Audience and Institution Practice Essay

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

            Marketing in the area of film is extremely important. It is used to help promote the film and bring attention to it, in hopes of it making money in the box office and having a large audience. Marketing in film is done in three large ways: through cross media, merchandizing, and cross promotion.

            Cross promotion is often used in marketing films. For the film ‘Fast and Furious 7’, the film was cross promoted by teaming up with the phone company OPPO. OPPO hosted events to promote the film and in return, the brand OPPO appears on some posters for the film. This way, both of these things (OPPO and Furious 7) benefit from using the other’s platform to gain exposure. Cross promotion also occurred with the movie ‘Ugly Dolls’. According to an article by Cinematic Slant, the film teamed up with many brands such as The Ad Council, Cold Stone Creamery, Hardees/Carl’s Jr., and Pinkberry. They did things such as adding two character-themed recipes to the menu of Cold stone. Unfortunately, according to Cartoon Brew, ‘Ugly Dolls’ was a flop, but this still serves as a good example. ‘Ugly Dolls’ partnered with numerous brands/companies in an attempt to gain exposure and advertise the film. This is an example where cross promotion may not have served as successful, but it is still important and can be very useful.

            Merchandizing is another marketing tactic used in marketing films. For the movie ‘Black Panther’, merchandizing was quickly utilized by the use of online shops. The film used Disney, Marvel, Amazon, and more in order to sell their products. Clothes were introduced as well as products that appealed to consumers of all ages. By introducing things such as toys and games for kids and shoes and clothes for adults, interest and speculation from the public increased. Another film that used merchandise as marketing was ‘Jurassic World’. Lots of merchandise was created both before and after the film was released. Many Lego sets were created as well as DVD’s, Video games, and an app. Toys were created, and even candy was distributed. By creating merch in different categories that could be made by different companies, both ‘Jurassic World’ and ‘Black Panther’ opened up more opportunities for exposure. By creating merch that appealed to different audiences, they increased the chance of the films having a large audience.

            Cross media convergence is the third thing used to market films. The film ‘Spiderman Homecoming’ came out with a soundtrack. This soundtrack included the voices of popular artists such as MGMT. By cross promoting to another area of media (music in this case), the film expanded its opportunity and the possibility of having a large audience. People who avidly listen to music will be able to see this and it will spark their interest in the film and cause them to want to watch it, especially if they enjoy the soundtrack. Another film that utilized cross media convergence was ‘Beauty and the Beast’. This live-action used a large amount of cross media convergence. A soundtrack was released as well and special iMessage stickers were created to send to people. Exclusive Twitter stickers were added to photos, the original cartoon film was aired more often on TV, and Cosmopolitan kept people updated by writing articles on the film. This was a lot of cross media convergence was used which aided the film in becoming a blockbuster. This is an example of cross media convergence that was very diverse, which is a smart marketing technique.

            Overall, marketing in the area of film is very important and has been proven effective in many cases. By using things such as cross promotion, merchandizing, and cross media convergence, films and their production companies are able to spread the word about their movies. They do this in hopes that their film will become a blockbuster with a large audience when it hits the big screen. Taking from these cases, can infer that the more exposure films get, the more likely they are to be successful overall.

TEA Essay

I watched an exert from the show 24. The excerpt, to me was about a traitor to a country named Nina, and an agent by the name of Jack. Jack goes to question Nina and quickly gets frustrated, causing him to (attempt to) get physical. I believe that the director is trying to create a suspenseful production, and possibly an action genre.

            The first scene begins with a close up that shows both Jack and Nina’s faces. This is used in order to portray the characters’ emotions for the audience to better read. This allows the audience to analyze the characters and how they are feeling about each other basically from the get-go. Next, an eye-line match showing Jack eyeing the cameras is used to demonstrate Jack acknowledging the cameras as well as his observers. This again gives the audience the impression that he is fairly cautious as a character and person. After this, diegetic sound is used to show the sound of certain objects. It is used to create a sort of intensity and sharpness to the production which goes hand in hand with it being somewhere in the action genre. Next, the monitor room setting so other people can monitor Jack and Nina is used to contrast settings and have people to intervene for when Jack gets angry. This creates suspense because the people in the room are just watching, making the viewer believe that they are almost waiting for something to happen. After this, dialogue is used to illustrate conversation between characters. This dialogue enhances the plot and leaves the audience intrigued like the director planned to. Last, the desk is used as a prop and allows Nina a place to sit. This prop acts as something that is wrecked to illustrate Jack’s anger. This is common in action films, because there is usually a lot of destruction. All of these things contribute to the spread of the director’s message.

