Genres I Would Like to Research

 The next step in this project is to research genres and find out which one our short film belongs under. My group and I have decided to research the genres thriller, comedy, and drama. We have decided to research the thriller genre because our short film is about the harsh obstacles three teenagers deal with in their personal lives. A thriller contains a lot of suspense throughout the film. Suspense could be useful in our film to show just how rocky their at home lives are. Comedy is the next genre we are looking into. Comedies are often more light-hearted and could help steer our movie in a more positive direction. A funny movie may also emphasize the innocence of the characters in the story since they are teenagers. There are also different types of comedy. There is dark humor, dry humor, comedy through action, romantic comedies, and so much more. A genre that has this much range is beneficial for a film in general. 

    Drama is the final genre we will be researching. Films that have teenagers as the main characters are often dramas. Dramas are often more realistic and take a dive into the emotions and events of the characters and their lives. Dramas contain themes that relate to real life problems. This is a good thing because it introduces a connection to form between the audience and the film. There are also different types of dramas. For example, a melodrama has many exciting events intended to bring our certain emotions. This could be really beneficial for our film because it deals with such a relatable topic that many people could have emotions about. Overall, researching different genres is very important when deciding which one your film belongs under.

Pitch Blog: Our Idea

 Three teenagers that each have family problems and deal with hardships at home, each put a superficial mask on for each other and social media.

Group Blog: Meet my Group-mates

This week, my class was instructed to decide whether or not we wanted to work individually or with others. I decided that since it went so well in AS Level, I would want to work with others again. Being able to interact with others to create media feels like the most fun and productive approach. A big thing for me was being able to trust that my group would be able to collaborate in person if we had to and online. Since I have known them for a couple of years now, we are very comfortable with one another and have all been quarantining. Now... It's time to reveal my group members for A Level Media. Drumroll please! I will be working with two other juniors who also happen to be in my class period. I've decided to collaborate with Sophia D'Ambra and Savanna Nemmers! Sophia, Savanna, and I have worked together before on projects and we know that we can all pull our weight while still having fun and being creative. I am very excited to work with them! In AS Level, we weren't all in the same class so being in the same group wasn't a great option, however now we are ready to finally be working together. All three of us have been working towards receiving our AICE Diploma. With this, we have been enrolled in multiple AICE courses. This year, all three of us share two AICE classes that correspond with creativity and the arts. These courses are AICE Media Studies A Level and AICE Drama AS Level. We believe that having both of these classes can give us somewhat of an advantage creatively. It's an easy way to bounce ideas off of each other and not letting them go to waste. We've already began talking about ideas and hope to make even better media than last year. Bring it on A Level! It's a bit hard to see but I'm third from the right, Savanna is third from the left, and Sophia is far left in the picture below.

It's A Level Time!!!

I'm finally back to creating new blogs! It's been a long few months in quarantine, but now I'm finally in A Level AICE Media Studies. It wasn't a hard decision to come back at all. I enjoyed making the beginning of a movie in AS Level so much that I knew I wanted to take this course again. Being able to learn new skills in order to prepare me for this course has been amazing and I'm so excited to see what happens this year. Immediately after finishing AS Level, I missed filming everyday, coming up with ideas, and being creative in my videos. I was extremely excited when I saw that there would be an A Level AICE Media Studies class at my school. At first, I was a little nervous because the end of AS was all online and I didn't know what to expect for this year. However, I feel that this situation has had a positive effect on this course as well. It has taught students how to adapt to any situation thrown at them. 

One thing I'm excited for would be working with a new group. All of my group mates from last year have decided no to continue the course. I'm more of a collaborative worker which meant I needed to find a new group or partner. Luckily, there are many people I know who are taking A Level an I believe I know who I will be working with. The next thing I'm excited for is the short film. I'm excited to create a full length film instead of the first two minutes of a film.With only being able to make the first two minutes, I needed to create scenes with a genre that would pull the audience in immediately. This gives the opportunity for me to explore other genres such as coming-of-age or comedy. Although I am excited, I am a little bit nervous about filming and editing a five minute film in comparison to the two minute film in AS Level. The process will definitely take more planning, but I'm ready to try my best at it!

Audience and Institution Practice Essay

6. To what extent is digital distribution vital to the media area you have studied? 

Streaming services play a huge role in digital distribution nowadays. “Since 2008, DVD sales have declined more than 86%,” according to Sara Whitten of CNBC. Buying on-demand digital copies of films and streaming services have caused the downfall of DVDs. Digital distribution is vital to film because it allows audiences to view films internationally and allows audiences to watch their favorite films from the comfort of their homes.  

