AICE Media Studies

 

After a full year of creative planning, filming, and editing, I have come to the end of my journey. I finally finished my film “Victim Nine” along with my group members! After many days of work and planning, I have finished my movie and cannot be happier of the outcome. Throughout this journey I have learned so much about the film making process and how challenging it is to create. After planning, filming, and editing my commercial, music video, and film, I have learned how to work with a group of people to create amazing pieces of media. I have always idolized actors and directors, and it was great to experience both worlds at once! I cannot be happier that I joined this class. This is not the beginning of my adventure, and I will continue to create and produce many films for fun and hopefully work. I hope to use this knowledge and work in media production later on in my life. I now present my final film, Victim Nine.

 Today is my final day working on my film! So far, I've cut the length of my shots, organized them in the correct order, and added music to my production. I completed this part of the editing process after I received feedback from my film review. Now, the last thing to complete is composing the score for the film, since I never fully finished working on my music.  In order to compose the score, my partner Kaite and I opted to combine two independent audios. Katie and I both wanted royalty-free music from the 1950s or 1960s to transition into eerie, menacing music in the opening section of my audio. I gave Katie this job to complete in the beginning, but she was struggling so I decided to help. At first, this was a tough step to grasp, so I had to go back to another YouTube tutorial. The video instructed me to download it as an Mp4 file and upload it to my production. After that, I had to add all of my titles to my show. It was just a matter of timing them and fixing their loca...

 Following my film review, I realized there were some aspects of my production that I needed to improve. The first issue I wanted to address was the horror aspect of my film. I had planned a day to reshoot certain scenes with my fellow actors. Quickly, I reshot the shot of the main character, Ashley, laying on the ground. What I changed this time, was the excessive amount of fake blood poured on her, to make my audience scared. I also shot a low angle of the villain in the film holding the murder weapon. Lighting was another major issue that was necessary to fix. I took the time to research ways to increase the brightness of videos. After watching a few tutorials on YouTube, the task was not difficult. I simply went into my photos app on my iPhone and on the top right of my screen, I clicked "edit" to start brightening my shots. There was an option for me to increase or decrease my brightness on a scale of one to one hundred. I increased the brightness by twenty, so I could s...

 After filming was completed, it was finally time to edit. Connor, one of my group members, chose to edit the video since he had a lot of experience. My partner was enrolled in many coding and media classes throughout his middle school career.  He edited on his laptop, which he volunteered to bring to school, so my group members and I could help assist. I found time during my sixth period study hall time to help participate in the editing process. When it came to editing, I had a few issues right off the bat. It was very difficult to edit during the school day, since the internet connection was slow. This made it impossible to open and run the editing software. By this time, I had tried to restart the device and try a new device completely. It had then occurred to me to use my partner's phone hotspot to connect to the PC. This succeeded, and I was able to begin editing immediately. I messaged my partner the videos I had taken on my phone and then transferred the files to ...

 Since the deadline is approaching quickly, all editing was thrown together for peer review. Using iMovie, I assembled all of the shots into a single film. When others saw the video, they had a variety of reactions. The plot was simply grasped, which was the most crucial reaction I received. The major message of the film was understood by both of the people who watched it. I had my history teacher and my classmate review my film since they would give honest opinions and advice. The female main character's attitude toward the scenario, as well as the tension created by the female main character and the major male character who portrayed the villain, were all comprehended. While my goal for the film was horror, I was told there wasn't much of a horror aspect to my film. This was due to the actors and props not displaying any blood or harm. I intend to reshoot a few scenes later with some of my group members present. My classmate had also told me that the movie was a tad too fast...

Filming is now completed for my film! My next step in this journey is to edit all of the different shots into one movie. However, I am forgetting about one of the most important parts of the film... the music! As soon as my group and I decided on a genre and plot for my film, I emailed a music production company named, Warner Chappel. The Warner Chappel company messaged me back a few weeks ago, asking for a price to own the rights to the song. This price was outrageous, as they were asking for $1000-$2000. This is when I had to come up with a Plan B. I collected my group to discuss the news and everyone was devastated, since everyone was hoping to use Born Too Late, by the Poni-tails for the entire film. Everyone had shared their ideas for a new plan. Some of these plans included, emailing a new music company  and messaging the Warner Chappel  company again to compromise for a new price. However, it was too late into the film to wait for another music production company's...

