Sub-Genre Research

Now that my partner and I have researched 3 different genres each, we decided that we are going to move on and each research a different sub genre to see which will best relate to our film idea. Furthermore, it will help decide if we are going to focus on one sub genre or multiple. The sub-genre I decided to research is coming of age since we are planning to base our film idea on a young girl, and about her personal growth experiences.  

To start the sub genre coming of age are usually movies for young adults such as teens. And these movies usually focus on childhood events and adulthood. Coming of age films have a variety of aspects which help make it separate from other closely related sub genres such as a character's development. A character's development is very important when it comes to making a coming-of-age film as it follows a character's emotional, physical and mental development. A perfect example of this Is the movie “16 Candles” which is about a teen named Abby, who’s obsessed with turning 16, and gets magical birthday candles that make her secret wish list come true, but the wishes backfire, revealing her selfishness and the importance of family and friendship leading to her new mental and physical growth. 

 Another characteristic of this sub genre is the specific use of dialogue, as the dialogue in these movies is normally a personal issue of the character rather than movies that contain more action sequences. Additionally, there is more dialogue in these movies and more still moments. An example of this is the movie “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” which is about a freshman Charlie who navigates high school, dealing with past trauma through letters to an unknown friend, finding belonging with seniors Sam and Patrick. And there is a scene where Charlie talks with San in her room, opening about how he feels, and the moment is very slow and includes a lot of dialogue. 

The last most important characteristic in coming-of-age movies is that they contain issues that teens and young adults face every day whether it’s coming out, mental issues, and even pressure to be someone you're not. This characteristic makes a movie impactful to its audiences and leaves the audience with a lesson about life. An example of this is the Karate kid movies from 1984 to 2010. Which shows that facing a problem step by step helps build confidence in oneself, instead of just running away and avoiding them. 

Link:https://www.masterclass.com/articles/coming-of-age-movies 

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Genre Research

Hello, and welcome to my Media Studies blog.  

Today my partner and I started to work on our AICE Media Studies Film Opening Portfolio. We started discussing it around a month ago in class and then picked up partners to work with. I chose my new friend Melanie Justo-Chiong as my partner. Once working together, we started to discuss potential ideas for our film, I brought up how I do gymnastics and how it’s very demanding physically and mentally. In addition, I suggested making our film about how hard a sport can be and explained that my coaches would be more than glad to allow us to use my gym to film our project. Undoubtedly Melanie thought it was a great idea. 

Now that we have an idea for our film, the first step was to research different genres we could possibly use. So, to cover more ground me and Melanie decided to research 3 different genres each; this allowed us to have more options once it comes to deciding which genre to base our film on. 

Genre #1 Drama

To begin the first genre I will be researching is Drama. So far, I have learned that drama is one of the most used genres out there, whether it’s drama-comedy, drama-action, drama-romance, or more. Usually, a drama film takes place in a realistic setting with realistic characters that are going through different struggles whether mentally or physically. Although drama is a wildly used genre, most directors and film companies are no longer investing in Drama movies, instead they are more focused on Drama TV shows. That's generally why most drama movies are mashed up with another genre. An example of a drama movie that I came across during my research was Manchester by the Sea which is a movie that focuses on the life of Lee Chandler, a  handyman who moves back to his hometown after his brother's death to take in his teenage nephew, grappling with his own painful tragedy in which he was responsible for his children's death due to his careless behavior which also led to his divorce. This is a prime example of a drama movie since it follows the main characters' life and his struggles. Hence, this is a good genre to keep in mind since it's about people who deal with struggles. 

Link to source: https://nofilmschool.com/drama-genre 

Picture of movie: 

 

Genre #2 Comedy

The second genre I will be exploring is Comedy, unlike drama where the main point is to follow a character's struggles. Comedy is about uplifting people's spirits by creating something viewers can laugh at, too.Comedy movies can take place anywhere, and the main characters are usually a group of people rather than one person. Since the whole point is to incite laughter, comedy movies are normally relatable and there are a bunch of different forms of comedy in a movie such as irony, sarcasm, parody, etc... Additionally, actors must be very precise about what they say because if they say it too fast, or they don’t pause, the line won’t be funny and would just be the opposite of the purpose. An example of a comedic hit I found was the movie Dumb & Dumber which follows two lovable, dimwitted best friends, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, who embarked on a chaotic cross-country road trip, to return a briefcase full of money to its owner, Mary Swanson, unknown to them, the briefcase contains ransom money, this  leads to absurd situations and hilarious mishaps. This was an overall funny movie made by the Farrelly Brothers, moreover this was impressive especially since this was one of the first movies they produced and also since comedy is purely subjective.  In all, comedy would seem like a fun film to produce but may not tie into our idea for our film, but we will keep it in mind. 

