Coming of Age

  So it was time to pick a genre. With so many options it took a lot of work to narrow it down one. We wanted to choose a genre that we both enjoyed but felt like we could create a decent film opening with. We came to the agreement of picking coming of age. Coming of Age genre focuses on focus on the growth, development, and maturation of its main characters as they transition from childhood to adulthood. We had many inspiring films to watch to do research and fully grasp all the quirks that make the genre the genre. The Edge of Seventeen, Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Breakfast Club were huge inspirations and we want our film opening to give off the same feelings as those. The cool thing about coming of age is that we can relate to it, considering we are the target demographic for those kinds of films it gives us an advantage because we are the plots of the movies, teens struggling through high school, mental health, growing up, etc. 

The coming-of-age genre captures the journey of personal development and self-discovery, offering an emotional reflection of the human path from childhood to adulthood. We explore the emotional and psychological development of its protagonists as they deal with the difficulties of puberty. In the genre there are a lot of interactions with peers, mentors, and romantic interests that play a crucial role in the protagonist's journey, shaping their perspectives and influencing their decisions. Loss of innocence is a key theme in this genre because as the protagonist encounters the complexities of the adult world they lose their innocence and naivety. Whether set against the backdrop of a small town, a bustling city, or a fantastical realm, coming-of-age narratives offer a mirror through which audiences can reflect on their own paths to maturity.

꓄ꋪꍏꈤꌗꀤ꓄ꀤꂦꈤ

Beginning of The End

Today marks the beginning of the final project for my Aice media studies class. We went over the project briefly in class, and I have a lot of mixed feelings. All the products we have done so far were done to prepare us for this. The sound project focused on creating a scene only using audio and how to make our own foley sound will help us with the audio part of our film intro, we will be able to create our own sounds and know how to properly layer them. The music video project, allowed us to practice our filming and editing, so we could have the best outcome for our final project.  With this project comes new skills that we will be learning, like our ability to work on a long-term project, and working to create a movie intro. Now It is up to me and my partner to take everything we have learned, use it to ensure we do great, and learn new tips and tricks along the way.

There are so many ideas coming to mind when thinking about what to do with this project. What first came to mind was the genre of "coming of age", but I'm scared it will be too simple, this is a common genre but I feel like if done right me and my partner can make it different than what has been seen before. What came to my partner's mind was horror, now this is a topic that I also feel is very overused, it may be easy to create ideas, if horror isn't done right it can be seen as cheesy and basic, but I also feel like we can create a strong project with this genre. To fully decide me and partner are going to do a deep dive into all the genres to see what best will suit us and our ideas. We will also start brainstorming everything on a shared note on the note app we have, so when spontaneous ideas come we type it and the other partner can see it whenever and give feedback on whether they like it or not. I'm very excited for what's to come with this project, this is the beginning of the end, of the class, of the school year, and much more. 

Music Marketing Blog Post 2

Research

For this project, research was fundamental. It all began with case studies assigned to us by our teacher. We had to find information on multiple bands within our genre (rock) We chose Pierce the Veil, Locket, Muse, and America. For each band we had to find out its history, so background research of the record label they are on, how the band presents themselves within the genre, early performances like festivals and concerts they played in, press conferences, interviews, the time the band began making music and when they started to become well known. For the "case studies" part we had to talk about their marketing and distribution practices obviously, this information isn't given off for free on the internet so extensive research was required to find out this information. I got to find this Information for "Pierce the Veil" and "Muse".When looking I wanted to find information that would not only complete the assignment but teach me how to build some distribution/marketing practices for my own band and campaign that I was creating. Distribution practices are the easiest ones to find you can find out, I went to their Instagram. I found a link to all the digital options to listen to their music and the ways you can buy their music physically like on vinyl and DVD in places like Walmart, target, amazon, urban outfitters. Marketing is where I had to deep dive, I went searching through all their social media to find ways they promote their music, concerts, band, tour, merch, etc. For merch, they have an Instagram highlight with a link to their merch store. For other things, they posted on their social media every time there was exciting news (concerts, meet and greets, song releases, merch release). One thing that stood out to me was that they posted their fan's Tik Toks on their Instagram and that really spoke to me I realized I wanted to make it something our band does aswell.