            In the second scene, things start to escalate after Jack gets angry at Nina. This scene starts off with a split screen used to show two events occurring at once. This is used to provide more contrast when it comes to how the different characters are reacting to Jack’s anger. It gives the audience the memo that a lot is occurring, similar to how it is in other productions in the action genre. After this, an over the shoulder shot showing the agent’s perspective is used. This is used to show hoe Nina and Jack behave and what is going on in that room from another perspective. These aspects also contribute to the director’s message and genre as well.

            To sum it up, the camera shots and movement, sound, editing, and mis en scene used all contribute to the message of the director and the genre of the production. Throughout the excerpt common conventions seen in the action genre are used and when  closely analyzed, certain details used aloe the director to convey their message to the audience.

Final Task

This is the Final Task that my group-mate and i created it. I really enjoyed filming and editing it and I am proud of the way it turned out!!

CCR

This was the final thing I completed (after the Final Task), and I had to answer the 4 CCR questions. I decided to be interviewed in a talk show format where my Mom was the host. I edited it and put in slides from my genre research PowerPoint to help the audience see the conventions I discussed in the interview.

Music Video

This was the second project I had to do. I had to create a music video to a song of my choice. My partner and I decided to do the song 'Sunflower' by Post Malone.

Commercial

This was my first major assignment. I had to create a commercial on a product of our choice from a list. My partner and I decided to film a commercial on Zephyrhills water.

Reshoot Blog: Could Not Reshoot

As I stated in my previous blog, schools are closed due to the Coronavirus. I received news that I will not be physically returning to school until at least April 15th. Starting March 30th my county's schools will all begin online school for two weeks (at least). Thankfully, I have access to the news and internet so I can be updated on announcements related to this virus and able to do school online. My county also has programs like canvas still set up and running. This way, I am able to upload work that was assigned before schools closed. My teachers are also able to send me and my classmates messages on Canvas. My media teachers have sent me and my class multiple messages and updates. In the most recent one, they told us about the changed school dates and also alerted us that Cambridge is still on track and hasn't moved deadlines. I found this very helpful for two reasons. The first one is that by telling us the updated school dates, students who may not have known about this now do. The second reason is that it was very kind and helpful of them to alert us about Cambridge not changing dates and so forth. If it wasn't for them, I would not have known about that. Now onto reshooting. Shooting and reshooting are going to be a different problem than editing and editing. Editing and editing can be done over the phone or individually. Depending on the circumstances, shooting and reshooting most-likely has to be done in person. This makes it hard, especially if you're working in a group or with a partner like I am.  I may have to individually reshoot and my partner may need to do the same. Either way, we will find a solution and finish our Final Task.

Editing Blog: No Editing

Since there is a global pandemic going on, schools are closed as well as a lot of businesses. The virus started in China and has spread to the United States and where I live. Because of this, I was not able to edit the rest of my final task. I have about half of the final task edited minus the titles so far. It's about 1 minute long so I need about another minute. We are basically advised not to leave our house and to practice "Social Distancing". This means staying about 6 feet away from strangers or just people who aren't in your household in general. I haven't been able to meet with my group-mate partially because of this. The good thing is that we have already dumped all the footage that we need. Worst case scenario, we can just have one of us edit the remainder of the final task because we still have over a couple weeks before that is due. One of us will probably have to continue editing the final task on iMovie. We could also possibly meet up as long as neither one of us or our family members are showing symptoms. This is still risky though because some people don't show symptoms at all or for a few days to a couple of weeks. Either one of us can edit the remainder of the final task individually if necessary because we both have MacBooks at home which have and run iMovie. Another solution would be to video call/facetime each other while we edit it. I am currently on vacation at a location where there are no cases of Coronavirus. I come home Monday back to my county, which has the most cases in my state. I am scheduled to come back to school on March 30th. It is unbelievable that this is happening right now. I just hope that everyone and myself stays safe.

