Genre Research: Joker (2019)

          There are several different camera angles and shots used throughout the movie. For discussions between two characters, the film mainly used shot/reverse shot to capture each of the characters' emotions and dialogue. One of the character's shoulders would block half the screen so that the main focus of the shot is on the other character's face. The film usually stays at an eye-level angle. This is used to immerse the audience, make them feel like they are a citizen of Gotham. Unlike other movies where they use a drone to establish a location, the film uses a pan at eye-level looking up at the location. Almost as if the viewer was there themselves and turned their necks to get a better view. There is one scene in the film where Arthur Fleck dances with his mother in the living room. It is a two-shot filmed from the kitchen of the apartment. The camera is handheld and moves a bit to make the audience feel like they are just witnesses of what is happening from the inside of their home.

          The camera moves a whole lot in this movie. The only time it is not moving, is when characters are talking to each other. There is one scene where Arthur and his mother are having an argument and you really feel like you are there. The camera is placed a little under eye-level so its as if you are looking through the eyes of a child. The camera follows Arthur's mother to her room where she screams and then shuts the door on the camera. Then the camera turns and faces Arthur when he bangs on the door really loudly. Arthur then walks away from the door and the whole time the camera follows his movements. Another scene happens where Arthur chases a couple of kids that stole his sign. The camera appears to be on top of a car as it follows both Arthur and the kids. The camera then comes to a complete stop when the kids head into an alleyway.

          The score for this movie was really good. Some pieces that happen during emotional moments will stick with me forever. The cello on the piece "Call me Joker" really hits home the disturbing feel of this movie. Also, the lack of any music during some pretty tense moments really builds suspense. When Arthur's co-workers pay him a visit, it becomes really suspenseful because of the lack of any background sound.

         Editing is used to full effect in this movie. Some scenes would transition into other scenes using a multitude of transitions. Sometimes, the film would use a swipe using a car for example. When Arthur found out he was adopted, it turned into a flashback of what really happened to his mother. And fast shots scanning headlines of what his mother and her boyfriend did to him were used to really emphasize the scale of the trauma. The editing combined with Arthur's uncontrollable laughter is used to make the audience feel sympathetic towards Arthur.
          Elements of Joker I enjoyed were the amazing acting and the story. Joaquin Phoenix did a great job with the character Arthur Fleck. Even after all the bad things he does, you can't help but feel sorry for the guy. Also, his laugh is haunting. I can still hear in my head while I am writing this. There were only a couple of elements of Joker I disliked. Some scenes were a bit ham-fisted. For example, the scene revealing that Arthur's relationship with Sophia was a delusion was a bit much. I would have liked it if it just ended at, "Why are you in my home?"

Genre Research: Kidnap (2017)

        There is a multitude of angles, movements, and shots in this feature film. Considering that many movies use a lot because they are very long in time length. I have seen establishing shots of where scenes will take place, and especially close-ups of character's faces to get their reactions. Two and three-shots are involved in the beginning, however, progressing more into the plot, there are extreme closeups of many objects, including the eyes of the mother, who is in panic and in tears. Some movements in this thriller would be rapid camera motions, such as flash pans when the mother is trying to look for her son. In order to make most of the scenes intense, there are tracking shots of the mom chasing the kidnapper and trying to retrieve her son. For more than half of the movie, the main character is pursuing to catch the child abductor in her car. Aerial shots of this chase are displayed in order to show what is happening on the highway from a different perspective.

        Costumes are ordinary, casual clothing for the mom and other people in a public setting; kidnappers are in sketchy outfits, for example, hoodie and sunglasses, trying to conceal who they are. For most of the movie, there is natural lighting, but at the point where the mom finally finds her child, it is at night, in low to no light. At some point in the film, there is dim light when the cars go into a tunnel. The setting is in a small town but later turned into a car chase on the highway to a location ending up in the woods. Weapons, phones, even a toy that records sound are used as props in the movie.