Brain Storming/ Planning

When brainstorming and planning, my group and I decided we would listen to the music multiple times on our own, build our own ideas, create a story, and then come together as a whole and create a mixture of all of them. We talked in our class and finished discussing the final details over the phone. Once we had decided what we were going to do we decided to build a story board to make sure all our ideas were in order and made sense. We discussed the shots and angles and the storyline of the music video. Our song is "Something from Nothing" by the Foo Fighters and the song contains lyrics of someone building up and going out and creating great things. We also had to make sure our music video attracted the target audience of our band which is teens to young adults. That is how we decided to make a video of a man who got fired from his job and decided to become an internet sensation. With college rates dropping and teens just aspiring to become YouTubers and TikTokers Then we planned our music video filming process we had different places to be at different times of the day so we had to find out transportation, and what scene we were going to film where. Considering we were a rock band we decided the best place to film was the hard rock, we also wanted to make sure we had a house setting, bathroom, and something that made some resemblance of a tattoo and percing workshop.

Production

For our production, we had to gather our actors. We chose to have 5 members in our band and they needed to be musicians because we needed them to bring their instruments. We had to make an exception for our drummer because we couldn't transport their instruments. So gathered them all around in our friend's house and we all left in our cars and we drove to the hard rock where we were going to film the scenes of them playing their instruments. Unfortunately, we got kicked out of the Hard Rock, but had to think smart and we decided to film at a McDonald's that was in front of the Hard Rock, which was perfect because we had a great view of the Hard rock in the background. After we finished with the band we worked with the actors in filming the scenes. We filmed multiple times for each scene trying different shots and angles that we have learned in our media studies class. When filming the scenes of the singer actually singing the song we played the music to make sure we were going to be able to sync up the audio to match the video. For each scene after we filmed we made sure to look back to try and point out any mistakes, we also made sure our story was making sense and coming along smoothly. We had to call different actors to play small roles in our production because we wanted to try and make everything as realistic as possible with the small budget we had. For our tattoo and piercing scene, we had very limited materials and location but we decided the best choice would be a garage and use a needle to try and resemble an actual piercing needle. We tried our best to film in the morning/ afternoon because we knew our video would be bad quality if we filmed in the night. For our filming, we also used a stabilizer to make sure our scenes looked professional.

Post-Production

After production, it was time to edit! We used the app "Vn" and began by adding all of our clips. We made sure they were all able to establish our story correctly. We then followed by going through each video we recorded for each scene, looking for mistakes and choosing the best one. Then began cutting, going through each clip cutting and syncing to the audio to make clever arrangments, we also had to figure out when and where we were going to add the spontaneous clips of the artist playing instruments and the singer singing along to the song. After that, we viewed the results multiple times to point out mistakes and places where we could make things better, add clips, and remove them. Then we began editing things like color, overlay, effects, zoom, focus, and blurs. This gives our video an edge and it allows us to demonstrate what we have learned in the class throughout the year. We decided we wanted the lighting to be special, so we decided to begin the music video with dark colors to resemble unhappiness and depression. So when the song begins the colors change to resemble change and how he is happier now. We also added overlays of the band playing their instruments, we added slow motion because it is something that many music videos use. We added inverts and shortcuts to make sure our video was interesting and able to entertain those who have very short attention spans such as the target audience. After that, we rewatched the music video multiple times and we got it peer reviewed by many other students. We took out any little mistakes and watched it one more time before saving the project to my phone and submitting it to our Google Slides presentation.

