Genre Research: American Honey

     American Honey is a coming-of-age movie about a girl from a bad neighborhood who lives to provide for her needs while she moves across the west. The camera angles were at the regular height of the actor most of the time, there were some scenes that were shot at a low angle. The main camera shots were two-shot, establishing shots and mid-shot. Most of the movie was following the main character and the struggles she deals with on her trip. The camera movement was tracking Star (the main character) and the interactions she encounters. A lot of jump cuts and eye-line matches were used to show what Star was doing. There are some scenes that fade out into the next scene to signify it's the next day. The sounds in the movie were dialogue, score, and ambient sound. The movie mainly showed what Star experienced in public areas like music playing at stores. The costumes worn were regular clothes you can buy anywhere. There wasn't really anything extravagant worn. All of the movie was filmed with natural lighting from outside or store and street lights. The actors were a diverse group of teens and young adults. The actors weren't really wearing makeup or it would be natural. The main places Star went to were different neighborhoods and most of the time she was being transported. We like the story of what an independent girl can do to fix her financial issues and finds herself through the process. We dislike the age gap because we think the concept of older adults shouldn't be hanging out with teens.

Genre Research:The Edge of Seventeen

     We watched and analyzed the coming-of-age movie The Edge of Seventeen about a teen whose life starts spiriling after her best friend starts dating her brother. The angles in this movie are mostly eye level, over the shoulder, point of view shots, close ups, medium close ups, or medium shots but there are some high and low angles sprinkled in. The camera movement consisted of pans, tilts, and many tracking shots. This movie had many of this genres conventional shots such as wide shots, establishing shots, two shots, three shots but also had some hand held shots. The costumes in this movie were everyday wear made up of jackets, long sleeve shirts, and skirts. The lighting was either dim or natural throughout the whole thing with a few scenes having neon lighting. The actors were Caucasian young adults who played the teens and Caucasian middle aged actors who played the adults. Makeup was never heavy it was mostly minimal to none. Props were things such as backpacks or phones. The settings were mostly school, a house, restaurants, or a car. Editing was mainly cut aways, shot-reverse-shots, eye-line matches, reaction shots, and jump cuts with fade ins and outs appearing once or twice. There was dialogue in the movie along with diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound, voiceovers, ambient sound, and music consisting of rock, pop, and melancholic songs. The elements of the movie were awkward moments, sarcasm, arguments, emotional scenes, and funny moments. We like that the movie was realistic and funny. We did not like that the movie tried to push the brother and best friend having a deep connection even though there are no scenes really showing the audience proof of that.

Genre Research: Choosing Our Genre

     The genre we decided to do was a coming-of-age movie. We like the concept of the character growing mentally and/or physically. We also decided to do this genre so we can implement political issues in the movie. We couldn't find a way to put that into a romance movie. We wanted the movie to be relatable to the audience. This genre is easier to film than a romance movie. We need fewer props and actors in the coming-of-age movie than the romance movie. 

Genre Research: Coming-of-age and Romance

     We researched the conventions of the genres coming-of-age and romance. Firstly, we researched coming-of-age. The camera angles generally used in this genre are close ups, eye level shots, medium shots and point of view shots. The camera movements used are mostly tracking shots and zooms. The shots used are establishing shots, wide shots, two-shots, and three-shots. Costumes are 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. Action in this genre can vary from fight scenes to kissing scenes. There is normally minimal to no makeup used on the characters. Props are mostly personal items like a phone, skateboard, notebook, etc. Settings are predominately high schools or homes. Editing in these movies consists of cut aways, shot reverse shots, eye line matches, reactions shots, and jump cuts. The sound mainly used is diegetic, non-diegetic, dialogue, voice overs, ambient sound, and a soundtrack of happy upbeat songs and slow sad ones. Elements we found in coming-of-age movies are big party scenes, romance, them being about teens or young adults, and moral lessons. 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.
     There's a two-shot, over the shoulder shot and mid-shots are the main shots used in romance movies. The camera would track the subject when they walk or run away or to their love interest. The camera is normally angled the same 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 actors attend to. 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 eyeline 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. We like the drama in movie because it's funny and appeals to our age groups since we have similar drama that goes on in our own friend group. We dislike the exaggeration used in conflicts because it's not necessary.

