When We Will Film Again

       As stated in my previous blog we will not be filming during break. However, what we consider to be part of the break is technically not the whole break. The weekend before school starts is technically part of the break but we don't really consider it because we have weekends off regardless. I clarify this because we will be filming the Sunday before school starts again January 3rd. I didn't want there to be any confusion because of my last blog. There was a lot of thought when we picked this date. Many of the reasons we chose this date have been explained in my previous blog. A lot of holidays happen during this break which would cause many schedule conflicts. Parents want their kids home to celebrate with family. Also, many parents work and will be unable to provide transportation during this time. We also felt a break was needed during these hectic times. We were initially considering two options, film the weekend before break ends or the weekend after. We decided the weekend before. While a break from school was needed these are also good opportunities to get ahead in school. We thought it would be better to utilize this time towards the end of break. Also, we still have time to film but would rather get filming done sooner than later. This gives us time for editing and re-filming. There are also reasons as to why our filming date is Sunday and not Saturday. Last time showed us that Sunday works better for the majority of our actors. Many of us have plans that can pop up on Saturdays like work or family events that we don't get much prior notice about. These events don't happen a lot on Sundays so there is more certainty on the availability of our actors. Also, Saturday is very close to New Years and we wanted to give our actors a little space for celebration and relaxation. This will be my last blog of 2020 so happy New Years I hope 2021 will be a better year.

Why We Aren't Filming Over Break

    We are not filming over break. There are many reasons as to why we will not be filming. One main reason is simply because it is break. Breaks are important in life especially pertaining to school work. In order to produce our best work we need to take some time off for ourselves. School is stressful enough in normal conditions but we now have the added on stressor of being in a pandemic. We realize our mental health is important and taking a break is important. Also, this is not just any break but winter break. Many important holidays take place during this break making it difficult to plan filming in the first place. People want to spend quality time with their families and so do we. Spending time with family is important and we would not want to put our actors in the position to chose us or family. Even if our actors did want to film their parents would most likely say no. This is because their parents would probably want them to stay home and celebrate. We understand how important religion is to many and would not want to put our project in the way of people's celebrations. Also, many people's parents still work during this break. Not all adults have two weeks off like us and instead have two or three days off. This would also cause problems when planning to film. Our actors would have to gain permission to go somewhere while their parents were at work. Also, our actors do not have their own cars so they would have to find their own means of transportation. This would mean a parent would have to get off work to take them, they would have to pay for an Uber, or take a bus. We don't want to inconvenience our actors or their parents so it would just be easier to film after break or the weekend right before it ends.

Editing

            We decided to look over the footage we have so far and start editing. Since we are not at school in person and it is break we had to edit over facetime. One of our members has the actual footage and the other member gives their input over facetime. While discussing we realized that the footage was too long. The dialogue was unable to be edited down without the quality also going down. This is because the dialogue was continuous and flowed together so editing it would make it choppy. We then had to make a decision of whether or not to refilm or try our best to edit. Since we still need to film other scenes we thought it was best to just refilm. Since the reason we are re-filming is because of the dialogue running long we will also be editing our script. The scene we are re-filming and changing the dialogue for is the pool scene. We are going to try and make the dialogue shorter while still keeping it realistic and funny. The scene is important because it leads us to the Dairy Queen scene which is the climax and resolution of our film. This also caused us to think about how we will transition between scenes. For the Dairy Queen and pool scene transition we plan to have it cut straight to the next one for comedic effect. For the sidewalk scene to pool scene we have something different in mind. We plan to have the girls walk into the camera, have the screen cut to black, and then cut to the pool scene. For the phone call to pool scene we have two different ideas. One of our ideas is a fade to black and a fade into the sidewalk scene. The other is basically the same thing only with the end of the phone call still going on. This is because the two friends hang up on the main character in the middle of her sentence. We are thinking having the end go on as the screen is black would add to the comedic effect but we are still unsure.