Presentation

For the presentation, we decided to use Google Slides. We began by looking at the instructions and everything that was required to be in our presentation. The teacher told us we needed to have an overview of genre marketing/distribution, our brand and target audience, an outline of our campaign, samples of marketing products, a full viewing of music video with an explanation, a distribution plan, and a final statement. Me and my two other partners decided to split these requirements evenly. I took on the music video explanation, samples of market products, and an overview of our campaign. For my music video explanation, I had to explain how our music video was used as a marketing tool to attract our target and broader audience. To do this I rewatched the music video, and I talked about how the theme and story of our music video were targeted to our target audience, I explained how the story of an influencer attracted teenagers because of college dropout rates skyrocketing because people are more inclined to just being lazy and wanting to become a YouTuber or tik toker instead of actually getting an education. For the marketing samples, I went along and made t-shirts, hoodies, caps, and tote bags that I thought our target audience would like, I also explained and talked about how we would market these through our social media and make websites, and how and where we would sell these. Including marketing I also talked about how we were going to promote our band through our social media accounts, posting TikToks, concert information, pictures, flyers, and merch. Finally, I talked about the distribution plan, we made a total of 10 steps, my steps included talking about how we were going to begin by posting on social media about a free concert at a diner where there was going to be free, merch than we were going to begin posting about our music and albums, which then would lead us to build up to the release of our music and posting about it. 

Reflection

To reflect on this assignment, I think the greatest thing I learned was about marketing and distribution. When researching and writing, I was able to notice so many things that are going to be valuable when I'm going to take the Aice media studies essay on media context. I also furthered my knowledge of shots, composition, and movement. When making the music video and editing I was able to learn new things so I can better my future projects. 

Music Marketing Blog Post

 Our project is a Music Marketing PowerPoint/Music video. For this project, we had to use a provided song to create a music video and then create a marketing campaign for a “new” music artist/group, building the brand from the bottom up and using this marketing campaign to introduce your musician(s) to the public. To begin our project we chose our song from a set of 4 rock songs provided to us by our teacher. We choose “Something from Nothing” by the Foo Fighters. After choosing our song we were instructed to create four case studies for bands so we could get further knowledge on bands marketing/distribution techniques. Researching this information helped us for when it was our turn to find out how to market and distribute our band, we could kind of mimic some clever techniques the bands we researched used. Weston experienced some challenges trying to find out the marketing techniques because the information wasn’t available online, we had to do deep dives into the bands/artists' social media to be able to find information. After finishing the case studies it was time to start planning out what we wanted for our band( fake names) the vibe/style, the target audience/demographic, the name, etc. We came up with “Parasomnia”, and we decided we wanted it to be similar to the band “Pierce the Veil”, and our audience was going to range from the ages of 14 to mid-20s.

Now that we had our basic research it was time to create our music video. I and my partners sat down in class and listened to the song repeatedly because the goal of the music video was to represent the meaning and vibe of the song. After listening for quite a while we came up with the idea for a “story music video” of a guy who just got fired from his job and goes from nothing to this successful rapper/artist, pretty basic but we decided it fit well with the theme of the song (the song is called “something from nothing”). Next on our plan, we had to decide our actors, location, props, etc. We decided to meet up on a Saturday to film everything we could. We chose to film at the Hard Rock Hotel, but with it being private property we were kicked out sadly so we changed locations to a parking lot in front of the Hard Rock so we could still capture the guitar. We filmed a couple of scenes, mostly of the band singing along and playing their instruments to the song. The band was a total of 5 with the lead single 3 bassists and the drummer. We filmed close-ups of the musicians playing their instruments, long shots of the 
entire band, and some medium/close-ups of the lead singer singing along. After that, it was time to record all of the story parts of the music video. We began with filming the before the music starts scenes of the boss and main character arguing and then quitting, this scene contained over-the-shoulder shots for dialogue and two shots. Then we filmed the main character walking away angrily to his car and getting angry so he turns on the radio to relax when he turns up the volume the music starts playing. We do a long shot of the car driving away. Now the main character is going to change himself so we recorded scenes of him getting a tattoo changing his hair and getting piercings. After this, he begins writing lyrics goes to sleep, and wakes up as an internet sensation. We used a variety of shots and movements such as close-ups, tight close-ups, medium shots, long shots, POV shots, over-the-shoulder, pan, and zoom movements.