Link: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-comedy-definition/ 

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Genre #3 Documentary 

The last genre I researched was Documentary; I decided to research this genre since it ties into the idea of a film of an everyday athlete. While doing research, I learned that a documentary’s purpose is to acknowledge different social issues in different environments. A documentary has a very formal tone and can be about anything that the director or company wants to create awareness on. In documentaries the setting is set-in real-life since its non-fiction and usually includes interviews with people who are involved in the subject, and it can also have a voice over where there will be a video piece playing but there will be a narrator explaining what is happening. An example of a documentary is “Simone Biles Rising”, which talks about how Simone Biles (a gymnast) life changed after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The documentary is a sports documentary that includes interviews addressing a problem most gymnasts get called the “twisties” which can be very concerning for their mental health. Overall, a documentary is also a great option as it can help us address our ideas more clearly and more concisely. 

Link: https://www.videomaker.com/how-to/directing/film-history/what-is-documentary/ 

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Magazine Cover Conventions Blog Reflection

Learning about different magazine conventions was very insightful and interesting. While learning about the magazines genre convenions we took down notes, and looked at examples of each convention. This helped me better understand the information while also retaining it.

So the genre or theme I chose for my magazine was pets. And to convey this genre or theme in my magazine cover I added a title (Paws & Whiskers) that suggests that there are pet news in the magazine, and also for my cover image I included a picture of a cat to further apply the fact that the magazine is about pets. Another thing that was added on the cover were newlines about pets like one said "Nap Queens, Why cats sleep 16 hours a day".

Different Magazine Genre Conventions I included were a Mast Head which is the name of the magazine, in my case "Paws and Whiskers" was the name and it. implied that the magazine talks about pets. Next, I also added a cover image, my cover image was a picture of my cat also implying that the magazine is about animals. I also added a feature article alongside with cover lines and my cover lines and feature article were about how cats sleep a lot or grooming techniques. Additionally I added a strip that said "The Cozy Cat Edition" which further implies that the article is pet related or about cats.

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A challenge I faced was the difficulty to operate In Design. Since, I had never used In Design before this project I was very lost at the beginning and this led to a lot of user error. Hence,  I would make a lot of mistakes and get frustrated with the equipment which led to a few set backs. A success that I had in the project was the fact that I finished on time with my project looking pretty good which I was proud of.

A few takeaways I will remember for next time is watch more videos on how to use the equipment and to stay on task because with the frustration it was easy to lose sight of my goal so next time I will stay on track.

This project helped me better understand what has to be done to make a magazine. And this can help me with my project  because I am required to pick in between making a magazine or make a 2 minute opening to a movie. Therefore, it helps me way in my options so I can best decide on what's a better fit for my portfolio project.

Magazine Cover : 

Video Editing Practice Blog Reflection

 Video Editing Practice Blog Reflection

The process of learning how to use the adobe software was a bit long but helpful. The videos we watched showed us step by step how to create a clip and how to edit everything together, it was tedious but worth it as it made it easier to navigate adobe premium software. Hence, I would say my learning experience was good and everything was fairly simple.

Creating the clip was a whole new experience for me, because I'd never done anything like that before which made the process a little bit stressful. Before I could even start editing I had to watch almost all of the clips to be able to sort and pick out the clips I liked best. Then once I did that I was able to edit them together and pick and add different sounds until I reached my goal. Overall my experience was well I would say I need more practice because some parts were frustrating.

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Some challenges I faced throughout the process of making the video were editing problems because some times I would try to add a clip in the middle of two clips I already had, and it would delete my work or mess up sound in my work ruining my process and making me start again. Also some successes that I am proud of is the way it turned out. To me it wasn't perfect but it was still good for my first time. And also there are some transitions in between clips which I am also proud of because they were pretty smooth transitions instead of harsh transitions.

I learned that video editing isn't as easy as it seems and that there is a lot of thought and work put behind every scene or video to make everything look cohesive. I also learned how to use adobe premium, I am no expert but at least I know the basic steps, how to edit video and sound together, and hoe to add sitting or text. in a clip. In all, I learned a lot during this assignment/practice.

Some important takeaways that I will try to apply before I start is to watch all the videos thoroughly because sometimes I miss parts that I wanted to apply and adding them in can be annoying and frustrating. I will also try to be more organized because I would get an idea and skip ahead to that pat instead of focusing on the task at hand.

This will help with my portfolio assignment since I am planning to do the  2 minute movie entrance. So these skills will come in handy because when it is time to start editing my clips together and adding in any sound or video I will have a general knowledge to be able to bring my vision to life.

Final Clip of The Pineapple whip Assignment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc8qyIYr3Fs