First Scene of Our Short FIlm

       The first scene of our short film is a three way facetime call. The three main best friends of the film are all in this call. Each of the girls is supposed to be in her own house because they are calling each other while getting ready for school. It has been a little tricky to plan how we are going to film this scene. Originally, we decided to have our actors film this on their own. We would share the script with them and have them record themselves reading their lines. Then, we would edit the footage we received from them into a three way split screen. The split screen would represent the facetime call. When we initially planned this, we knew it would be tricky. After filming though, we realized it might be harder than we thought. During filming our actors did not read the script word for word and somewhat fed off of each other. This would make them filming separately alone a little difficult. Our actors would benefit from filming together because the atmosphere is different with other people. Filming alone could make our actors uncomfortable and awkward which is not what we are going for with this scene. The scene is supposed to be fun and natural so we wouldn't want any stiffness. Due to these reasons we decided to think of another way to film this scene. Then we decided next time we film we will film this scene at our group members house. Since the actors will all be there anyways we will just film then. We will film in different areas of our group members house to make it seem like the characters are in different houses when in reality it is just our one group member's house. This also makes it quicker since we won't have to wait for our actors to film and send us the footage for the scene. We feel these new plans will benefit everyone and make filming go smoother.

Script Changes

    After filming we decided to reread our script. This was because our actors did not follow the script exactly. We wondered whether we should change the dialogue to exactly what our actors said during filming. We decided to leave this scene's dialogue alone until we start editing because we may end up re-filming the scene. We also reread our script because of the feedback we received from our actors. They told us the dialogue in the scene we were filming sounded a bit unnatural and this caused us to reflect on our script as a whole. After going over the first scene our group agreed we could do better. Certain jokes were hard to understand so we changed them to cater towards our target audience. Our audience is teenagers and more specifically LGBT+  teenagers. As teenagers ourselves we thought from the audience's perspective and that helped us. Our new dialogue is much funnier and natural. Teens can relate to these conversations as they are like the ones they themselves have. Apart from dialogue we also had to change other aspects of our scripts. One scene is set at a Diary Queen and involves all of our actors. Our group decided we should cut some characters from the scene for convenience. The more people in scenes the harder it is to plan them and this scene is very important. We also realized not everyone needs to be in the scene so it would not be hard to write these characters out. Instead of the three main best friends all being there we are just keeping the main character in the scene. The actors who play the best friends of the main character have tight schedules and are less likely to make it to filming than the other actors. This was another reason that prompted us to cut the two best friends out.  

Filming

      On December 12th we filmed one scene for our short film. We started filming at 11 in the morning. We got ready at our group member's house and filmed at her pool. Originally we were going to film a couple scenes, but unfortunately we could not. The other actors were unable to make it to film so we decided to just film one scene. This scene was originally set in the living room of our group member's house. We decided to change locations out of convenience and keep the dialogue the same. During filming though, the actors gave us input to help the dialogue sound more realistic. This caused us to change the script a little. We still kept the overall theme of our movie though. The actors read their lines and understood what we the scene was about. Then, they took that concept and added their own twist to make the dialogue more realistic. We appreciated this input because we want our movie to be as good as possible. We also felt though, that they didn't understand why the script wasn't as in depth. The dialogue had to be somewhat rushed and unrealistic because the film is so short. Since the actors made the dialogue more realistic the scene was longer than we expected. When editing we will probably cut it down or refilm if we have too. Also, the scene included the main characters doing homework, but we forgot to bring the supplies. To improvise we instead used pages of the actual script and a random pen to replace homework papers. Filming went well overall and we all had a lot of fun.

Cast Updates

           As stated in our previous blogs we have changed the filming date to Saturday, December 12th. Close to filming day we had a drastic change in our cast. We had first planned for about six people to show up to film. Unfortunately, our main actress who could not attend before also could not attend on the 12th. Then our side actors said it was not probable he would be able to attend either. We were sure our other side actor would be able to make it. We decided to plan that the two would not make it and we would work with our side actor who could make it. For this new plan we would have to change the script to accommodate the two actors being unable to attend. Sadly, we were very busy this week with other classes since midterms are coming up. This caused us to be unable to make changes for the script before filming so we planed to go off script and change it after filming. Another problem arised though, which made our filming plans do a total 180. Our side cast member mixed up the days and said he could attend because he thought filming was on Sunday. Since filming was not on Sunday he was unable to attend and was the only male cast member we had. We have two male characters so it would be harder to film their scenes. We, as a last resort, thought we could just have our remaining female actors dress up as the male characters by wearing hoodies and putting their hair a certain way. Our main actor also informed us they would be unable to come. We had planned on them not coming though, so it wasn't as drastic as our only male actor not being able to come. Luckily we got confirmation from one of our original actors that they could make it. Our group, plus her, and one of our group members friend who was willing to help were going to be filming on the 12th. That would make four people instead of six people filming. We went into filming with high hopes and trust in our plans even if made last minute.

