AICE Media Studies

   I watched a short film called Wall of Dreams. This short film fell into the mystery genre, the genre that we will be doing for our group short film. This short film used many different camera angles, camera movements, sound, and costumes/props. The first thing I noticed was the usage of many different camera angles like low angles, mid shots, and close-ups. The low angles were used to enhance emotion and power which allowed the audience to understand who has the power in the scene increasing tension. Mid-shots were also used throughout the short film to show the audience the scene and other actors that are in the scene. Close-ups were also used to show the enhanced emotion through facial expressions. This is good for the mystery genre because the audience will continue to pay close attention to what happens. The sound was another thing I noticed in the mystery genre short film. The non-diegetic sound was used to enhance emotion and the actions in the scene. The diegetic sou...

I watched a short film on Netflix called Escape the Undertaker. In this short film, I started to realize different filming techniques used. Something I noticed right away was the camera angles. Throughout this short film, dramatic camera angles were used like close-ups, low angles, point-of-view shots, and many others. The close-ups were used throughout the short film to enhance the emotion of a situation, especially since this is a mystery short film making the audience sit on the edge of the seat is done with this enhanced emotion. Low angles were also used a lot to simulate a similar idea which was building emotion and keeping the audience on the edge of their seat. Point of view shots was one of the last I wanted to point out, I found these specific to the mystery genre in short films because I usually don't see them. These point of view shots made the audience feel as if they were witnessing this for themselves in the first person which makes everything that happens more life-...

Common Sound This short film heavily involved diegetic sound from the river's flowing to the cuts of the knife whittling of the wood.  Common Mis-En-Scene This short film used casual clothing. The Dad wore a t-shirt with pants, and the daughter wore a crop top with jeans. The daughter even has her hair a little messy, which contributes to the curiosity of the watchers. Why is her hair messy? Where was she before this? What is she doing? One of the main props is a tiny knife. We do not get to see the purpose of it until the very end of the film. The lightning in this film is semi-dim. The shots in the house are well light while the scenes in the foster are dim, which creates an eerie feeling. There is no makeup present in the film. The setting of this film is set in a rural area. The house is near a forest with a river. Common Editing This film used lots of mid-shots. Typically, they were used during the scene between the Grandmother and the Dad. In this scene, the Dad is panicking ...

   The short film "Nursery Rhyme" was literally amazing. It was around 5 minutes long and every second had the viewer questioning what was to come next. it begins with a man singing the famous "old McDonald" nursery rhyme, shirtless, in front of a farm. The camera begins to pan left and each turn reveals something crucial to why the man is singing the song. As the camera pans, you can see that a car crash has taken place and the lady driving the vehicle has died. It is then revealed towards the end that the man was singing the "old McDonald" nursery rhyme because the baby of the woman who died was crying. Sound The diegetic sound was used within this short film. You can hear the man singing the nursery rhyme, and as the film progressed other diegetic sounds are played as more of the car crash scene is displayed. This is related to the mystery genre because the man singing an old nursery rhyme shaking and shirtless with no context created suspense throughou...

Overall this video was very helpful and offered a lot of knowledge to creating a short film for us. One of the main things we learned was that in short films only do what you have the resources to do. An example I learned was when it comes to sound. If you the filmmaker know you don't have the proper resources for the audio heavy film then make sure you work around that and try to not make a dialogue-heavy short film. Some other key thing I learned about making a short film is to let a theme guide your story. When making a decision for this story do the opposite of what you think. If you think you should do this do the opposite because that is what your audience will be expecting. This is to keep your audience focused on the film and interested in everything that happens because the tension is just building and building. Another thing I learned is that preparation is key. To make a successful short film you have to plan out everything in your storyline to make sure it flows with th...

Part 1 While Le Jetee and 12 Monkeys are very different when it comes to plot, they have some similarities. They both use dim lights and are either black and white or have limited color. This shows that color schemes play a big part in creating a sense of atmosphere within the watchers. Also, using non-diegetic sound is very useful. Hearing noises that are related to what is being shown can evoke emotion. Happy, sad, or scared non-diegetic sound plays a huge part in this. Additionally, raw emotion from actors reflects that in recordings. The actors of Le Jetee really dove deep which really showed. All of this will help within the realism aspect when creating our short film. Even the use of low-lit settings. In 12 Monkeys, the feeling of time is played with as the main character traveled from the past to the future. Part 2 In La Jatee a variety of techniques are used. For one, the use of sound and color. The use of voiceovers was really present within this short film. This brings us alo...

 Short Film  Today I watched the short film 9. This is a seven-minute-long animated short film. I really enjoyed watching this short film. The characters were really unique. I honestly liked the rag doll's appearance of some and the robotic appearance of others. The setting was also very unique and cool. It had a post-apocalyptic feel and somewhat reminded me of Wall-e. The sound is what really made an impact on me most though. There was no dialogue in the short film. The only sound really heard is diegetic and score. The lack of sound helped set the mood of the short film a lot. It made moments feel more scary and suspenseful. The sound of the robotic spider characters made me feel as if I was inside the film. The plot was interesting too. The main character is a rag doll-like with a 9 on its back. 9 seems to have had a mentor or a friend in the past. 9's friend has the same appearance but with a 5 instead of on its back. The mentor/friend seems to have saved 9 and died at th...

