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https://youtu.be/Ub-ZIAV1OpI

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Critical Reflection - The Melodic Maniac

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Critical Reflection - The Melodic Maniac

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https://youtu.be/wv1tBo-bSZQ

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What I learned during the production process is that even when we include low light scenes into our film, we need to have a low source of light because if we do not then none of the scenes would be visible. Our last few scenes required dim light, but we made a mistake and filmed in an area with no light. Due to this, we were not able to see anything that was happening. Another issue with our film is that you cannot hear any sound, so our teacher did not know what was really going on. Our teacher also mentioned that we add a lot of sound effects such as groans and moans to our film. Overall, our film was good, but we just must fix a few issues to make it better.

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Independent Distribution and Film Marketing Plan

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Independent Distribution and Film Marketing Plan

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Putting "The Melodic Maniac" on a streaming service would be the best route for distribution due to the popularity of streaming services in the current film industry. Among the major streaming platforms, HBO Max would be the best aggregator option for our horror film because it has the widest range of horror films. For a smaller platform, Shudder would be an excellent fit due to its exclusive focus on the horror genre.

"The Melodic Maniac" is a perfect title for the film because it aligns with its premise of a serial killer who listens to music while committing murders. The title is also reflective of other films in the horror genre such as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Thing."

Two potential taglines for the film are "This next track is to DIE for!" and "Music to be murdered by," both of which pay homage to the cheesy 80's slasher taglines used in films like "Chopping Mall" and "The Prowler."

The target audience for the horror genre is generally teenagers and young adults of any gender who are interested in social media, thrill-seeking, and streaming entertainment. The most popular social media platforms among teens currently are TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. Popular games include Warzone 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fortnite, Dead by Daylight, and Apex Legends. Teens typically hang out in movie theaters, restaurants, or at home and tend to purchase clothing from stores like Urban Outfitters or H&M. For entertainment, teens enjoy playing video games, streaming content, browsing social media, and spending time with friends.

The ten places to advertise "The Melodic Maniac" if self-distributing include TikTok, Instagram, the local mall, Reddit, Tumblr, YouTube, Pinterest, local screenings, local theaters, and local festivals. Hosting a screening of the film can generate word-of-mouth buzz about it, while attending local festivals and speaking with attendees can also persuade others to watch the film on YouTube. An alternate reality game (ARG) can also be an effective way to promote the film, as it sparks audience interaction and rapidly spreads interest in the film.

An ARG would be a highly effective way to promote "The Melodic Maniac" due to its ability to generate audience interaction and quickly spread interest in the film. Various websites and puzzles can be used to engage the audience and create a sense of mystery and intrigue surrounding the film.

As previously stated, I strongly believe that utilizing an ARG would be an incredibly effective method for promoting the film. Past ARGs, particularly the one for "Cloverfield" in 2008, have generated great interest in a film, spreading like wildfire. By creating challenging puzzles on various websites, the audience can engage and share them with others, fueling even more interest in the film and ultimately captivating those who may have been initially disinterested.

To design an impactful poster for my film, I propose a minimalist approach featuring a pair of blood-stained headphones lying on a white floor against a dark or black background. This simple yet intriguing design will pique the curiosity of viewers who may not know much about the film, leaving them with a desire to learn more.

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A shoot schedule - Friday first 20 seconds, Saturday, next 20 seconds, Sunday, final 20 seconds.
Location - Saturnia Lakes
Cast list - Aiden Axberg and Wade Starace
Prop list - Baseball and fake blood
Costume/makeup/hair - overalls/long jacket and basic Halloween mask
Music sound effects - "Don't fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult. nighttime ambience, and stinger sound effects
Sentence statement - Our list is pretty clear and was well produced.

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Film: Scream
1. A woman is shown to be home alone when she gets a phone call, that seems to be a wrong number. Although she hangs up, the number quickly calls back and brings up the topic of scary movies. As they talk, the woman cooks a stove-top container of popcorn.

2. Scream’s genre is horror which is normally watched by teenagers.

3. The title sequence displays the movies title in white, before turning to red and smashing into the films opening.

4. The opening shows many upper body shots and close ups as it goes on. Panning is also used to portray the woman’s house.

5. The opening is dialogue-heavy, although sounds like the flames of a stove and a knife being played with can be heard.

6. By the end of the opening, I wanted to know what the man on the phone wanted and what he was planning.

7. The editing featured many cuts and stuck onto the girl for longer than other shots.

8. The opening adhered to conventions because it featured a girl that’s home alone and her being contacted by an unknown person.

9. The opening broke conventions because it featured bright lighting and a generally relaxed atmosphere.

10. The film represented young girls in a way that can be seen as negative because she picks up a stranger’s phone call and didn’t question it.

11. The film was distributed to entertain people.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF6x9rfIOTo
During November and December, I learned a lot more about the film industry. My teacher taught us more about editing and the certain techniques that can be used in editing. I studied different film editing concepts and had an assignment where I had to create documents featuring 20 plus kinds of editing techniques. Some of these concepts included subliminal cuts, flash cuts, and smash cuts. Our teacher also had us watch a documentary on film editing and a video on the use of color. We also had to study sound basics such as diegetic, non-diegetic, synchronous, and asynchronous. Our teacher had us also read the screenplay for "The Incredibles" and taught us how to format screenplays using special software. I then had to write a two-minute horror film opening about someone having a nightmare as the basis of our midterm film project.