Filming Blog: Office

   Now that the peer review was over and I had filmed my first few scenes. On Saturday, my group-mate and I filmed the remainder of our final task. First, she came to my house because we needed to film some clips there. The first clip I filmed was a shot of her and her mother driving past the camera in a car. I made sure to stand in my driveway (on the other side of where she was driving) when I was filming. This was to ensure that everyone (including myself), was safe. Next, I filmed another scene from outside of the car of my group-mate and her mom. After that, i filmed a close-up shot of my group-mate's mother shifting the car. These shots did not take that many takes overall. The only difficult thing was having to wait for pedestrians and bicyclists on my street.
    After this, I drove to my parent's office to film the rest of the scenes. This location was used as the therapist's office. There were quite a few scenes that needed to be filmed here, so it took a bit longer than expected. The first scene I filmed was my group-mate and her mother talking to each other. I made sure to film this (and any other scenes where it wasn't necessary for the car to be in motion) while the car was parked. I then filmed a close up of my group-mate'd foot/shoe as she was getting out of the car. She then waked into the therapist's office, which was filmed as well. I then set the camera up and filmed some footage of my group-mate and I (I'm playing the therapist, she's playing the protagonist) sitting down and talking. I then had my father film a scene where he had to pan the camera, and then my group-mate filmed the scenes where I was tied up. These scenes took a bit longer to film because some of them required things like makeup to be done, but it was overall a good experience that went smoothly.

Editing blog: Beginning To Edit

    After the computer malfunction, there wasn't anything edited yet. This meant that the film would have to be edited on iMovie or another editing software at home. This was because my group needed to submit at least part of our film for the final task. Other groups had this issue as well, and I talked to others about what they did. One classmate said that she found editing on iMovie quicker and more convenient. She explained to me that it had only taken her one hour to edit the whole movie including titles. The only thing she hadn't added was the music. I knew that only part of the movie would be edited before the final task, so it may take even less time. Because of this helpful insight, I wasn't as upset about having to use a different editing program. I filmed the first few scenes with my partner, and now it was time to edit.
    My partner agreed to edit what we had filmed. I left the camera, tripod, and SD card at her house. The footage for the scenes we were editing had already been dumped onto the computers at school. I am very glad I suggested that she also put the footage on her google drive because Pinnacle studios didn't work. This way, she was able to access the footage from home to edit on iMovie as well. She also bought an SD card reader for at home but it didn't work. This was fine though because we already had the footage we were planning to edit available. She edited everything very nicely and added music. The only thing not added was music, but that was fine because my teacher said the final task didn't need to be complete for the peer review. Overall, editing went and has gone very well so far and I am excited to continue editing.

Peer Review

In class, I had to peer review another group's/person's final task. My group got assigned a number and had to look at a spreadsheet that said which group we would be peer reviewing. Our final task also got peer reviewed by another group. I had to fill out a sheet while watching the final task I got assigned to review. This sheet included yes or no questions on things like titles and how long the final task was. It also included a section to check off the required shots and at what point they were performed. Lastly, there were questions that required a written response. These included tips to give on lighting and sound, and what was liked and disliked about the film. The film I was assigned to review was about two girls planning to rob/break into somewhere. They were making plans on how to do it and arguing over who's plan was better. Lighting-wise, the film was good overall. The only thing they could fix was a small glare in the corner of the screen near the end of the film. Sound wise the sound quality was easy to hear, but they still need to add music at some point in the film. One thing I liked about the film was how clean the transitions were. I think they did a good job editing especially with the transitions between scenes. Something they could improve is the overall plot of the story. There was only one thing going on the whole time, and it was all filmed in one place basically. They were also missing some of the required camera shots, movement, and angles as well as titles. This is okay though because we still have time to edit and didn't need to show our full final task. Overall they had a good final task and I enjoyed peer reviewing.