We commenced our filming process and it was time to begin editing. We used a mobile app called “VN”. We began by placing all the scenes into the editing software. Then we commenced by shortening/ elongating the shots. We also played around with the lighting to advance our music video. Editing is a challenging process especially when trying to match the singer's voice to the lyrics of the song. They could be singing at different tempos and it takes time and dedication to try and get the best possible match. Editing also takes a lengthy time because there are multiple shots taken for each scene to try to eliminate as many mistakes as possible, so it takes a lot of reviewing all the footage, merging it, and cutting it, to try and get the best results. Currently, we are still in the editing process because after doing some peer reviewing people were able to point out mistakes we missed. So we are taking time to refilm those shots that didn’t meet the project expectations. What is next for our process is to create our marketing campaign PowerPoint. Since we have to pitch our ideas to a group of “potential investors and music consumers.” We have to do this on a PowerPoint and we have to include our marketing/distribution practices, an overview of the brand, samples of marketing products, and the selling point. We already have the marketing products and some of the distribution plans, but we will continue to work hard to make sure our “campaign/project is successful 

Representation in black swan

 

Black swan 

Characters: Nina ( main character)  Lily (side character) Thomas (ballet instructor)

Mental Disorders: In the movie black swan we see many hints that Nina (the main character) has an eating disorder. It is known in the ballet community that there is an obsession with having slim and slender bodies. Nina's constant struggle with this need to be perfect correlates with all aspects of herself. At the start of the film we see, Nina and her mom sitting at breakfast, she is handed half a grapefruit and a hard-boiled egg. Later in the film after Nina has gotten the role of black swan, her mom buys her a cake and Nina immediately freaks out when her mother wants to give her a big piece. Another hint that Nina has an eating disorder is that she constantly tries to make herself throw up. Near the end of the film, as Nina is getting her white swan outfit fitted, the seamstress tells her she has lost weight. Then she follows by saying "Good" and we see a slight smile on Nina's face hinting that Nina is happy with this and she is getting influenced by others to think that being underweight is a good thing.  Nina engages in restrictive eating, severely limiting her caloric intake to maintain a slim figure. People with eating disorders struggle with eating at all and they try to maintain their calorie intake to a shallow level, Nina represents those who struggle with not wanting to gain weight and have anorexia or another form of eating disorder. 

Pressure and Obbession:

Nina has an obsession with being perfect, this drives her crazy because she is overworking herself. In the beginning, we see that N  vina struggles with letting go and actually feeling the performance because she is too focused on perfecting her moves. She is told by many that she needs to relax and make it look effortless. Nina struggles with this because she is obsessed with making her movies perfect. Nina constantly seeks validation she is doing a good job, after messing up in the audition, nina goes home to practice the "coda" but she ends up harming herself, she still wants Thomas to see her as perfect so the following day she goes to his office to tell him she finished the move even though she didn't. He tells her "In four years every time you dance, I see you obsess getting each and every move perfect", to which she responds with "I just wanna be perfect" w2323. . Nina wants to be perfect so badly it drives her mental state to deteriorate, she begins stealing things from the previous "perfect" dancer because everyone praised her for being so perfect Nina wants everyone to do the same with her. Nina has a psychotic episode and begins to hallucinate and she "becomes a black swan", in doing so Nina is finally able to let loose and really feel the performance. She continues dancing even tho she has stabbed herself due to the episode, and she gives the performance her all with powerful, emotional, raw energy. This is when Nina is finished and everyone is praising her for her amazing work nina says "I felt it- Perfect". Nina's obsession with perfection and the rigorous discipline of ballet both play a part in her mental and emotional decline. The movie looks at the toll that pressure like this can have on a person's mental health and the sacrifices that are often made to achieve artistic excellence. 