Change of Plans

   Unfortunately, we have run into many problems trying to film. Our original plan was to film December 5th on Saturday. This plan had to be changed because of multiple reasons. At first one of our main actors was unable to film on the 5th. We decided that we should try to find a replacement actor instead of rescheduling. The replacement we had in mind informed us she could also not film that day. Our next plan was just to write out one of the characters and continue on filming December 5th with the remaining cast. Then, we were randomly able to get in touch with one of our mutual friends who was possibly able to film on our planned day. We then changed our plan to fit in the new friend who could film. This new plan would cause the filming time to become earlier at 11am because the new cast member had to work and another cast member had practice. With this plan we would have to alter our script to fit in the new friend since they couldn't stay long enough to be in the ending scenes. We also would have to switch around which roles the actors would be playing. Unfortunately, another problem came up where one of our group members was informed late of a babysitting job she had to do. The job was scheduled at the same time and day of filming so ultimately filming would have to be rescheduled. Luckily this will give us more time to plan and earlier notice for our cast members to plan accordingly to filming. Also, the main cast member who could not film on the fifth could now possibly film on our new date. The new date we have chosen to film is exactly a week after on December 12th. We have been recently informed that one of our actors who played a smaller role could not come. Our friend who we though could replace another actor could potentially replace this actor if they are able to make it December 12th. We also have another extra person there to help with filming who could possibly act if needed. We are trying to keep the same positive mindset we had last time and hope this plan for filming will work out smoother than the last.

Filming over Thanksgiving Break

       We did not film over Thanksgiving break. This pandemic has taken a heavy toll on daily life and causes a lot of stress. School is extremely important but we acknowledged that we needed a break. Balancing school, a pandemic, and daily life in general is hard and hurtful to our mental health. Everyone needs a break especially in these hard times so we decided to not film over break. We planned beforehand so our not filming this week wouldn't negatively effect us in the future. We plan to film this weekend on December fifth or December sixth. If not this weekend most likely the weekend after. We most likely will be able to finish filming for the whole film in one weekend. That would be the most fortunate case as we would like to start and wrap up within the next two weeks. This is because midterms and winter break are coming up. Midterm week is stressful and so are the weeks leading up to it. We don't want to use up all of our actors' time and our own as well filming. We are not going to rush though, we will take our time with this film because we care about this project a lot. We have run into one problem over the break though. One of our main actors has informed us she cannot film with us. We have been searching for a replacement and have one person in mind who might be available. We are still waiting for confirmation and are trying to remain positive. If the person we have in mind ends up not being able to go we have a backup plan. Our backup plan would include getting rid of one of the side characters and having the actor who was going to play them play the main role. We are confident things will go smoothly and that we can adapt to the changes.

Soundtrack Ideas

 Since we have begun marketing and finished our screenplay and storyboard we have begun thinking about which music we want to have in our movie. The move is very romantic and has comedic elements too, so we want a score that represents that. We want to use copyright free music too. This will make certain things easier than using copyrighted music. For example, we don't have to wait for an artist or a label to respond to us. With copyright free music we can immediately put the music in our film. However, there are other aspects that are more difficult with copyright free music. For example, finding the music in the first place is difficult but also finding music that fits with the tone of our movie is even harder. We do have experience from previous project though. For our end of the year project last year in AICE Media AS we had to find uncopyrighted music. From this project we even found a song we might include in this project. We were thinking of including multiple songs in our short film. By doing this we hope to make our movie more memorable and the mood more impactful. For the happier scenes we were thinking of fun pop songs. For the funnier scenes, usually banter, we might put overly dramatic music to emphasize the banter is ridiculous. For the more serous scenes maybe a more mellow pop or R&B. For the romantic scenes we were thinking of songs that evoke happiness and peace in the listener. We don't really have a genre in mind for those scenes as we think the mood is more important than genre. We would prefer the songs to contain singing to make the meaning more clear. However, we understand that with many copyright free songs there is hardly any vocals if any at all. We hope to find music that is fitting for our movie and believe our score will be beautiful.