 Today was my final day of filming for my film. My group and I met at the same location, where I had been meeting previously, which was my partner's house. However, instead of driving a car to the location, I had everyone bring a bicycle, in order to get to the filming location since there was no parent available to drive me. First, I went inside my partner's house to help pick out costumes for my actors. These actors were played by two teenage girls, so I decided to dress them both in short shorts. For the top of the costume, I dressed Ashley in a dark long-sleeve shirt, to show the darkness that will come in her future.  For Ashley's best friend, I had brought a vibrant blue tank. My group and I went outside and started to pump all of the bike tires so that we were able to make it safely and efficiently to the site. Before we left, my bike fell on top of my group members' bikes. Halfway there, my handlebars attached to my bike started to get really loose, which made m...

Today was my second day of filming for my film! My group and I had planned on filming the indoor scenes after school today, however, there was a problem. I had no ride to get to my filming location, so I had to create a backup plan. Since I am playing "The Newscaster," I had one scene to film, and it was by myself. I rode the bus home from school and immediately started thinking about my costume and script. I am on the debate team, so I had a black blazer and slacks to use as my costume. From there, I picked out which footwear I wanted to wear, which were black low heels. I was planning on using a microphone as a prop, but sadly, since I was on such short notice I was not able to find one on time for filming. I set up my set design in my living room by moving the chairs and tables out of the way so that I would be standing in front of a blank wall with a piece of art, like a real newscaster. After spending half an hour memorizing the script, I finally had it memorized to perf...

After my plans were rained out for filming the last half of my film, which was planned on being located outside, I rescheduled filming for today! All of my group members, excluding one, all rode to one of the filming locations as soon as school ended. My other partner, however, forgot to bring his costume and filming equipment. This included a black hoodie, black sweats, a canon camera, and microphones for my actors. Once my partner arrived at the first filming location and met up with my group, I started filming. However, the camera that my partner brought had no storage left on the chip, so I had to come up with a backup plan. I decided to use my partner's iPhone 11 to film since she had the clearest camera. I helped pick out a costume for one of my actors, who is playing Ashley. This costume included black shorts, to represent the dark side of the film, and white shoes with a light blue tank, to show her innocence. I then gathered everyone into the car and headed into the woods....

The majority of the outdoor scenes were supposed to be shot today. These scenes were supposed to be shot in a park to create a creepy atmosphere for the audience. My company and I opted to film late at night because there was no sunlight. Because there was no light, I brought a flashlight with me so that my camera could get a quality video of the scene. Because the house of one of my group members was the closest to the filming location, I met my partner and the rest of my group there. However, because one of my partners got stuck in traffic, the filming time had to be cut short. At 5:30 p.m., they arrived at my place, and I prepared for the shoot. Since we were filming the second half of the movie, I was not featured in any scenes. As a result, I was able to assist my fellow actors with their performance preparation. My partner and I gathered and applied all of the costumes and make-up for the actors. After that, I packed a bicycle and a flashlight with my other group members and bega...

After completing various stages to prepare for the production of my final piece, I still needed to figure out some last aspects. My group had decided to film at a variety of locations, including many within walking distance from the filming site and neighborhood. Many shots for this project will be taken in my group member, Katie's house, bedroom, and lounge room. The rest of the film will take place all around the local state park, a playground, and the main road. Despite the fact that the shooting site and timetable were well-defined, I felt that many details were overlooked. I wanted to know what each actor would wear first and foremost. Since I am the first character who is seen in the film, I started on myself. I am playing the newscaster, so I chose a blazer and a button-down formal shirt as my costume. I will also be purchasing a fake microphone to make my character look realistic. Ashley's mother will then appear second throughout the film, wearing a basic shirt and sla...

In my storyboard I drew each shot I planned on filming. The first page of the storyboard introduces the main character, Ashley, her mother, Megan, who is Ashley’s best friend, and the current news coverage about a murderer.  The second page of the storyboard shows Ashley introducing Noah to Megan and to the audience for the first time. Megan leaves Ashley’s house and the remaining scenes build up suspense as Ashley gets ready to go to sleep while texting Noah. Finally Ashley is shown waking up and texting Noah.  The third Page of the storyboard shows Ashley getting ready to go out with Noah, as she puts on makeup and blow dries her hair. The next scene shows Ashley sneaking out at night and grabbing her bike. Lastly she brings biking down her street.  The fourth page of the storyboard shows Ashley arriving in mysterious looking woods. She looks around for Noah but is unable to find him at first. Diegetic sound of something stirring in the woods frightens Ashley. Ashley ca...

Planning the title sequence for my film's introduction has been a crucial element for the final project. My partners and I are considering using a messy and scary font to present the titles of the film. They'll blend in with the preceding title and fade away with the last. According to the shot of the scene, each title will float in the bottom-middle of the screen.  This film's working title is Victim Nine, although it's subject to change.  The title will be written in a font titled, "Matura MT Script Capitals" that is considerably more bold and sharp than the remainder of the text, similar to this. In addition, the primary title will be displayed in a much larger font than the other titles.  This title will appear for around 4-6 seconds.  Before the title of the film gets presented, all titles before that will appear on the bottom-middle of the screen, using the "Segoe Script" font from roughly 2-5 seconds. Since my film is being scripted and shot i...