        Moving into sound, the producers added incidental sound to go along with the mood portrayed in the scenes. The music is very intense, making the audience be at "the edge of their seats." The diegetic sound is very unique because only certain sounds become louder as the scenes are becoming more intense. When she is driving and gets into a crash, the scene goes silent since she is in shock. Dialogue appears throughout the whole movie as well. For editing, flashbacks are included, such as a montage of the son and pictures of his childhood. Related to the flashback would be when the mother is listening to the conversation of the kidnapper and her son (before kidnapping takes place), and it keeps crosscutting from the conversation to her listening to it on the device. There are eye-line matches of the main character searching for something in her surroundings, then it cuts to the next clip of what she is looking at.
    Thrillers are described based on the moods they elicit, which would usually cause heightened feelings, such as excitement, suspense, and anticipation/anxiety. With the movie 'Kidnap,' it invokes anticipation during the entire movie. Most likely causes a "rollercoaster of emotions" to the audience by incorporating as many camera movements possible to confuse, and sound to make scenes dramatically intense. Some elements that appealed would be the situations that the mother would run into, in order to keep the movie interesting, and leaving the audience to overwhelmed as to what will happen next. The action in this movie is very entertaining because it portrays how a mom will not stop at anything in order to get her child back, safe and sound. The only element that was not favored in this film was how long the chase took in order to find her son. The rising action was when she finally stopped the chase, but in order to really get her son back, the mother had to keep looking for the location her son was at. The climax was when she finally found him and other children, and how she would be able to escape safely.

The genre we picked is...

          Horror and Thriller were the final contenders to choose between from. The genre that my group and I finally agreed on was Thriller. The reason behind it was because we enjoyed the pitch about a kidnapping movie, and these types of movies are mainly under this genre. Most of our favorite movies are thrillers and contain a lot of action, so we were excited to continue our research upon them. We also had to acknowledge that it would be pretty hard to record the opening scenes for a horror movie, without knowing what a good pitch would be. With a thriller, you can begin the movie with anything, such as background information, or present the characters directly. Like previously mentioned, the group will be researching more about this genre, and how some movies lead up to their climaxes and entertain audiences.

Additional Genre Research: Horror and Thriller

Horror

Thriller

          Common camera movements and angles used in this movie genre are pans, zooms, tilts, tracking shots, and every angle possible. If the situation is intense, the angle will be at eye-level and will zoom in on the character's reaction. High angles are also used to catch everything that is happening, and to make the subject look inferior to whatever it is looking upon. Canted angles can sometimes be incorporated to confuse viewers. Common shots that are used in these films are closeups, extreme closeups and long shots, and handheld shots. Sometimes, handheld shots while running away from something causes more anticipation with scenes, that way the audience is more entertained. Whoever is watching would not know if they can get away, or get to where the character is going in time, since there is so much camera movement.

          Lighting that is commonly found in thriller movies is low because the darker it looks, it evokes a more sinister feeling. There is also the use of natural lighting, before and after movies, probably even throughout. The sound that is heard in thrillers would be diegetic, where characters hear whatever is in their surroundings, there is obviously dialogue and incidental sound. Incidental sound involves the feeling that a scene gives off, and the music to match with it. An example would be the killer looking for its victim and he is getting closer, so the music gets louder and scarier. 

          Costumes for thrillers all depend on the type of movie it is. When there is a plot of a killer or abductor, they will be dressed in something suspicious, especially to cover their faces, like a mask. Thrillers are usually situations that could happen in real life, where people would actually be nervous if it happened. Regular clothing would be worn, but if the actors get harmed in any way, their makeup and clothes will definitely show it. For example, getting hit in the face will lead to a bleeding lip or nose, or getting thrown out of a car causes your clothes to be torn up and dirty. Actors have to play their act fully, like being anxious and scared, but still fight for their life when they have been kidnapped. Locations could range from a small city to a large known state, like California, New York, or Florida. However, they sometimes take place partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts (snow too), and at sea.  

          Some elements that come from thrillers are when the movies create a suspenseful feeling to the audience, giving the anticipation of what is going to happen next. This usually happens when the plot is surrounding the idea of the character being placed in a dangerous situation or a trap that is impossible to escape. Audiences want to be entertained, kept on edge, surprised. Thriller movies fit these criteria exactly. It gives them a reason to continue watching the movie and to see what happens in the end. Although, elements that do not appeal could be how a movie can be too predictable. Examples of these predictable endings are when a person is being chased and are caught and killed, or have to escape. Alternatively, thriller movies can have very unexpected endings. These endings leave the audience in a shock or surprise that leaves an imprint on them, even after the movie has ended.