Marketing

       

For our film Misunderstandings we had to create a marketing strategy in order to reach the public. We had to do many things. First we created a website. In order to do this we used a website named wix.com. We had many themes to choose from and it was really fun to make the website. After getting the base for our website down we decided to make social media accounts. One member made the YouTube and Instagram. The other member made the Twitter and Facebook. We used the same profile pics and headers to create a cohesive brand throughout our social medias. We then had to add the other important facts to our website. For the pictures we had to google things since we haven't started filming yet. We used pictures we thought represented love and happiness as we hope our movie portrays that as well. We then had to insert the pictures and roles for our cast & crew. We asked in advanced to make sure our actors had their headshots for the website ready. We also had to figure our release dates and where the movie would be premiering. We also had to make our own movie reviews. This was a little difficult since the google results for movie reviews is mostly kids worksheets. Finally we found a blank picture and was able to edit our own movie reviews onto it. We also had to write a synopsis of the film and film festivals it had already been shown at. Overall this was a really cool experience and we are very proud of our website.

Storyboard for Short Film

      We finished the storyboard for our short film. We were able to get a better picture of what our film will look like. Since we are in quarantine we did this short film together over the phone. One group member printed and drew half the pages while the other was on the phone helping and giving feedback. Then, the member who was giving feedback printed the other half and did the drawing while the previous drawer gives feedback. The storyboard also helped us if the weather is not our friend the days we film. Umbrellas easily fit into the film since high schoolers often go to school even in the rain, so we will just film in the rain. The beginning of our storyboard shows Alicia, the main character, getting up and looking through her closet. These first squares show the layout of her room and how her bed, dresser, and closet are all right next to each other. Then when Alicia's friends call her we at first see a split screen between her and Audrey. In the screenplay it is written differently but we decided to go a different way where Gen would not enter the split screen until she starts talking. We thought this change would emphasize the joke she makes and make the characters more memorable since they are not all introduced at once. They end the call and in the storyboard the screen goes black. In the screenplay this is not clearly written as it just says the call ends. We decided we should have the screen go black and then transition into the next scene. We thought this would make the next scene more dramatic and that's what we wanted. These girls are supposed to be fashionable and have all the attention on them so we thought the transition from a black screen to this next scene would emphasize that. In this scene the girls also meet Eric and Willow. These two groups banter back and forth and we decided it should be filmed in a way so that the audience can feel the comebacks. We thought close ups could accomplish that because then it feels as if the little quips and comebacks are being said directly to the audience. Also, there is a close up that shows Alicia in front making a remark while Gen and Audrey are behind her. This represents the power structure in the friend group with Alicia being on top. We put a lot of thought behind this storyboard and are glad we were able to get a clearer picture of our short film.

Planning Blog for Short FIlm

             We are planning on beginning the filming process for our short film December 5th. This date may be subject to change, but it is what we are planning on as of right now. We can get all the filming done in a day but if not we can finish December 6th or the following weekend. We have multiple filming locations. The first locations are three bedrooms. These can be filmed at the same time since it is the actor's individual rooms so they can film themselves saying their lines. The second location will be a sidewalk. This sidewalk is located near one of our group member's house. The third location is Dairy Queen located near Fort Lauderdale High School. We have six participants including the group members since we have six roles in our short film. Since Covid-19 is still severely affecting Florida we will try to be as cautious as possible. Most participants don't leave their houses a lot unless for school and none of them go to large social gatherings. The first scene is relatively safe since each actor can film themselves in their own house. The other scenes will still be safe to film since we will most likely be the only ones their and our group is only six people. These locations are also outside in open space so we don't have to be close to each other besides filming. We will also wear masks when not filming. Our props include skateboards, telephones, food, clothes, and backpacks. The costumes will have two opposite aesthetics. The three main friends wear more traditionally feminine clothes consisting of soft pinks, blues, purples, yellows, and greens. While the main groups rivals the "skater" kids wear baggy clothes or jeans consisting of darker colors like black. We are excited to start filming and have high expectations for our film.