We chose mystery as the genre of our short film. We decided between mystery, drama, and thriller. The decision did require us to really take into consideration how we wanted certain parts of the short film to be perceived by the audience. Mystery seemed like the best fit because, in the plot of our short film, the audience is kept wondering what’s happening until the end, which was more mystery than drama and thriller. We also plan to use many of the common camera movements, angles, sound, and many other aspects of horror. In our short film, the audience is gonna keep watching because of their personal investment to find out what is happening. We didn't think our short film would be a thriller because although we have a measure of suspense it does not have the adventurous aspects many thrillers have. Although thriller and mystery are closely related, the direction we chose to take our short film was closer to mystery. We also did not pick drama because we found that dramas have man...

  Common CAMS in Mystery High Angle/Bird's eye view:  These shots are used within mystery films to give the effect that whatever is being looked down on, appears to look powerless and vulnerable Close-up shot:  This camera angle is used to show what the character's reactions are to whatever is happening in the film and how they are feeling at that moment. It is also used to capture detail closely in a scene that is important in the film. Tracking or panning:  These are used in mystery films to make it look like one of the characters is being followed or being watched. It also helps the audience to have a full view of the scene and what is happening. But also helps to build suspense and tension as the audience does not know what could be shown next. Long shots:  This camera shot is used a lot in mystery films to help show what something looks like and the atmosphere. For example, a deserted town gives the atmosphere that something is wrong with the town. Common S...

  The common CAMS thriller, the common angles include the birds-eye/ high angle, close-up, tracking/ pan shot, reverse, tilted angle, extreme long/ long shot, low angles, handheld camera shot, point of view shot, zoom, and over the shoulder shot.  Common Mis-En-Scene Common mis-en-scene for thrillers include: costumes tend to be very classy and formal / imperfection for the antagonist (the one who is creating the thrill.)  Makeup is included for bruises/ blood or for dolls/ little girls to represent innocence. Props are regular house furniture, weapons, and outside architecture.  Lighting usually is dark unless when it's focusing on a specific subject/ person (usually low-key lighting.) Actors include the protagonist (usually a shy female) and the antagonist (could be anything/ anyone a doll, a male serial killer, etc.)  Setting usually occurs in a house (tends to be a rundown mansion/ house with a basement.)  Common Editing Common editing for thrillers inc...

Drama :     - Camera Movements Panning: This is used to show the characters and their surroundings especially in rising action or the climax when tension is high especially in a drama.  Tracking: This is used to add suspense and a tension      - Lighting Low-Key Lighting is used to build tension between characters which is a needed trade in dramas where there is usually a conflict between two or more characters.  Camera Angles High Shot Angles are used to demonstrate the lack of power in characters usually in a conflict.  Low Shot Angles are used to demonstrate the power a character or group of characters have in the situation.     - Elements of Drama External Conflict with another character Internal Conflict that only the audience sees  Tension, Anxiety, and Suspense in many Scenes      - Sounds Non-Diegetic: This is used to increase the effect of the action/dialogue of characters. Diegetic: Usually arguing with othe...

For our three genres, we chose: drama, thriller, and mystery. We felt as if these genres matched our pitch perfectly. Our film calls for confusion, in both the actor and the audience. We never truly know what is going on until the end. Researching further into these genres will allow us to not only increase our knowledge but further our film.  Drama This genre employs emotion, various ranges of it. From happy to sad and shocked to scared. Drama is also very versatile. It allows for subgenres to be intertwined with it. With that being said, researching this genre would help us make a good foundation. Thriller   For our film, we want to explore dark and engrossing feelings. Mood plays a big part. The aspects of Thriller will help us achieve it. We also want to make sure that the audience stays interested. As our film is only five minutes, every second counts. Mystery   For our film we want the end to be mine blowing. Rather than leaving off on a cliffhanger, we want a myste...

Pitch #1: A girl wakes up and starts going about her day. She gets into her car and starts driving. After a while, she gets into a car crash. Her day then starts repeating and speeding up each time it repeats. In the end, we see her in a coma at the hospital. The doctor reveals to her that the car crash happened 5 years ago and she's been in a coma ever since, and she has been repeating what happened for 5 years straight. Pitch #2: A girl keeps getting presents from a secret admirer. Every day the gifts get more and more special. The girl then gets a message from her secret admirer asking her to meet him at a specific location. The girl goes to the location and meets him however she finds out it was just a prank from the popular kids in class. The girl is left there heartbroken as the popular kids leave laughing. She then notices that one of the kids stays back and asks her if she’s ok. He then admits that he likes her and never knew about the prank.   Pitch #3: There is a nur...