viewers. The film Jurassic World had released four separate trailers that were distributed online months before the release of the film. They had also aired little snippets of the film on tv before and after  the release of the film. This little aspect of marketing has proven to be successful for Jurassic World making it the third largest grossing movie of all time. 

There are different aspects to marketing. Like aforementioned, releasing trailers or snippets of the upcoming film is a small part of marketing. However, films use a myriad of marketing that leads to its success. Films like the live action Beauty and the Beast. While promoting the film, their marketing strategies included releasing trailers, cross promotions, merchandising, and even media convergence. Disney, the distribution company, had cross promoted with different companies that would reach their target audiences. Their target audience probably ranges from ages five to those in their late thirties. This is because Disney had also used the nostalgia of those who watched the animated version decades earlier. Using all of these techniques led to a large outreach which gained viewers. In the end, the film was successful and made almost 1.3 billion dollars. Another film includes Spiderman Homecoming. Just like Beauty and the Beast, Spiderman Homecoming used all kinds of marketing strategies that led to its success. While also using nostalgia as a way to gain an audience, the film used techniques like synergy to market. They had partnered with different companies, like General Mills, in order to promote the film. Spiderman Homecoming was able to make almost 900 million dollars, making it the thirteenth successful movie in it’s category.

Without marketing, a film that may be an amazing piece of art is left unrecognized.  Contrary to popular belief, a film does not need a large marketing team behind it. Marketing can range from word of mouth to setting aside millions of dollars for a marketing team.  Regardless, a film needs marketing in order for it to be successful.