Short Film vs Feature Length Film

     I watched both the short film and feature film 9. The short film was seven minutes while the feature film was one hour and twenty minutes long. The short film and feature film were very different but contained the same core elements mostly. The first big difference was that there was dialogue in the feature film. The short film contained no dialogue at all. Another difference was that instead of it being 5 who was attacked by the spider robot it was 2. Also in the short film the small spider robot had taken the souls instead of the main big robot. The feature film had much longer to further develop its plot and characters. In the short film it is not explained where the rag dolls come from or what exactly happened when 5's soul got snatched. In the feature film it is explained why the rag dolls are made and what happened to the world. The feature film also developed the characters more. In the short film we did not get to know 5 and 9's backstory or their personality traits. In the feature film we know how the characters met and what they are like. 2 is very smart and a skilled inventor. 9 is very righteous. 3 and 4 are very organized and curious. 7 is very tough and nice. 1 is selfish and blunt. 8 is somewhat of a bully and always agrees with 1. 6 is very artistic and knowledgeable. 5 is very smart and a scaredy-cat. The short film also did not give us any of the other rag dolls only 5 and 9. Personally I preferred the short film because it gave a more eerie and mysterious mood. I still enjoyed both films and think the plot and characters are very unique.

Research 9, The Feature Film

    Today I watched the film 9. The feature film 9 is based of the short film with the same name. I watched the short film yesterday. The feature film 9 is about one hour and twenty minutes long. The plot revolves around a group of 9 rag doll robots. The main character is 9. He was the last rag doll robot built. When 9 awakes he soon finds another rag doll robot named 2. 2 is taken away when they are both attacked by a spider robot. 9 gets hurt and is rescued by 5 who is also a rag doll robot. 5 brings 9 to where the rest of the ragdolls are living. 9 and 5 decide to go and find 2 despite the leader rag doll 1 telling them not to. When 9 and 5 find 2 they meet 7 who saved them. Soon after 2 is found he ends up getting his soul snatched by a machine that 9 fixed. 9,5, and 7 end up running away from the machine and go to a library to find answers. At the library dolls 3 and 4 help the rest find out what the machine is. 5 and 9 end up going back to where the others are while 7,3 and 4 refuse. 9 sees what 6, another ragdoll, is drawing. It turns out to be a key to the mystery of the machine but an argument breaks out over the machine. 1 and 8, who is basically 1's bodyguard, oppose to going back but the fight is interrupted by a monster. 7 comes along to save them but it ends up being 5,3 and 4 who end up rescuing everyone. After finding new shelter and getting attacked one again everyone goes back to where the machine lives to destroy it. 8 and 6 end up getting their souls snatched. This is when we find out their souls are in the machine. In order to save them 9 takes a piece of the machine as it snatches 1's soul. 9,7,3 and 4 end up releasing their souls into the sky to free them. The sound in the movie is good and I really enjoyed the diegetic sound. The voice acting and animation was also quite good. Overall I thought the movie was okay but it is not really my style.

Research 9, The Short

  Today I watched the short film 9. This is a seven minute animated short film. I really enjoyed this short film. The characters were really unique. I liked the rag doll appearance of some and the robotic appearance of others. The setting was also very 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 sound and lack thereof helped 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 on its back. The mentor/friend seems to have saved 9 and died by the hands of a spider like robot. 9 seems to have grown up and faces a spider again. 9 survives this incident and is seen putting two pieces of something together. One of these pieces is something 5 had given to 9. The pieces drop on the floor and begin to show a bunch of holographs with the same appearance of 9 but with different numbers on their backs. One of them is 5 and the short film ends. The ending confused me a bit but overall I liked this short film a lot. 