𝓐𝓵𝓵 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓸𝓻

Ħꝋɍɍꝋɍ

Horror is intended to scare, startle, and shock the audience. It often deals with themes of death, darkness, and the unknown, and it can be used to explore a wide range of human emotions, including fear, anxiety, and disgust. Horror stories often create a sense of suspense and dread by slowly revealing information to the reader or viewer. Anxiety is created from this, as the audience waits to see what will happen next. Horror stories also often rely on jump scares and other unexpected moments to startle and frighten the audience. Horror is a popular genre because we can be scared and safe at the same time. The typical target audience for horror is young adults and teenagers, aged 15-25. This is because people in this age group are often drawn to the excitement and thrill of being scared. 

Genre Conventions

Content

There are many recurring aspects to horror that are crucial if you are creating a horror film. In order for a horror film to be a horror film it has to have some of these elements.

                                                                                           

 Fear of the Unknown: Often, the fear of the unknown is more potent than what is explicitly shown or described. Leaving certain aspects of other stories or monsters ambiguous can enhance fear.

 

Suspense: Building tension and suspense is a

 fundamental aspect of horror. Slowly revealing

 information or escalating the threat over time

can keep the audience on edge

                                                                                

 Gore and Body Horror: Depictions of violence,
gore, and bodily mutilation can be used to shock and disturb the audience. However, it's essential to use these elements as excessive gore can desensitize viewers.

Monsters and Creatures: Many horror stories feature monsters 

or supernatural beings, whether they are vampires, zombies, 

ghosts, or original creations. The design and characteristics of these

 creatures contribute to the horror.

Production Techniques

Lighting     

This is a critical element in horror movies for several reasons

Setting the Mood: Lighting sets the tone and atmosphere of a scene. In horror, dim, shadowy lighting can create a scary ambiance that immediately tells the audience that something bad is about to happen.

Creating Tension: Carefully manipulated lighting can build tension by revealing elements in the scene. Low-key lighting, with strong shadows and dark corners, can hide potential threats and keep the audience in suspense. 

Revealing the Unknown: Effective horror often involves slow reveals and concealing frightening elements. Proper lighting can control what the audience sees and heighten the fear of the unknown and the unexpected. 

Symbolism: The use of specific lighting techniques, such as color can convey foreshadowing. For instance, red lighting can evoke danger or blood, while blue lighting may bring a sense of ghostly, paranormal activity. 

Jump Scares: Quick changes in lighting, such as a sudden bright flash or flickering lights, are often used to accompany jump scares and intensify the shock value of a scene.

Ex: In the movie "Psycho" they use backlighting to hide the face of the killer

Sound

Establishing the mood: Soundscapes, including background music, ambient noise, and sound effects, set the mood and atmosphere of a horror film. The right audio cues can immediately create a sense of foreboding, tension, and unease.

Building Suspense: Sound can be used to build suspense and anticipation. Ominous music, whispers, or distant screams can create a sense of coming danger, keeping the audience on edge.

Jump Scares: Sudden and intense sound effects, known as stings, are a hallmark of horror films. These go with visual scares, making them more startling and effective.

Foreshadowing: Audio cues might hint at upcoming events and create a sense of approaching doom. Additionally, even when nothing is shown on screen, they can make the audience believe that there is danger. 

Pacing and Rhythm: Sound can influence the pacing of a horror film. Changes in music, sudden silences, and the rhythm of audio cues can manipulate the audience's emotions and keep them engaged.

Institutional Conventions

Horror marketers identify and understand the demographic profiles of their target audience. This includes age groups, gender, interests, and cultural backgrounds. Then they make trailers that often feature quick cuts of intense and frightening scenes, aiming to capture the audience's attention and curiosity. They build suspense and provide a glimpse of the film's mood and terrifying elements. They also make things like posters that typically convey the genre's mood and key visual elements. It often features striking or eerie imagery that piques interest. Teasers are short video clips that usually released way before the movie is to keep potential movie watchers excited and anticipated to watch the film. Teasers can also provide some more background on the movie. Considering that their target audience is prime users of technology, horror marketers will try to promote the movie on social media websites like TikTok, Instagram, etc.

