Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Genres I Would Like to Research
On October 5, 2020 our very first research assignment to do for our short film was to think about three different genres that would relate to our pitch or idea we wanted to convey through our film. I took the time to look at the pitch I wrote and sat myself down to actually think and write out what I wanted my film to be while being simple and concise. I decided on the genres: action, thriller, and mystery because, I truly felt that those were the only one's that my future short film would fall under if it were released. I wanted my short film to be based on a genre that I myself and others would prefer to watch. I wanted to do a similar genre that I did last year in AICE Media Studies because I want to improve from last time, but the only difference is that its based on my own personal creative idea. I want to show that I have grown and learned from my past filming and editing mistakes, and improve on the film's overall look and sound. I want to make sure that my film is perfect since we will also include social media sites, a website, and a post card. I want to make my short film suspenseful and intriguing to hook the audience and have them wanting more. Honestly the Thriller genre is out of my comfort zone, but I included it because why not give it a try and maybe in the end the short film might end up being on track under that genre. The assignment given to me from my teachers will rely on me to research all three genres and choose the best match for my short film. The best part about it is that, this time we are making a complete film with a beginning, middle, and end and we can choose whatever genre we would like.
To introduce you to the genres I defined each of them and basically will give you an overview of each of the genre that I chose which is again; action, thriller, and mystery. An action film is a film genre that has a protagonist portrayed and is always placed in situations where violence, fights, chases, and physical abilities or assets are necessary. A thriller film is always fiction, and bases off of the mood of the audience by feeding them suspense, excitement, anticipation, and surprise. A mystery film is fiction and revolves around problem-solving, such as detecting a person's death or a crime to be solved. I will go in depth of each genre from research in my next blogs and I will have a Google slide prepared for each one. I did my best to research and try to look into each genre in the perspective of looking at the genres dynamic and consistent techniques of different movies. I am excited to do my research and discover a gem that will spark an interest in me to pick it. As of today, I am definitely leaning towards the mystery genre, however, I have to go back and really reflect and think over the planning of my film and afterwards make a valid decision. I can't believe that we are entering the planning process of the film making process and I can't wait to continue on my journey. I will return with my final answer and we will see which genre didn't make the cut.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Pitch for my Short Film
A money hungry boss, will stop at nothing to make sure her empire is number one.
This is Stephanie signing off!
Friday, September 18, 2020
All Alone
Hello everyone this is Stephanie and I have an update on who I will be working with this year on the short film. I decided, after reflecting and lots of coffee, I decided to work alone this year for my short film. I made a decision based on what's going on with the pandemic, understanding that my parents do not feel comfortable yet with me going and filming with group members. I mainly wanted to work by myself because of my hectic classes and I want to be able to focus on the task by following my schedule. Since this is my final year of high school, I want to take the time to improve my filming and editing skills at my own pace. This is going to be a fun assignment and I can not wait to start planning and actually produce this short film. I would like to take the time to learn about producing a postcard and website, since I never made one in my entire existence. Its not that I don't want to have group members or that I don't like my classmates, its just what I believe is safest and more comfortable for me. I understand the work and journey that I will be going though alone, but I am willing to put a lot of effort and creativity to pass this class and produce an amazing short film. My main goal this year is to be stress free and focus on my classes making sure everything is done and checked off.
Last year in AICE Media Studies, I was in a group, basically the entire year and I also feel like that is another contributing factor to why I want to work alone this year. I had a lot of problems with my group members in which we never followed a schedule or plan what we were going to work on, even though I always pushed for it. There was so many times where my group members were supposed to edit and finish the video before the deadline, but they would ask me to do it instead the night before it was due, and I would freak out. I am not trying to expose them because they are my friends, super creative, and smart, but, I don't want to fall behind schedule and be doomed later when its due. We also had problems where one group member would not be doing enough work, and I know that if I work alone, I can hold myself accountable for my own work. Last year we had multiple different projects which includes: a 30 second commercial, music video, and the final task which was to create a beginning of a movie. This year we have all year to work on our final task and this time we have to include all elements in the film a beginning, middle, and end. This gives me plenty enough time to plan, produce, edit, and finalize the short film so that it can be amazing. I am going to make sure to have the guidance of my teachers and peer review my work with my friends and family along this journey. I will always help out my friends when they need me and I will always ask for help when I need as well. Just because I am working alone doesn't mean I can't ask my friends and classmates for help right? well here is a picture of me.
This is Stephanie signing off!
Monday, September 14, 2020
Welcome Back!
Hello everyone, its me Stephanie and i'm super excited to announce that I will be continuing my journey in A-Level Media Studies. I am super excited to start this year and I am looking forward to the films and ideas I have floating around in my head. I have so many things to look forward to this year such as creating my very own postcard and website which i'm so stoked to do. I am also looking forward to work on and improve my editing skills to be even better than it was last year. Today on our Teams meeting for the class we already started to learn about the final task of this class and I have so many stories and ideas that I want to share, so I already started narrowing down my movie idea. I can't wait to start working with my camera again and actually produce a longer film that has a beginning, middle, and end. I really want to learn in depth about the advertising and social media aspect of this class as it was so interesting to see all the examples from last year's class that my teachers provided. I want to be able to take what I learned from this class and hopefully use it for the future. To be honest, I am nervous for what this year has to bring due to the pandemic and everything being online, so I hope that there isn't much stress and problems that come out. Since this is my senior year of high school, I want to have fun in this class and focus on creating the best short film while having fun and enjoying the process to make it.
Reflecting back from last year I definitely am nervous about editing and filming the short film. I never really enjoyed editing my films because my group members last year would leave it to the last day and put it all on me to do, even though I would tell to start earlier. I want to plan ahead and use the time to edit to focus on myself and the film, I also want to edit earlier so I can gain feedback from friends and family and see where it needs to be fixed. I plan to do many research on different editing software's that are easy and manageable than the one I have been using. I am honestly nervous about the filming process as well because of the pandemic and I don't know whether it comes time to film will things get better or worse. I am going to make sure and discuss with my family about the people that I want to have in my film and ask whether its okay with them if we can film together. If my parents do not agree, I will have to make use of my sister and family yo be in the film. I just have a feeling that this will be the best year and since everything is online I can use this time to learn more about technology and learn about a bunch of new apps and programs. This year will be a lot of work but it will be rewarding and fun. I am extremely excited and can't wait to share with you all that I have to offer this year in A-Level Media Studies.
This is Stephanie signing off!