Genre Choice for Film

      We have researched 3 genres for our film. Our genres were romance, comedy and coming-of-age. Out of these three choices, we have decided to do a romance genre with comedic elements. We decided on romance because our main plot point revolves around 2 girls falling in love. Therefore, we decided romance was the best fit for our film over coming-of-age and comedy. We decided to add comedic elements because we wanted the movie to be light-hearted. We had more of a liking toward romance aside from our research also. The genre is very versatile, so they're many roads you can take with the a romance film. We really liked the freedom the versatility provided us with. This freedom is also why we added comedic elements to our film. We have grown up watching numerous rom-coms. When we've pictured our film, we didn't think of our film being dramatic. We wanted the romance to be more happier instead of a sad and intense film. We were also inspired to add comedic elements because of our own personal lives. Our interactions with our own friends are more humorous than serious. Average teenagers are more easy going than they have been portrayed in recent media. Many TV Shows and/or movies, like to have teens act like adults. However, teens still are kids and like to banter with their friends. We don't need to modify our pitch because we've already corrected our mistake. We are very happy with the genre we decided for our film and are excited to film.

Genre Research: Coming-of-age

        Our last genre we researched is coming-of-age. Famous coming-of-age examples are Eighth Grade and Little Women. There are not a lot of angles used, but there are some high angles every now and then in this genre. There's not much camera movements, however, they would mostly be tracking and zooms shots. The different camera shots used are establishing shots, wide shots, two-shots, close-ups, eye-level shots, medium shots and point of view shots. The sound is mainly diegetic, non-diegetic and dialogue. There's also voice-overs, ambient sound, and a soundtrack of happy upbeat songs and slow sad ones. Costumes are normally everyday clothing and something a teen or young adult would usually wear. Lighting is usually natural or bright for the happier scenes while dark and neon for the sadder ones. Actors in this genre are mainly Caucasians. Fortunately, the media is starting to diversify the actors/characters in this genre. There is normally minimal to no makeup used on the characters. Makeup is usually used to show an emotion like crying or injury. Props are mostly personal items like a phone, skateboard, notebook, etc. Settings are predominately high schools or homes. Editing in these movies consists of cutaways, shot reverse shots, eye-line matches, reactions shots, and jump cuts.We liked that coming-of-age movies are ones that everyone especially teens can relate with. We didn't like that some of the characters' problems seemed vain and that these movies are not diverse; usually only having one person of color or one gay person throughout the whole movie.

Genre Research: Comedy

       The second genre we researched is comedy. Some examples of comedy films are Ghostbusters and Jumanji. Common shots in comedy are usually close up, mid-shot, long shot, two shot and over the shoulder. There isn't much camera angles used in comedy, they're normally shot at eye level. Common camera movements are pan, track and zoom shots. The sound in comedies are diegetic, non-diegetic, ambient, score, dialogue, sound motif and incidental music. The costumes depends on the plot of the movie and can range from normal clothes, uniform and costumes. Lighting is normally bright or mainly directed towards the speaker(s) in the scene. Actors are normally adults but sometimes there are teens or kids incorporated. Many of these comedians are Caucasian, but there has been more diversity in the recent decades. The makeup also depends on the plot but it's normally natural or something that goes with the costumes. Props can be anything ranging from furniture to food or even stores. Setting can be anywhere like a park or a restaurant. Common editing are shot reverse shot, eye-line match, action match and cross cutting. We like comedy movies because the jokes match our humorous personality. However, some of the jokes can be offensive to minority groups which we don't support because we believe in equality.

