News Broadcast Inspiration

As I stated last week, we have planned on including a news broadcast in our film opening. In Bird Box, the use of the news broadcast helped in setting the seriousness and the gravity of the event that was occurring. When the movie began, the problem had to be shown in some way, and it was done through the report. In this scene, the main character is shown watching the news with her sister. The reporter’s tone of voice is serious, desperate, and alarming as videos are shown of the mass suicides happening in Romania, Europe, and Siberia. As the woman’s facial expressions get affected by what she is watching, she changes the channel and another news reporter is also addressing the issue and how it is in Russia as well. Right away, she turns the volume off and says, “well, it’s in Russia so..”. The news broadcast helped the audience realize how the woman is ignorant to what she just watched. We were inspired by this news broadcast scene for our film opening. We will be introducing the worldwide conflict of our film by using a report like this one. Also we will be using the aspect of an ignorant character in our film opening, which will later lead to her death because of her personality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JcvQMM0Vzw

^^^This is the link to the news broadcast scene in Bird Box.


Furthermore, we plan on using the application iMovie to create this news broadcast. iMovie is an editing software application that will allow us to make a clip look like an actual news report. Using different effects, titles, and subtitle headlines, we will be experimenting on different ways that we can make it look like a news headline. My partner and I will be the anchors reporting the news. As I said above, in Bird Box, the reporters were very serious and had desperate tones of voice which we will be using to make it seem more severe and realistic. We will be adding videos of war-like chaotic scenes to make it look more extreme, since it will also be a mass-suicide type of film. Lastly, we will be using my computer to use iMovie for the news broadcast, not my partner’s. In the past with other projects for this class, we have tried using hers, but we have come across many issues with downloading the final project into her Files. Moreover, we will be playing it safe and using mine from the start so we don’t have to do it twice.

Developing our idea

Our plot is starting to come together. We have figured out the overall idea of our film opening and the main scenes, but the details are still being figured out. Our opening will begin with our lead actress, the teen Valentina Suarez, sitting on the couch while watching a news broadcast which will be announcing the worldwide problem of the phone calls that are making people kill themselves. Valentina will listen to this announcement and will show with her facial expressions that she doesn’t believe it. She grabs her phone and begins to text her friends about this “unbelievable” and “unreal” news. This uses the teen representation, since they always have to use social media and texting to report to their friends what is going on. Very shortly after that, she receives a call from one of her best friends, and that is when the monster immediately gets inside of her. This plot is crazy because it would be interesting to see people live their everyday lives without their phones.

Ideas for Film Opening and Inspiration

We have began planning out our ideas for our film opening. Throughout the brainstorm process, my partner and I used three horror movie films/shows as inspiration. The first movie is “Scream” (1996 film). In the film opening, there was a teenage girl that would answer the phone and an unknown caller, the killer, would threaten her life. We will be using a teenage girl as the female lead of the movie. We have asked many of our friends and we have determined that it will be Valentina Suarez. She is an older looking teen and she is quite dramatic which will make her perfect for the role of our lead actress. We will also be using the phone aspect in our film opening, like in Scream, we will feature the phone as a way for the killer to reach the victim. When a person in our movie answers the phone, the monster gets inside of them and makes them want to kill themselves, and they will continue to call other people from their contacts.

The second movie that we got inspiration from was “Bird Box”, this is a film that has to do with a creature that gets inside of you and makes you want to kill yourself if you look at it. We will be applying this technique in our movie, except through the phone, not through sight. In our opening, the teenage girl will see her phone ringing, and the name of one of her friends will appear as the incoming caller. She will answer the phone thinking that she’s safe, and the monster will get inside of her. Lastly, we got an idea from the show “Criminal minds”. Every episode is a new mystery to solve for the FBI team. In the beginning of every episode, the crime that is being committed is shown to provide some background details for the viewer, it is only after that the episode starts unravel. We will be making our film opening in this way, one case of the whole movie, which is why the movie will begin with a tragedy.

“Scream.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 20 Dec. 1996, www.imdb.com/title/tt0117571/.

“Bird Box.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 21 Nov. 2018, www.imdb.com/title/tt2737304/.

The group we want to represent in our project are teenagers in high school. There are a substantial amount of movies and shows that portray teenage students going to school, and then having a life of their own after school. The teens would be shown partying, having adventures, solving crimes, and anything else other than studying or doing homework. The teenagers in the real world do homework when they get home from school, and are rarely seen not doing any work whatsoever. In drama films, the teachers do assign work, but the students are almost never shown doing it, as if it magically does itself while they are out doing other things.


In the show Gossip Girl, which is based on the lives of Manhattan’s elite, the teenagers who go to a private school are never seen studying. The students go to school and hang out with their friends, boy/girlfriends, or cause drama in between friend groups. They are never seen in their room doing homework. IN fact, when it was time to take the SATs, they paid people with a fake ID to complete the exam for them. Another show in which teenagers are never seen doing homework is in the show Elite. This is a show in spanish in which students from a different schools of lower class, join a rich high school which causes conflicts. In class the students are given homework and projects, but after school they are busy doing other things. The teenagers have fights, they plan robberies, plan parties, and even kill someone. The teenagers never touch a pencil or paper in their own homes.


I think that this representation is more than wrong. Teenagers in real life try extremely hard in school and barely ever go out during the week. The fact that teenagers are depicted as slackers but they still succeed, is very disrespectful to all the hard work that students put in to reach their goals. I would retain all of the activities, because even though the representation is unfair, it makes the movie/show entertaining. I would, though, challenge the fact that they don’t do any homework. Moreover, I would show the teenagers doing some homework, or talking about the fact that they did homework, and I would leave the exciting drama representation that keeps the audience hooked.

Genre: Drama

Genre Conventions:


Content:
Drama films tend to illustrate real-life situations and incidents. They portray reasonable and expected characters as well as realistic settings and story plots. There is usually a build up of suspense and tension until the climax, which keeps the audience wanting more. Drama films aim to move the audience emotionally. The main focus of the drama genre is based on any type of conflict, difficulties, struggles, or pain.

Production techniques:
The mise-en-scene of drama films are represented by the dull lighting that is used. It makes the audience feel a sense of tension that portrays a gritty and bleak nature. There are many types of angles and camera movements that are used, as well as close ups of characters. The high and low angle shots are used to depict the strength or weakness amongst characters. The props that are typically used are guns, alcohol, drugs, knifes, and phones. The common settings for drama films are schools, ghettos, streets of neighborhoods and run down neighborhoods.

Film example #1:

Gossip Girl (2007-2012)
Gossip Girl is a good representation of the Drama genre because it is about the scandalous lives of Manhattans’ elite. Out of all of the wealthy families, the Humphrey’s aren’t one of them. Dan Humphrey is an outsider who started a blog called gossip girl so that he could feel like he was a part of it all. There is a lot of school drama and also parent drama. Throughout all of the seasons the tension only ended when the show terminated, because of how the director planned the plot.

Film example #2:

10 Things I Hate about You (1999)
10 Things I Hate about You is a good representation of the Drama genre because it is about a teenage girl that isn’t allowed to date. She has a sister who is very boylike, and as her father thought, she would never go on a date with a guy. He placed the condition that if she boylike sister begins to date, so can the other sister. As expected the sister made sure to find them both dates, and the boylike sister fell in love with the guy.

Genre: Horror

Target Audience:
The usual target audience for films with the horror genre is people ranging from ages 15-25. These teenagers and young adults enjoy watching films that contain suspense and terror to give them thrills. Younger audiences get more excited when watching these thrilling movies. Adult audiences are often put off by the graphic images of violence. Also, it was concluded that 42% of horror audiences are women, and 58% being men.

Genre Conventions:
Content:
In horror films there are many roles that characters take part in. Moreover, a type of protagonist or hero is always present in horror films. They are usually the ones that save the day by killing or stopping, the villain, murderer, monster, or torturer in the movie. The are also victims in horror films, they are tortured and have many problems, caused by the antagonist, which most of the time end up dead. Furthermore, the antagonist is the actual evil itself, whether it's a monster, serial killer, or demonic force. Lastly, children are used a substantial amount of times in horror films. They play a menacing role in these films to make the circumstance appear scarier. Little girls are used more than little boys because they are considered to be creepier.