When a movie is released, depending on its popularity, it could either be released in specific areas or everywhere. For example, a movie done by a small company could only be playing in certain theatres. I have chosen to focus on movies that are internationally enjoyed. Digital distribution helps these movies to grow in popularity during and after they are in theatres. One of the movie franchises that has been enjoyed for years internationally is Star Wars. Since the release of “A New Hope” in 1977, the Star Wars fandom has grown drastically. With the development of toys, attractions and the trilogies being released in different decades, Star Wars has earned a lot of profit. The first six episodes of Star Wars were distributed by 20th Century Fox and four out of the six were directed by George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars. The sequel trilogy was distributed by Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, after it was bought by The Walt Disney Company. Star Wars holds a Guinness World Records title for the "Most successful film merchandising franchise". In 2020, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at $70 billion which is the fifth highest media grossing of all time. All the Star Wars movies and series are available to stream on Disney+ except for “Solo” and “The Rise of Skywalker” (“Solo” is available on Netflix and “The Rise of Skywalker will be available on Disney+ on May 4, 2020). Another internationally popular series of movies are the Marvel Universe films. The Marvel Universe started as comic books in the 1930s and has created and distributed 43 films with thousands of characters. The Marvel movies have been distributed by Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios. It is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over $22.5 billion at the global box office. Similar to Star Wars, you can stream a majority of the movies between Disney+ and Netflix. Audiences are able to re-watch these series as many times as they please and could even introduce it to others and make it even more popular. As these series become more popular, more people want to buy their merchandise or subscribe to a streaming series that streams these movies. 

For the past few months, people around the world have been quarantined due to the outbreak of COVID-19. This pandemic has led to the closing of many public places such as malls, parks, and movie theatres. With the closing of theatres, movie companies with films scheduled to be released around this time have had to either postpone the release or be creative. An example of this is the animated movie “Onward”. “Onward” was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. “Onward” had been advertised for months by Disney. Most theatres closed right after the release of the movie, leaving it without profit for weeks. This left families upset because of how much their children wanted to watch it. After about a month of just being in theatres while no one could see it, Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Animation decided to release the movie onto Disney+. It earned $103 million worldwide between theatres and Disney+. Another movie that faced a similar problem was the sequel to the animated picture “Trolls” titled “Trolls: World Tour”.  “Trolls: World Tour” was scheduled to be released on March 11, 2020. However, due to COVID-19, the producers and distributers of “Trolls: World Tour”, DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures, decided it would be better to hold off on the release. They held off for a month and decided to release the film to homes through on-demand on Apri 8, 2020. Without being in theaters, “Trolls: World Tour” has made about $100 million. Without the digital distribution of these two movies, they would have made terrible profits and cost their companies a large amount of money. Through digital distribution, these movies along with movies such as Frozen 2, Birds of Prey, and The Hunt are now able to make as much as they would if theatres were open by charging around $20 on-demand or subscribing to a streaming service. 

When films are digitally distributed, it allows audiences to enjoy the movies they love and share them with others. Not only do audiences benefit, but institutions do too. Both the institutions who create the movie and stream the movie receive profit every time someone watches it. Through digital distribution, audiences and institutions coexist to benefit the film world in creating and distributing more movies as they earn profit from other movies. 

Extract Practice: Game of Thrones

The extract I looked at was the Game of Thrones extract. At the beginning, there are two man who seem to be traveling from somewhere far since they have journeyed by water. They are travelling to another land to meet with the other three men, in this extract, at some sort of bank (we are introduced to the bank in the second scene). After a conversation between the men and one of the bank people, it appears that the two men are denied what I believe is a loan. However, one of the two men decides to argue his and his companion’s right to receive the loan. If I were to make a prediction, he seems to try and create an alliance between their kingdom and the bank. 

The first scene opens with an aerial shot of a sailboat. Then the audience is presented with a two-shot of two men. The two-shot in the extract of the two men standing on the boat recognizes that the two men travelled together and are allies. The two-shot is also a medium shot. The medium shot allows for the audience to witness the body language and costumes which signify a serious tone and wealth. In the background of the first scene, you can hear a little bit of dialogue and non-diegetic sound. The non-diegetic sound, shown by the sound of seagulls, helps convey the idea that the two men are travelling by water and nearing shore. The dialogue in the background signifies that there is a crew on board of the ship which could also add to the wealth idea or leadership since then men aren’t doing anything. The lighting in this scene is very cloudy which signifies a serious or ominous mood. Overall, this scene gives a serious mood possibly meaning that the boat is sailing to this other land for business.  

The first scene then changes using a cutaway which signifies that time has passed and they are now inside of the city. We first see another two- shot of the men. They are in a large room that seems to be a real set. The large room can also go back to the theme of wealth in this extract. It also feels somewhat ominous because of how empty the room is. The only things inside of the room are a long table, three large chairs, and two benches on the opposite side of the chairs. The lighting in the room seems to come from the outside, matching the serious and gloomy tone from scene one. Then, the audience begins to hear dialogue from the two men and soon from one of the three men that enters the room. The dialogue signifies interaction between the two different parties and can be identified as business inquiries. When the men are talking, a medium shot can be identified. As stated, the medium shot helps to identify their feelings through body language. In this scene, they are all standing tall and looking one another in the eye which adds to the serious tone. With these medium shots, there are also shot reverse shots that show the conversation between the two men and one of the bank people. Similar to the first scene, this scene also gives off a serious, business tone.  

In summary, the vision of the extract was to create a serious tone in relation to business. In many circumstances, the different camera angles, shots, and movements along with editing, sound, and mis en scene have contributed to the creation of this tone. The overall use of dialogue two-shots, and shot reverse shots helped convey the interaction between characters. The mis en scene in this extract helped with the serious tone and the idea of wealth among the characters.