Genre Research: Romance

          One of the genres we are researching is romance. Examples of romance would be the Twilight series or the movie Your Name. Two-shots, over the shoulder shots and mid-shots are the main shots used in romance movies. Tracking shots would also be used when the character walks  to or runs away from their love interest. Pans would also be used during romance movies. The camera is normally angled at the same level as the subject, there isn't really a high or low angle used. Most actors in romance movies would normally wear everyday clothes as costumes, or dress for the occasion they're attending. The lighting depends on the scene. If there's a dance it would have darker lighting than if it was a brunch date. The actors could vary to anyone, but the main actors in most films are Caucasian. Makeup is normally used for special occasions the characters attend. Common props could be anything from keys or a phone to a cake or a car. The setting also depends on the scene, it can be anything from a castle to a sketchy ally way. There are a lot of shot-reverse shots and an eye-line match to capture the characters' dialogue and some cross-cutting to show what events are about to happen. The main sound in romance is the dialogue but there's also ambient sound and score. Elements of the genre we liked were the versatility and the feel good effect. Romance is very versatile in the way love is portrayed whether through tragedy, happiness, etc. There is also a feel good effect that romance has when the couple is together and happy that makes the viewer feel happy. We disliked the lack of diversity in romance movies as many of them are heterosexual with white leads. We also disliked how many romance movies follow the trope of falling in love with someone who bullied you or did bad things to you. We think that arc is somewhat toxic because many of these bullies/ bad people do not have a good redemption arc all that happens is they apologize once if at all and the main character falls for them or stays with them.

Genres I Would Like to Research

      For the movie my group and I will be filming soon we have to pick a genre. There are three genres we decided to research. The first genre is romance. The second genre is comedy. The third genre is coming-of-age. We felt these genres would be potentially the best fit for our movie. Our movie's main plot revolves around a girl who likes another girl. This is why we chose to research romance. Also, when planning this movie we didn't want the mood to be heavy we wanted it light and comedic. This is where we got the idea to research comedy. Our movie is also set in high school which is where coming-of-age movies are primarily placed. That is why we decided to research coming-of-age. These genres not only go with our pitch but we also have interest in these genres aside from that. Coming-of-age movies especially have an impact on us since we are high school students. There also many romantic and comedic elements in coming-of-age movies. This also influenced our chosen genres to research. We have seen many romance, comedy, and coming-of-age movies that are set in high school. This will give us experience and a feel for what our movie will be like. We are excited to research these genres. Since we have watched so many of these movies casually it is nice to analyze these genres. It's fun to see what makes that genre so nice to watch. 

The Pitch

 A movie that is based in high school and is about a popular girl interested in a skater girl who has a boyfriend.

My Group

      For AICE media a level I have been assigned to create a five minute short film. For this project I am allowed to work with up to four people in a group. Fortunately, I happen to know someone in AICE media a level. She is a close friend of mine. I have even mentioned her on this blog before. Her name is Audrey and we have worked together many times before. Deciding to work together was an easy decision. We decided to have just us two working together for a couple of reasons. We didn't really know anyone else in the class. We also like working with less people in a group. In a bigger group sometimes, work doesn't get divided as evenly or people don't take the project seriously. Since we have worked together in the past and are friends we know how to work well together and get the job done. When we previously worked together we had the same class period. This made group projects and communication much easier. This year we have different periods which means communication during school hours is more limited. There is also the other complication that is COVID- 19. We are currently doing online school so we can't meet up face to face as often. Fortunately, we do have each others numbers so we can communicate through text, email, and phone calls. Also, we have met outside of school many times before so our parents will be more open to letting us meet for the project even with Corona-virus. I am very excited for this project and the ability to work with my friend.

Welcome Back!!

     Welcome back to my blog it's been a while. In case you forgot my name is Alicia and I am an AICE media student. When I last blogged I was in the last quarter of 9th grade. I am now in my first quarter of 10th grade. I have moved up from as media to a level media. When I last blogged I had high hopes that I could come back to school in person. Sadly, we are still in quarantine doing online school. Hopefully we can go back in person soon. It has been a little hard to do school online because working in a classroom motivates me more than working at home. Many of my classes are also easier to work in-person in terms of the subject such as AICE media and sociology. These classes involve a lot of interaction whether it be with peers or the teacher. There are some benefits to online school though. School starts later which is nice since I would usually have to wake up at 5 in the morning and hurry to catch my bus before it leaves. Another benefit is during study hall I can grab a snack and relax if I don't have work instead of sitting in a classroom hungry. Online school also gives me the flexibility to watch my new puppy because she still needs a little more house training before she can be left alone roaming the house. Quarantine in general has also brought some good things. I was able to do more protective styles on my hair such as braids and twists. These styles helped make my hair healthier and grow longer so I am glad I got the time to do this. I also got a new pair of roller skates so I have more time to practice. I can only go forward but I think I am close to mastering the ability to turn around. Even with the hurdles that come with quarantine I have still been able to keep up with my school work and I hope to keep this momentum throughout the rest of the school year. Once again welcome back to my blog and welcome to my journey throughout AICE media a level. 