Genre Research: Musical

     Our assignment was to write about the genre that was given to us. We had to research about common things in musicals. We had 10 topics to research about so we split them up among the group. One person had the responsibility of lighting, mis en scene, and sound. Another person had the responsibility of camera angles, elements of a musical, and songs in musicals. Another person had the responsibility of camera movement, examples, and found the pictures used in the presentation. We all worked together on the last two slides. We decided on the different elements we like and dislike about musicals. This project really helped us with learning about genres and the different elements that go into film making.

Choosing a Final Pitch

Out of all of our ideas, we liked rom-com the least. We would require more actors to film. This could cause problems in scheduling. It would have to line up with everyone's schedule. We would be forced to film at school for the background people needed. Specifically when everyone switches classes. This wouldn't be good with the audio or time because we have to find all of our actors. The other ideas focus on global issues happening. We want our video to have a deeper meaning. Overall, the rom-com did not compare.

     The dramatic movie was one of the top favorites. However, the elements needed would be a finance issue. We were picturing a drone shot of the sunset and highway. We obviously don't have $500 to buy a drone to get the aerial shot. We would also need to close off the highway since the plot is an apocalyptic wasteland. The background of the scene has to be changed differently too. We would need a green screen to edit the background but since we're new to editing, we don't want the scene to look bad or choppy. The lighting wouldn't look well or match since we would have to change it during editing. We were thinking about doing a glitch effect that showed a fantasy world to the reality of the wasteland. We don't know how to do this during editing. This pitch just requires too much money and technique that we don't have.

     Our final choice for the movie was the coming of age movie about the influence of social media. We really liked this idea because we can incorporate global issues into the movie. We wanted to focus on important topics that are still relevant. It would also be the easiest to film out of all of our ideas since we have a limited time to film. We were thinking about a POV shot of the phone and the teen using it and see how their emotions change. We wouldn't need as many people during the production of the film. This can relate to others out there when they receive daily news from the internet. We feels teens especially could relate to this through the use of social media. We put a lot of thought into our pitches and how to find time creating them.

Introducing Myself Again

     Hi my name is Alicia. I am a freshman in high school. I currently take eight classes, three of which are college level classes. At my school we have four classes each day named white days and blue days. On white days I have biology honors, study hall, algebra two honors, and theater. Biology and algebra two are my some of my hardest classes. On blue days I have criminal justice one, AICE media studies, AICE general paper, and AICE global perspectives. The classes with AICE before them are my college level classes and I think I'm handling the workload pretty well.
     For my newest project I am working in a pair with someone I have worked with in previous projects. Her name is Audrey and she is also a freshman.
     Over the past months I have learned a great deal about filming and editing. I got hands on experience with a camera. I learned where the SD card goes and how to turn it on. I also learned how to go back and look at footage just shot. I learned that the filming process takes a long time. I learned that sometimes you have to reshoot something or plans don't work out. I also learned what storyboarding was and how important it is. I also learned that the environment you are filming in is important like a busy mall would not be a good place for a quiet scene. Editing is a main thing I learned about as I had no previous experience. I learned that you had to dump your footage onto a computer first. I also learned you need an SD card reader to get the footage in the first place. I learned the separate places for audio, video, and titles. I also learned how to split videos and delete specific parts. I also learned how to add and remove sound. Overall I have learned so much in first semester I have been in this class.
     Our new project is about making the opening of a movie and we have three pitches.

1. A dramatic story about the effects of global warming turning the world into an apocalyptic wasteland and an isolated mentally disturbed teen.

2. A rom-com of 2 guys fighting over a girl realizing she was already taken and they eventually fall in love with each other.

3. A coming of age movie of how social media impacts a teen's life. It highlights the global issues happening in the modern-day world.