For our midterm our teacher wanted us to create a one-to-two-minute film opening. She wanted us to create a short film opening about an unconscious person or object sleeping and having a nightmare. The requirements for this midterm include one close up, one dutch angle, one high or low angle, one low key light set up or one silhouette, one pan or tilt or track/push or spin round, one zoom or dolly zoom,  one subliminal cut or multitake or smash cut, one match cut, one  J cut or L cut, one use of slow or fast motion, one intentional use of color for story/emotion, one instance of intentional use of costume/hair/makeup, one instance of visual complexity in setting choice (color, texture, depth, lines, shapes, etc.), three sound effects, one piece of incidental music or one sound motif repeated three times. She also added extra credit which included quick cuts, montage, wide establishing shot, split screen, POV shot, reflection shot, intentional break of the fourth wall, intentional break of the rule of thirds, rack focus or pull focus shot, intentional use of handheld camera work, use of color filters to create a dream like quality, fisheye lens or fisheye effect, company logo with high quality graphic.

I adhered to horror conventions/codes/audience expectations and engagement by just following the lessons and the requirements my teacher provided me. I had my laptop open to the requirements as I was filming and checked everything off as I was taking shots of the film. For horror conventions I added story, setting, characters, nightmare, stalkers/killers, and a chase scene. For horror codes I added story setting, characters, low key lighting, a smash cut, and high-pitched sound effects. For audience expectations and engagement, I added fear, suspense, and shock. I broke the horror conventions/codes/audience expectations and engagement by not adding enough details. For my film I had the main character who was having the bad dream and the killer character.

The shots and the plot of my film were successful. I followed my script exactly and it came out quite good. What I think was less successful was the acting and editing. The actors who participated in my film were my dad and sister. It was their first time acting so it was a mess. Editing took a while as well because I had no experience with it. I spent a few hours trying to figure my way around it till I finished the film. The hardware and software I used to complete this film are arc studio, iMovie, and a phone. Overall, I learned a lot this year, At the beginning of the year I did not know much about the film industry but having my teacher she provided me with knowledge to be able to create films and edit.

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For the past two weeks Mrs. Marquee has had my class learn about genres that are typically seen in most movies. We learned about action, adventure, animation, B movies, biopics, comedy, crime,
Documentaries, drama, fantasy, family, historical, horror, independent films (indies), musicals, mysteries, romance, science fiction (Sci-Fi), sports, superhero, thrillers, war, Westerns, and young adult (YA). Our teacher also had each of us pick a genre to do a PowerPoint presentation on it. She had us include the conventions (character/setting), codes (camera work, lighting), and audience expectations that related to that genre. We also had to include three movie clips from three different time periods that highlighted the genre. Finally, we talked about hybrid genres. A hybrid genre is a literary genre that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres. For example, animation would be considered a hybrid genre.

So going back to the films I created with my group members. The first one we filmed could go under the young adult genre. Our first film was called Vengeance. The setting was at school, and I was the protagonist. The film was about a teenage boy who got bullied by a popular kid and then his friend steps in to help him. For camera work we had zoom in and out, pan left/right, wide shots, establishing shot, etc. The second film was similar, the bully wanted the boy to buy him a snack from the vending machine, but some other kid comes in and steps for him. Later, the boy trains a lot and fights the bully, resulting in a win. Our camera work was much better thought because we had learned our mistakes from the previous film.

My favorite genre was horror because I like the feeling when I get scared, it makes the movie a lot more fun. For our next group film, I would like to make a horror movie. I want to make it thrill so the audience can enjoy it.

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https://youtu.be/S6U9pTOQj9g

Sebastian, Andrew, Beckam, and Sofia were my partners and we all worked on this project together. The movie that we created is named Vengeance and it took a few days for us to try to perfect it to the best of our abilities. I was the protagonist in the film. Overall, though, the film that we produced came out to be decent, but we could have done better.

Furthermore, after we filmed the move our editor Andrew edited the film to the best of his ability. He added subtitles, visual effects, and sound effects to the film. After we produced the movie, our teacher had my partners, and the other students present in class to play the movie in front of the whole class. The teachers had us watch the film a few times to revise the mistakes that we have made and what parts we did correctly. Our film was shorter than we expected, one minute and sixteen seconds to be exact. The next movie we create though we for sure be longer than this. Moreover, the film we created had a better sound because we made sure to be loud and clear so the audience could hear what we were saying, however, it was not perfect. Another mistake we made was our cutting, which we will try to perfect in the next movie. Overall, the film was adequate, and I am looking forward to the next project.

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https://youtu.be/MsMxZ3YPdi4

This was the first short film I have created with no experience, but it was an assignment for my AICE Media class. In the film, I was the main actor. The film was about a kid being bullied on his first day of school and the bully getting expelled due to his actions. We had around an hour to make our script and make the film. I do wish we had more time though because we could have made it much better.

After making the film our teacher played our film three times, twice with sound and once without sound. It was better when we watched it without the sound because it taught me ways of improving any film in the future. In our film the sound on the video for certain parts was bad and disrupted. Some of our scenes could have used better transitioning. Overall though the film was not bad for our first go and we did good on camera work, acting, and storyline