Example: For the "Smile" movie they decided to promote the movie by hiring actors to make creepy smiling faces at a baseball game. This became a huge hit on TikTok, which made the movie go viral

Samples !!!

"The Conjuring" (2013)  has a lot of key elements and techniques that make it a great representation of the genre. The atmosphere and setting excel in creating a dark and eerie atmosphere. The film's farmhouse, isolated and shrouded in darkness, is the perfect setting for building tension. When it comes to pacing the movie does a great job of a gradual buildup of tension. It takes its time to establish the characters before introducing the supernatural elements. This slow burn contributes to a sense of dread. The film features terrifying supernatural entities, such as the malevolent spirits in the house. Their eerie appearances and behaviors tap into primal fears, making them truly horrifying. The film features terrifying supernatural beings, like the evil spirits in the house. Their sinister appearances and behaviors tap into primal fears, making them truly horrifying. In the film, there are well-timed jump scares to make the audience jump. These moments, often accompanied by sharp sound effects (stings), take the viewer by surprise and provoke fear. Getting more into the sound aspect, it uses a combination of unsettling ambient sounds, sudden stings, and a haunting musical score to create an unsettling auditory experience. A classic that "The Conjuring" movie has is that the film is based on true events, even if it's minor events it is a great trick that they use to grab the attention of the audience and scare them even before they have a scene in the film. 

"Halloween" (1978) is an essential example of the horror genre. Halloween " introduces one of the most iconic horror villains in cinematic history, Michael Myers. The film's setting of a quiet, suburban neighborhood provides a contrast to the horrors that unfold. The familiarity of this setting amplifies the fear, as it suggests that such violence and terror can happen anywhere. When talking about tension, just like "The Conjuring", "Halloween" also has a slow-burn approach to building tension. The film takes its time, allowing the audience to get to know the characters and their vulnerabilities, creating a sense of dread as they are stalked by Michael. John Carpenter's (created the music) haunting music is an essential part of the movie. The repetitive piano notes and eerie synthesizer music contribute to the movie's atmosphere and create an unsettling experience. The film uses first-person point-of-view shots to give viewers a perspective of being Michael Myers. This adds to the suspense, as we see the world through the eyes of the killer. "Halloween" relies on suspense, tension, and psychological horror.

5 Horror Movie Recs

                                                      Black Swan (2010) Physch Horror/Drama

Pearl (2022) Horror/Slasher

X (Horror/Slasher)

Jennifer Body (2009) Horror/Comedy

American Psycho (2000) Pysch Horror/Drama

𝕾𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉 𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖌 𝕻𝖔𝖘𝖙

For my sound project, I made a 2-minute scene, only consisting of sound. The scene had to be in a 2-minute lifespan. It had to be a detailed outline that made the scene seem realistic. We had to make foley sounds and use sounds from a database to help create our story. Only 7 words were allowed. Sound link

My scene takes place in a crime scene. The detective arrives at the scene and he reports to his co-workers that he has arrived at the scene. He walks in and he notices that there is a huge mess and he finds some blood suddenly he hears footsteps upstairs and he slowly makes his way up the stairs when he gets to the top he sees the killer, tries to shoot him but misses, he tries again and he defeats the killer. 

Coming into the final product for this project was difficult. Me and my partner started with the main idea of it. Then we continued by doing a planning sheet of the project and we planned out our sounds. We decided which would by our primary sounds and secondary sounds. We also had to choose our foley sounds.  After we were done with that we had to project approved by our teacher. Then we were allowed to start planning our outline. We divided our scene into four parts. We added the sounds and how they would play out in order (adding both secondary and primary). Then once our outline was finalized we added the sound using sound databases. Then we made our foleys we each made 2. Once we were finished we put all the sounds together and created our final piece!

Clip of me making the foley