Audience and Institution Practice Essay

In relation to the media area you have studied, discuss the ways audience consumption has changed over time. 

Audience consumption has changed immensely over time. Technology is always evolving and changing the world which includes media. Audiences went from physically having to go to movie theaters to being able to find it on their computer right at home.  

Audiences started out watching short films that would hardly be considered movies nowadays in the late 1800s. The invention of the kinetograph by Thomas Edison showed short film sequences that audiences could view in a variety of places such as hotel lobbies, amusement parks, and penny arcades for 25 cents. With the invention of the Cinématographe though, audiences moved to theaters to watch these longer films. The first commercial screening was Rue des Capucines shown with the Cinématographe in Paris. In the early 1900s poorer audiences moved to store fronts to pay the low price of 5 cents to watch nickelodeons. Movies were losing popularity as radio became more popular for consumers. The use of pans, tilts, and other angles was not as exciting as hearing people talk. This forced movies to evolve and include sound which brought audiences back to theaters in the late 1920s. Throughout the 1930s-1940s Americans were watching movies in theaters more than ever. This ended in the 50s when people could now watch movies in their home on their TVs. Then in the 60s movies such as A Space Odyssey (1968) appealed to the younger demographic and caused them to become avid consumers of movies. The age before smart phones and computers gained control of how audiences consumed movies still had many changes going from outside of hotels to inside people's homes. 

The age of streaming services is a drastic change from VCR and theaters. Before streaming services and after VCR was Blockbuster. The company started in the mid 1980s and peaked in the 90s and early 2000s. The rental company was the main way audiences were consuming movies that had already left theaters. Blockbuster was widely popular but started going downhill as it made changes which ended in Blockbuster filing for bankruptcy in 2010. While Blockbuster was in the midst of a great fall Netflix was rising in popularity. Netflix was now the main way to watch movies and was completely online. In 2007 Netflix started its streaming services and in 2008 abandoned DVDs. This changed the way audiences consumed media massively. Around the time Netflix switched to streaming, platforms like Hulu and YouTube were just starting out. Hulu is also another popular streaming service that is a competitor to Netflix. YouTube is not really seen as a competitor in streaming because it is mainly a platform to upload and watch videos and not movies. In late 2019 a new streaming service Disney+ was created that is a big competitor of Netflix despite it only recently being created. Audiences used to be able to watch some Disney content on Netflix, but it has all been taken away and put onto Disney’s streaming service. As recently Netflix has cancelled popular shows and come out with what some consider bad original content people are considering moving to other services like Hulu and Disney+. The age of streaming is still not over but it is still evolving to keep audience’s attention and subscriptions. 

There are many benefits and downsides to how media has been consumed over the years. Movies were viewed in theaters which was nice in the way audiences could go and hang out with their friends and people who were also interested in the movie. It had its downsides because after the movie was finished in theaters in the early days there was no way to watch it again. Also, audiences had to go all the way to the movie theater and spend more money if they wanted to rewatch a movie they liked. As consuming media evolved these problems were fixed. Rental services like Blockbuster allowed people to rent movies even if they were no longer in theaters. The problem with these services were the late fees that would pile up if you did not return the movie on time. As online streaming grew this was no longer a problem because you did not have to physically return it. Now with streaming audiences could watch movies anywhere and how many times they wanted for how long they wanted. The downside of streaming is if the internet in an area is bad the movies will play in bad quality or not at all. The benefits far outweigh the downsides in my opinion as watching movies has become faster and easier than ever before. 

Audience’s consumption has changed in many ways, but it is needed to keep the interest in movies alive. Movie makers are constantly looking for ways to woo the audience and hold their attention captive. This pushes for innovation in how people watch movies and continue to watch them. Services will constantly try to push forward and create better methods for audiences to consume media.