Editing Blog: Malfunctions

Last class and today, my partner and I were able to begin editing. Now that I had filmed some, I was able to dump the footage onto a laptop in class. Once this was done, to be safe, I had my partner upload the footage onto Google Drive as well. This was in case the laptop crasher/didn't work or that next time, a different one was used. After this, Pinnacle Studios was clicked on to be opened. Sometimes, it takes a short while to fully load and open, so I was waiting. Then after a little while, an error message popped up on the screen. It read "Pinnacle Studios is not responding...". This has happened to me before when I was editing my music video, so I knew to try and restart the computer. I did that, sitting in anticipation and hoping that it would fix the issue. Unfortunately, it did not. After this, I got a new computer and attempted to open Pinnacle Studios on there. It still did not work, so I tried restarting this computer. This didn't work, and there weren't any computers left to try, so no editing was accomplished that class period. The next class period, I got a different computer than the other two I tried to use last time. I had my partner log in, and attempt to open Pinnacle Studios. It still didn't work, so I tried restarting the computer. That didn't work either so I got up and got another one. Pinnacle Studios didn't work on that laptop either, and a restart didn't help. No editing was done that class period. This was a bit frustrating, and I will now have to edit my footage on iMovie at home to have something done in time for the Peer Review.

Filming Blog: Group Member's House

This weekend, I filmed some scenes at a group member's house. Before going over there, I made sure to charge the camera that I had checked out. I then drove over there at around 6:00 PM. When I got there, the filming process begun. I filmed scene 2 first, beginning with the shot from inside the backpack. This took quite a bit of takes because it was hard to get the camera to sit upright in the backpack and not tip over. One that was finished, I filmed the scene where Olivia is packing her bag. This took a couple of tries at the most because it was a simple shot. Next, the close up of Olivia shouting "Coming!" was filmed. This took two tries as well to get the lighting to the way I wanted it. Then,  filmed a part of scene 3, which took two tries and was a closeup of Olivia's bag's zipper. Next, the group member's father arrived, so I was able to shoot the scenes with him. This included the remainder of scene 2 and scene 1 as well as 3. Out of all the scenes with the dad, the one of him opening the door took the most takes. This is because he forgot to close the door after exiting or he walked away too fast. This is understandable and part of the filming process, so it ended up coming out nice after multiple takes. For everything shot outside, my group mate and I had to wait till it was dark outside. This way, we were able to film the scenes inside of Olivia packing her bag inside first. Something that was challenging was matching the distance away from the house in scenes like the establishing shot, and some scenes with the dad. Overall, this filming session went very well and I am excited to continue filming.

Filming Blog: Didn't Get to Film

Last weekend was the first weekend where I had the opportunity to film. Unfortunately, I was out of town so I was unable to meet with my group mate. Many students checked out equipment and began to film over the weekend. It was a long weekend so it was unfortunate that I could not film. Even if I did not film, I could not meet my group mate over the weekend. Instead, my group mate and I decided to work and plan ahead. I used the schedule created and checked  my calendar as well as my group mate's to determine when both of us were available. Both of us were able to determine multiple dates in which filming could be done. The first dates were February 22nd and 23rd where we will film scenes 1-5. Most or all of the filming will most-likely be done on the 23rd. February 24th through the 28th will be for editing the scenes that were filmed over the 22nd and 23rd. This will be done in class because that is the only place where the editing software is accessible. These edited scenes will be the ones presented during peer review. February 28th and 29th will be used to film the remainder of the final task (scenes 6-10). There will not be time to edit the last 5 scenes before peer review, so those will not be shown. Once the peer review is finished, the last five scenes will be edited March 4th to March 6th. The final task is due in the middle of April, so if more time is needed to edit the last 5 scenes it will be able to be done. After the editing of the final 5 scenes is complete, my group mate and I will go reedit the final task. We will take the constructive criticism from the peer review into careful consideration and used to better the final task. With this schedule, I am confident that there will be enough time to complete the final task to the best of my ability. I believe it was very helpful to determine the schedule, location, actors, etc. so that we can jump right into filming.