Dance Genre Research

Finalizing Our Ideas

          When my group and I were coming up with pitches it was really tough. We had to think about the circumstances and limiting factors that would not allow us to film certain things. For example, the location has to be correct once we start filming. If there was an idea of having a horror film in the middle of the woods, it would be easy for us to meet at a park. However, establishing the plot as to why the characters would be in the woods was what we found difficult. We did not finalize certain pitches until we all agreed on the ideas and the sentences were written officially. While brainstorming, writing down the sentences made it easier to visualize what we could film. One of the three pitches involved using a pool as the setting for most of the scenes. However, the context of the movie did not really sit well with one of the members. It reminded them of another cheesy movie they have watched and preferred to do an idea that was a thriller or romance. Our first pitch is about a teenage girl who is ready for her night out with friends, and she decides to hitch a ride with a complete stranger who offered. The second pitch involved the idea of a love story between a boy and a girl and his only interest was to get good grades from working with her.

           I believe that the first pitch would be good for the assignment because we have already discussed how some scenes will be recorded. The final clip would be the victim being taken away by the stranger. This way, it would leave the audience wondering what will happen next. New shots will be incorporated into the film, for example, close-ups and a pov shot, possibly. Editing would also be much easier, for example, cross-cutting will be involved because it will display the characters getting ready for their day. The young girl will be doing what a regular teenager does before she goes out, while the stalker will be getting his items ready for his new victim. The viewers will have an idea of what is going to occur for the rest of the movie, after realizing the mistake the girl made when she got into a car with someone who she does not even know. The film will be edited to evoke tension in between scenes and have the audience want to watch the rest of the movie.

           The second pitch does not really work with this assignment because we cannot film on our school campus. Also, the beginning needs to establish who the characters are and where the film will remotely take place. The conventions with this type of genre explain the background of the main character, and how he/she meets their love interests at school. The love interests can also be presented as the sweet jock or the intelligent class president. It would be difficult to do this without the setting at school and not having more friends to make the person seem popular. The topic of love can also be a little awkward because my group and I are just sophomores, and do not really find interest in recording scenes that will not have cringe-worthy energy.

           The thriller seems like the pitch that we have chosen for the journey of creating the final task. We all agree with the idea of having similar shots and being able to build a plot from the opening scene in a movie. We look forward to working together on a new topic and seeing how much we can accomplish in the next few months.

Start of the Final Task

          Greetings again! My name is Rafael and I am a sophomore in Fort Lauderdale High School. I am enrolled into the Cambridge AICE program to help ensure my "Bright Future." After high school, I wish to attend a prestigious college (University of Florida) and the AICE program will help me do just that. And even more in the future, I want to major in Microbiology and eventually work in a hospital as a Microbiologist. My strong suits in academics are Math and Science. Some of my weak points, however, are English and Social Studies. By taking this course, I wish to broaden my strengths and learn about film and the film making process. Also, I just find films entertaining. I want to know how my favorite films are made and what it takes to do such a task. How does someone start when put to the task of making a film?

          I have already learned many things in the first semester of this course. I learned about a wide variety of camera angles and how they are used. I learned about a wide range of cuts and what each one means to the audience. I learned about different types of sounds and why they are put in. This is just a tidbit of what knowledge I gained in the past 5 months. But one of the main things I learned to do is edit. This is also what I am most excited to do for the Final Task. The final task is the beginning minutes of a movie and my group members pretty much have their roles. Emily will be the camerawoman, Mariapaula and Darwin will be the main actors, and I will be the main editor (with a little bit of acting). I can't wait to work my editing magic on the film.

          The start of any good film are good ideas. Pitches are sentences used to describe a film in 25 words or less. Here are some pitches that my group and I came up with:

First pitch: Group of friends hanging out by the pool and two of the friends has swapped bodies after recovering the phone that has been dropped.

Second pitch: The life of a stalker who wishes he was normal, except his mental disability makes it hard for him not to fall in love with anyone and kidnaps them.Third pitch: A teen love story between a boy and a girl where there is believed they have mutual feelings, but the boy is really just using her for her smarts.

Below are some pictures of my group and I brainstorming these pitches: