Genre Research (John Wick)

The movie John Wick uses a variety of camera angles. These include a high angle in the beginning of the film. A low angle is used when someone is on the ground looking up at the main character to show him as an authority figure. Next a dutch angle is usually used after a fight or an explosion to show that the character is disoriented. Finally a high angle is usually used to represent a security camera watching the main character.. In this movie the costumes included a normal outfit, a ski mask and dark suit for the home invaders in the beginning, and a suit and tie for several characters. The lighting in this movie was low which was probably used to represent danger. The main actor for this movie was Keanu Reeves. Make up was used in this movie to show cuts on bruises on people after a fight scene. Props in this movie included a baseball bat, a crowbar, and fake coins. The setting of this movie was modern day New York. The sounds in the movie are not uncommon in action movies. These sounds include punches and gunfire which are used in the fighting scenes. Other sounds that were used in this movie that aren't related to fighting include the noise of cars racing down a street and footsteps. Editing in the movie includes cross cutting which helps show what two different characters are doing at the same time. Action matches that show different views of the character that people in the movie can't see. Finally, fade in and fade outs which help transition from scene to scene. John Wick followed the common conventions of action movies in many ways. It did this by placing the main character in a dangerous situation with lots of fighting. It also uses the common editing techniques and camera angles. In addition to using common editing techniques it also used shots like point of view shots and long shots. The elements of the genre that this movie had that I liked included the jump cut and action matches because I think that they helped the movie move forward. I also liked how the movie had plenty of action scenes that kept it interesting. I also think that the use of point of view shots made it easier to connect with the main character. In addition to this I liked how the movie followed the convention of using long shots. I didn't like that the lighting was low I think that brighter lighting in some scenes would have improved the overall film. Also although I enjoyed the action scenes I feel like it became repetitive. I think that use of a formal for suit for John Wick was also contrary to the spirit of the movie. Overall I liked the movie. This movie will serve as an inspiration for our movie.

Genre of my pitch

The genre of our pitch is action. We chose action out of the two genres because I believe that an action film better fits the description of the movie. We believe this because our movie is about an assassin so danger and action will be an important part of the film. We also think that the common camera angles for action films are better suited for this movie. I also felt like the idea of a character changing as a person didn't match with the plot line of our movie. Although our film won't bring in all the elements of an action movie we believe that it is still more closely associated with that genre. We are both excited to film our movie.

Action and Adventure Genre Research

Our new film for AICE Media fits the description of both an action and and adventure movie so we researched both genres. We did this to see what the key elements were for each one. This will allow us to properly film our movie. It will also let us know which conventions we might break in order to make our film unique.

In action films long shots and extreme long shots are used to make the subject look smaller than the location making them look unfamiliar. Medium long shots and two or three shots are often used in action movies to introduce the characters and include them all in one shot. In action movies costumes can range from a normal outfit, a suit and tie, high tech gear, and mid evil night costumes.  Action films typically have low key lighting to represent danger but can also have bright lighting if the director wants to add a comedic element to the film. The actors for action movies can vary but they usually have well known actors taking a lead role and less known actors taking a supporting role. Makeup varies with the film in certain films such as alien movies makeup that that will change the color of the face will be used and in war movies makeup that will make the character look dirty or tired might be used. For props most action movies will have fake weapons and use equipment like binoculars and smartphones. The setting for action movies can range from an urban city, small towns, nations, and different planets.

Common editing for action films include fade in and fade out effects along with burn in and burn out effects. Also in cases where the a certain scene was filmed during the day but the director wants it to look like it was filmed at night they can change the lighting through editing. Editing in action films will also often cut to the actors faces to show the emotion of the film. The common elements of an action film include a series of events that will lead the character into thrilling situations that include fighting and danger actions films will usually have one major protagonist and a villain that they must defeat. Examples of action films include Mission impossible, Inception, and John Wick. Common sounds in Action films are explosions and fighting noises. Elements of action films that I like are the thrilling plot and the suspense and danger. Elements that I don't like are the use of two shots and three shots.

Adventure films are similar to action films in certain ways. Adventure films use long shots, medium long shots and three shots. Costumes will also change depending on the movie and can be anything from hiking clothes to sci fi or high tech military clothes. The lighting in adventure films tends to be bright. Actors for adventure films can have any body type or gender and their popularity is not a factor. Make up usually isn't used in action films unless they are in a forest or outer space setting where they have to look dirty or nonhuman. For props adventure movies may use walking sticks, fake swords, and compasses. The setting for adventure movies is usually an area outside of a large city and can be in modern times or in the future and past. Like action movies editing includes cuts to the face along with fade in and fade out effects. The elements of an adventure film include a protagonist and a location that he must reach, during his adventure he will face obstacles such as enemies and natural obstructions and in the end he will come out a better person. Examples of adventure films include The Hobbit, Jason Borne, and Star Wars. I like the element of an adventure film where the main character is changed as a person from the experience. I don't like the bright lighting in the film and I think that dark lighting would help give it a feeling of suspense.

Pitch ideas

We havs narrowed down out pitch ideas to two pitches. One pitch is a movie about a spy who is captured and then has to escape from captivity and the opening scene will be a kidnapping scene. Our second pitch is about a man who was a former assasin who is being called back into action. Our opening scene will show him looking at pictures of people and then cut to a picture of him drinking coffee at a table. 

For the first pitch idea I believe that it might be difficult to film. I think that scene we need it to be filmed outside it will require us to film at a certain tine of the day. This will ensure that we will have the proper lighting. I also think that due to the different ways that a kidnapping scene can be made we would take longer to decide how it is filmed. And since we only have two people in our group it would be difficult to film it. We would also have to make the scen last for two minutes which could be difficult. I think that a kidnapping scene would also be harder to make authentic. This is because it will probably be done by other groups as well. Overall I don't think it's a good pitch idea. I believe that the next ptich is much better.

For our second pitch we will have a retired assasin get called back into the field. The opening scene will show him looking at pictures of his targets. It will then cut to him reading a newspaper and drinking coffee. I believe that this will be easier to do since we only need to film one actor while the other one holds the camera. We also don't need to film it outside so the time of day is not an issue. I also believe that we can film it faster because there are few errors that can be made in a scene like this. It will also be easier to make authentic because most of the other groups most likely won't try it. Also our costumes for this can just be a suit and tie so we won't have to spend money on new clothes. And this idea will be more interesting to a viewer. This is why we will use this pitch idea.

Starting the final task

My name is Andrew Cambron and I go to FLHS. I with my partner Emiliano will present our final task. This will be the first two minutes of an original film. I am currently enrolled in the prelaw magnet at flhs. But i am still working towards obtaining my AICE diploma. After this year I will have met all the requirments for  recieving it. I am also on the swim and waterpolo team. These two sports keep me healthy. I also go to environmental club every Tuesday where I recycle around the school. But I still try to keep a 3.5 unweighted GPA.

In my AICE Media class I have learned a lot of useful information. This is mainly related to the film industry. Here I have learned about the different camera angles used to make a movie along with the filmaking process. I learned how to apply this skills. I also learned when and why they are used. I look forward to using the camera angles I have learned in my movie. I will use them to add emotion and suspense. I also am excited to choose a location and costume that fits my movie. I believe that this process will be enjoyable. And I look forward to filming.

A pitch is a Hollywood term used to describe an idea in 30 seconds or less. Our pitch ideas are a crime movie where a criminal failed to pull off a heist and is now on trial. For this we will need permission to film in the courtroom and it would probably take about 30 minutes. Our second pitch would be a kidnapping scene. The backstory would be a spy who was captured now has to escape captivity. For this we could film outside prefferably in a shaded area around 6:00 p.m. Our final pitch is about a retired assasin who gets called back to the field. For thid one we could film it at a house at any time and filming it will probably take about 20 minutes.

editing

Yesterdya we started editing our video. Our camera didnt have an SD card so we uploaded the footage to the computer from Emi's i phone. We found out computer and then we tried to load pinnacle studios. Unfortunately it wouldn't load so we tried anlther computer. This computer also wouldn't load so we asked Ms Catz for help. We tried restarting the computer but that didn't work. We Then saw that the computer needed to update. After about five minutes the update finished. Then we tried again and it still didn't work. By then class was over so we will have to finish editing on Friday. 

If we were able to edit we would have made a lot of progess. We would have started by cutting the useless footage. Then we would have made a title screen for our song. Then we would have added a splitscreen of me and Luc playing our instruments. We were also thunking about changing the lighting. This would make it look like a bar setting. We also might add a voiceover for each lf us. This would make the video seem more geniune. On Friday we will make these changes. And we will have to focus because it is also due Friday.

In conclusion, our final product will be ready by friday. We will add cut footage. We will add split screena. Will create a title screen. And we will add voiceovers to make it seem Genuine. With these edits our video will have high quality and look proffssional. We weren't able to edit yesterday because of our computers. In order to ensure this doesn't happen again we will choose computer 5. Computer 5 is thr first computer we used and is now fully updated. We are very excited to finishing this project. And I look forward to working on Friday.

Filming 2

On Friday me and Emileano went to our friend Luc's house to film. I arrived at twelve and Emileano arrived at about 1:00. We didn't have a memory card so we had to use Luc's I phone. Luc's phone camera actually had better quality then the camera so this worked out well. Due to us having no memeory card we did not use the camera or tri-pod that day. We filmed in the dining room and Luc's room the filming process took about an hour. I used a button down shirt that Emi brought. For instruments we used Luc's keyboard and harmonica. I played the harmonica, Luc played the keyboard and Emi filmed. We all played an importamt role.

The first scene we filmed was the bar scene where me and Luc used water and tapped our glasses and drank. Then we filmes us dancing to the song with our glasses. This scene took a few tries. When we did this scene me and Luc both had hats to give a cheery mood. Then we filmed a close up of Luc playing the keyboard with me in the background playing the harmonica. After this we filmed a close up of me playing the harmonica. These scenes will take up most of our video and probably took about a minute to film. We have plenty of footage to work with and cut when we edit. We had the song playing as we were filming. And me and luc tried to play the song with our instruments when filming.

In the end of the day we were satisfied with our work. We looked over our footage one last time. We didn't need to re film anything. We spent the rest of the time planning for our editing. We looked at footage that we would cut and talked about the order we would place each scene in. Then we skatboarded for a little bit. Until Emi was picked up. Then I was picked up. Filming the video was a fun process. I look forward to submitting the video.