Storyboard

This week, we created our storyboards for our movie clip. These storyboards help us plan out exactly what shots we need for each scene. We had to include a few different kind of camera angles and shots as well. For example, in the first scene we used an establishing shot, medium shot, and medium close up. The establishing shot will help show where the scene is taking place. We also used an action match to transition to scene 2. Using the storyboard really helped plan this out. Another type of shot we used was a wide shot. These shots and camera angles were used frequently in different scenes. Occasionally a specific type of shot is used again to show parallelism between another scene.

Title Design in Details

This week we worked on our titles for our project. The title we will most likely go with is "Substitution". We decided on this because we felt it accurately described a part of the plot of our project. The font we decided on was spectral. This is a good font for our genre and fits the theme we are going for. It will be in bold and all caps. The text will be white to contrast the night background and it will be in size 48. We decided to make the titles fade in and fade out of the screen. We decided this because it would fit the title "substitution" as the titles would substitute each other and or take their place and will disappear after 2 to 3 seconds. The leading spacing would be 1.5 and the tracking spacing would be normal.

Schedule, Location, Participants,Health

For this google slide, we had to plan out certain things further. This included the schedule, location, participants, and health. The schedule should be 1-3 slides, the location 1-2, the participants 1-2 and health 1-2. For our slide show our schedule was 1 slide, our location 2, our participants 1, and our health 1. For the location(s) we had to include pictures of each. We had a total of seven slides in this presentation. We decided to organize the schedule slide in a table format. The dates are on the left and what we will be doing on each date is on the right. We made sure to also consider many things when creating the health slide because we want to stay safe while filming. This slideshow will be very helpful when we are filming the final task.

Dialogue and Sound Script

For this assignment, we had to create a dialogue and sound script. This includes all of the sounds we use, and everything the characters will say. We had to write this script for about ten scenes. Some examples of sounds we had to include were, diegetic and non diegetic sounds, as well as a song we might use. The way we are presenting this information in is a google slides presentation. The purpose behind this script is to have us be ready to film these scenes and know what we have to edit in, and what will have to be created while filming. For example, some of these sounds come directly from the scenes. Others have to be edited in. The song we are using is one example of that. Overall this really helps prepare us to be able to film our project.

Shooting Script

 For this blog/assignment, we had to create a shooting script. This is like a script on what is occurring in the final task scene by scene. It includes the camera angles, movement, character movements, and what is going on in each scene. The only thing that is not in this script is the dialogue. We were told to think of it as a storyboard but in written format. We had to display this script in a google slides presentation. There is one slide for each scene. We were required to have at least 10 scenes for the final task. Each slide includes what is going on, with camera movement, angles, or editing to go with it. This script will be  extremely beneficial when shooting the final task.

Title Research: Split

This opening sequence was found on Art of the Titles.

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

I counted twenty five titles displayed during the opening sequences of the film. Almost at the beginning
of the opening sequence, the main movie title showed up. Directly at the end was the director's name.

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

Images of a girl being transported in a dark laboratory looking building are prioritized. Whenever a title
shows up the screen cuts to black with the title.

What connotations do the images carry?

The images carry a dark feeling to them, which accurately represents what the thriller genre is like.
It may make viewers feel unsettled and know that something is very off with what is happening.

How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

The genre is reinforced through the dark feel of the outset through making the viewers have a strong
sense that something is wrong. The lighting of it helps establish something is darker as well because
of it not being very bright and being very yellow and dismal. The thriller genre relies on the feeling of fear
or unease at times so this really emphasizes that.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

It makes the viewer want to know what is going on because not much is clear yet.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to it's target audience?

The film uses a popular themes of kidnapping in the genre which may appeal to the target audience
since they are used to it. They also use common camera angles in the genre as well like low angles and
close ups. The audio is creepy as well, so that also might draw it's target audience in because of the
fear factor.

How has technology been used effectively?

The lighting of the shots convey the genre well and make the unsettling mood clear in the opening

sequence. Also, camera shots convey the actions being done well. The cut to black and split up titles
for the titles also makes the name "split" come into play.