  Oth e r Info:   The film will have several different locations. Some of those include In my Group mates House. The house also includes a bedroom and a TV room. The rest of the locations include Birch state park, A playground/ park, and A road. The participants for the film include Connor Murray, Addison Walker, Mya Hauser, and Katie Weiss. The next thing we had to decide was a good, efficient schedule. We came up with the following schedule. We will film the whole short movie in one day. We will start the film by filming at my groupmate Katie’s house. The next scene will transition to the park. When it approaches dim outside. We will Then drive to Birch state park. In case it rains we will plan to do it on a Saturday so we can film the next day when it’s dim outside and not raining. In case Birch state Park is closed we will plan another date that we know for sure the park will be open. When filming we will make sure to use props and not actual weapons in case we use them....

Title: Victim Nine Ashley: Addison Walker  Megan: Katie Weiss  Noah: Connor Murray  Newscaster: Mya Hauser  Mom: Amy Weiss  Scene 1 Digetic sound of texting (Ashley texting Noah). Ashley is seated on the couch in front of the TV.  Zoom in to the TV, full screen.  Newscaster: “8 teenage girls have been the victims of a killer here in Springfield Ohio. The killer allegedly lures their victims in using pictures of teenage boys on the popular social media platform known as Snapchat. Who is this killer?“ Mom: “Hey, you should pay attention to this! There are some creepy people out there.”  Ashley: “That’s so stupid, nothing like that ever really happens.”  Pan back to Ashley’s phone and zoom into the screen of her opening photos of “Noah”. Ashley opens a new application on her phone and texts her friend Megan.  Scene 2: It cuts to Ashley and her friend Megan, shown sitting on the swings together at the park. Ashley: “Hey do you think he'...

1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which ones? In the first title opening scene that displays the text “day 1” which indicates the time for the audience. the second Title is The movie title, it uses a dark background and Big bold Red letters to display the name of the movie. 2. What connotations do the images carry? (how do you they make you feel) The first image shows the audience the time, the second title sets a spooky mood by introducing a title in big bold red letters. This sets the theme of creepy and helps the story unfold. 3. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? (Can you tell what genre the film is) Yes, the lighting and the scene were dramatic. As they were chased in a bus driving backward. This created an already tense mood in the first opening scenes in the film  4. What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? They tried to create suspense and tension in the o...

  1.     How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which ones? There were two opening titles displayed in the opening sequences of the film Child's play, The first title was Orion. This is a motion pictures company. The second title shown in the opening sequence of Child’s play was BRON, which is a British Columbian motion pictures studio title. 2.     What connotations do the images carry? (how do they make you feel) The images used in the opening sequence of the film “Child’s Play” set a dramatic feeling through dark colors and loud sounds that slowly fades into silence. The use of a dark color scheme sets an eerie mood and creates suspense. The music is ominous and the viewer is able to distinguish the genre.  3.    How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? (Can you tell what genre the film is) The director uses suspense through the opening sequence. They start the film with a co...

  1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which ones? A total of 9 titles are displayed during the opening sequence: “Halloween” (the title of the movie) “Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie” “Judy Greer as Karen” “Virginia Gardner as Vicky” “Dylan Arnold as Cameron” and “Rhian Rees as Dana” “Music by John Carpenter; Cody Carpenter; Daniel Davies” “Director of Photography Micheal Simmonds” “Executive Producers John Carpenter; Jamie Lee Curtis” “Based on Characters created by John Carpenter and Debra Hill”  2. What connotations do the images carry? (how do you they make you feel)  The opening sequences show sequences of a pumpkin rotting in reverse or coming “back to life” and becoming fresh again. These scenes directly relate to the title of the movie “Halloween” They carry a scary connotation and have backlighting of red to make the opening appear more frightening. 3. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? ...

   How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which ones?  There are three titles displayed during the opening sequences of the film. It shows the two companies working on the film. “Netflix Presents”, “A Hybrid Production”. Then it shows the title of the movie, “Secret Obsession”. What connotations do the images carry? (how do you they make you feel) The opening sequence of the film shows rain pouring down from the view of a car window. The font used is a fancy font that gives off a very eerie, creepy, uncomfortable feeling. At the end of the opening sequence the movie title “Secret Obsession” is shown first in white, then it fades to red.  How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? (Can you tell what genre the film is)  Genre reinforcement is very effective as you can definitely tell what genre it is. The opening sequence includes rain pouring hard, the fancy white text, and the use of ominous bac...