Production Techniques:
The mise-en-scene of horror films can be represented by the types of settings that are used to give the connotation of isolation or loneliness. Small communities, dark alleys, and urban neighborhoods are used often with thunder and rain, which adds to the gloomy setting of these films. The use of terrible weather is used to make the isolation of the setting stand out. The mise-en-scene of horror films can also be characterized by the use of lighting. Lighting, in horror films,  usually anticipates that something bad is going to happen. It gives the audience a feeling of terror and suspense. Low-key lighting, dark shadows and flickering lights make the viewer feel anxiety and fear. Another component that contributes to the mise-en-scene of horror films is the use of props. Common objects include knifes, chainsaws, crucifixes,  and candles. Props are an important addition to the frightening atmosphere of horror movies. Lastly, the use of costumes and colors is another element in the mise-en-scene of horror films. The costumes usually depict the personality and they fit with the stereotype of the specific character. The costumes play a significant part in horror films since that alone can categorize a character as good or bad. The use of the colors red and black is seen throughout most horror films because they have to do with blood, danger, and death. These horror films count of sound for the suspense element. The use of Foley when creating sounds builds tension through the exaggerated diegetic sounds. Non-diegetic sounds are used for jump scares. They are fast, loud, and creepy which add to the audience's fear.

Institutional Conventions:
Narrative Image:
The narrative image in a horror film is known for leaving room for a sequel where the monster/evil character reappears. Horror films usually begin with the protagonist/victim wondering off into a threatening or isolated environment. Then, the characters will encounter the evil character and violence is unleashed. The characters who survive would try to tell the authorities for support, only to return disappointed with less hope. The climax of the film contains a showdown between the protagonist and the antagonist characters with differing outcomes. The resolution of the plot usually leaves a suspenseful ending generating room for the possible return of the monster.

Marketing:
Horror films have certain marketing techniques to go along with to be considered a successful film. One of these techniques includes naming some of the characters in the trailer. The audience will be concerned whether a character lives or dies, by giving the character a face. Another technique is not giving everything away in the trailer. Triggering a sense of mystery and suspense in the viewers will make them want to go watch the horror movie. Furthermore, obscuring details in the trailers will hook potential spectators. Another marketing technique that is consistent in most horror films is the demonstration of viewers' ratings and comments on the movie. Also, credible testimonials are shown in most trailers because they increase the potential of people going to watch the film. Lastly, since horror is one of the largest genres, it is concluded that it is one of the most profitable genres as well.

Film sample #1
The Conjuring (2013)
The Conjuring is a good representation of the Horror genre because the storyline has to do with a family who moves into a house and is haunted by evil forces. As soon as the plot begins to develop, the audience starts to feel the suspense and terror. The family call a couple of paranormal investigators to help them remove the evil entity that has taken over the woman's body. The investigators realized that this was one of the most terrifying case of their lives. A movie about a satanic haunting of a family definitely belongs in the horror genre of films.

Film sample #
It (2017)
It is a good representation of the Horror genre because the whole movie has to do with battling a murderous, bloodthirsty clown. In the beginning of the story, one of the kids misplaces their sailboat and chases it into a sewer, this is when the suspense aspect is extremely emphasized. A pair of yellow eyes emerge from inside the sewers as the child looks into it, and the boy reaches into it to get the boat, and the monster bites his arm off and then drags him into it. There is a substantial number of creepy elements in this movie to contribute to the fact that it is a horror film. Such elements include demonic looking children, creepy red balloons that appear out of nowhere, a headless girl, clown dolls, guns, shadows, and of course, Pennywise, the main antagonist.

Film examples:
1. The Sinister (2012)











2. Saw (2004)

3. Hush (2016)

4. A Quiet Place (2018)











5. The Babadook (2014)










6. Paranormal Activity (2007)

Hello! My name is Sophia Jauregui, I am a junior in high school and I am taking the class AICE Media Studies. For our final project, we have to create a movie opening from scratch. My partner and I have known the genre of our film from the start, but we are still deciding on how we are going to be making our film.  In this blog, I am going to be posting the step by step of the whole film-making process and all of the decision-making that happens along the way. Thank you for reading my blog!