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https://youtu.be/Ub-ZIAV1OpI

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https://youtu.be/OEVKqOGJs-w

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During the production of "The Melodic Maniac", I learned that it's much more difficult than you would believe it to be to create a film. Juggling between scheduling a day to shoot as well as ensuring the shoot goes well was exhausting and discouraging at first, but as the shoot went on everything went well. During the editing process, I had to make some minor changes such as lighting touch-ups in some scenes that were too dark and adjusting the length of the opening scene to balance the later footage to ensure that the opening would hit the mark of a single minute. The feedback that we received on our rough cut was generally favorable, with some praise being directed towards the camera work and plot, although some criticism was given towards lighting issues, notably in the final scene, which helped develop a stronger idea of what to alter in the second cut.

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The target audience of The Melodic Maniac

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Independent Distribution and Marketing Plan -- The Melodic Maniac

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Independent Distribution and Marketing Plan -- The Melodic Maniac

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1. I believe that the best possible route for distributing "The Melodic Maniac" would be to place it on a streaming service. Streaming services have become a major part of the current film industry and is a hugely popular method of distributing independent films, with many viewers being more open to view these independent films because of their availability on these platforms. As for the aggregator I would choose to stream our film, HBO Max is most likely the best option because it has the widest range of horror films compared to other major streaming platforms such as Netflix or Hulu. As for a smaller streaming platform, Shudder would fit right in because their film catalogue contains only films from the horror genre, which would allow a proper home for our film among the many other indie horror films that are found on the platform.

2. The film's title, "The Melodic Maniac", works with the film's premise (a serial killer who listens to music as he murders) and is also reflective of other films of the genre such as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or  "The Thing". I can't think of a way to improve upon the title, as I believe that it effectively fits the film and its premise.

3. For the film's tag line, I'm stuck between two options: "This next track is to DIE for!" or "Music to be murdered by". These both play homage to the cheesy 80's slasher taglines from films like "Chopping Mall" or "The Prowler".

4. The target audience for the horror genre is generally teenagers/young adults of any gender who are looking for a thrill. They generally work in minimum wage jobs, are interested in social media, thrill-seeking, and television/streaming. Teenagers also find engaging entertainment very important to themselves so that they have things to do after a long day at school or work. The most popular social medias among teens currently are TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. Current prominent influencers are Addison Rae, Andrew Tate (unfortunately, no matter how you feel about him), and many music artists, particularly in the hip-hop genre (EX. Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Yeat, ETC.). Popular games teens play currently are Warzone 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fortnite, Dead by Daylight (an asymmetrical horror game, for which a collaboration with could bring a larger audience for the film) and Apex Legends. Teenagers in the real life typically hang out with each other in movie theaters, restaurants, or in their own homes. They typically wear things purchased from stores at their local mall or shopping outlets from stores like Urban Outfitters or H&M. Teens like to read short stories that are either based on true stories are based in fiction. For entertainment, teens like to play video games, stream on their television or phones, browse social media, or hang out with their friends. Teens typically enjoy buying/renting streaming services like Netflix, clothes, video games, and food.

5. The 10 places that I would choose to advertise my film on (if I had to self distribute) would be:
1. TikTok - One of, if not the biggest social media platform in the world currently. Although controversial, it attracts a large teen audience and would cost nothing to advertise on by just having a dedicated account that regularly posts on.
2. Instagram - Another hugely popular social media platform that has a large teenage audience. Although more difficult to attract an audience with compared to TikTok, paying for advertised content would let our film be seen by the masses and (hopefully) would quickly return a profit.
3. My local mall - Printing out signs or posters for my film at my local mall, particularly around the stores that are popular with teens (such as Zumiez, Hot Topic, Champs, ETC.) would garner interest around the film.
4. Reddit - Reddit's numerous subreddits can allow interest to spark in specific communities that would show interest in the film.
5. Tumblr - Similarly to Reddit, Tumblr is home to a loyal community that has many diverse interests, which would be a perfect place to advertise the film since it may gain an interest among those who enjoy horror, and it costs nothing to post on.
6. YouTube - Although this is where the movie would be uploaded, creating what is known as an ARG (alternate reality game, which was used very effectively in films like "Cloverfield") can quickly create an audience who wants to discover more about what the game is leading towards.
7. Pinterest - Uploading a poster of the film is quick, easy, and would have little-to-no competition.
8. Local screenings - Hosting a local screening of the film through a home theater system can lead to good word-of-mouth about the film and thus, giving others motivation/interest to watch the movie.
9. Local theaters - Leaving flyers about the film in places where people are already interested in watching films, particularly around the release of an anticipated horror film, can garner interest in the audiences attending the film's premiere.
10. Local festivals - Around the time of a festival in town, attending and talking to other festival attendees about the film can persuade others into watching the film on YouTube, although overdoing the enthusiasm may lead to disinterest in the community.

6. As I mentioned in the prior question, I believe that an ARG would be an extremely effective way to promote the film. Prior ARGs, especially in the case of 2008's "Cloverfield", can cause interest around a film to spark like a wildfire. Using various websites and difficult puzzles can lead to major audience interaction and a rapid spread of interest in the film by having others share these puzzles around for others to assist in solving them, and having more of these will only lead who may have been only slightly engaged in what was occurring into becoming fascinated to where the project leads.

7. For my film's poster, I think that an effective design would be a simple pair of headphones laying on the floor that are stained in blood, with a white floor with bloodstains and a dark/black background. This minimalistic style of poster gives an oblivious viewer a sense of intrigue about what the film may be about since it doesn't give too much away, while also leaving the viewer wanting more.

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Preproduction Requirements - Writer and Editor

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Preproduction Requirements - Writer and Editor

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The script changed was changed for clarity due to confusing wording. Instead of having the camera focus on "a boot", I fixed the wording to clear up that the boot was actually a person and not a singular shoe.

For my responsibilities as an editor, I plan to use fast cuts, as they will help develop tension in the movie by creating a sense of uneasiness or anxiety in the audience by having a back and forth perspective of the antagonist and protagonist. I will also use a split screen effect to show where each character is in real time.

For my company's logo, I'll use Adobe Photoshop to develop a logo that uses dark, muted colors to fit with the film's genre.

Transitions-wise, I think that straight cuts would be the most effective for the opening, as any other kind (such as dissolves or wipes) would take away from the chase's pacing.

Although the script intended to use Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper", it doesn't look like it will be possible, since the only way to use copyrighted music is to obtain permission from the copyright holder. As a substitute, I'll use royalty-free music that won't create copyright issues for my film. As for creating sound effects, I intend to create a homemade stinger sound effect digitally by using recorded sounds and mixing them with others into creating an effective stinger.

Returning back to my responsibilities as a writer, my only upstanding concern is changing the music for the scene, as I felt that "Don't Fear the Reaper" was a very fitting song for the opening and that whatever royalty-free music I can find may not be as effective for the scene as my original choice was.

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Section 1 -
In November and December of 2022, we learned about editing, sound, as well as screenwriting and the formatting of screenplays. To better understand these topics, we watched several documentaries, like "The Cutting Edge" (as well as a YouTube video on color) for editing, and "Making Waves" for sound. For the screenplay portion, we read the script of "The Incredibles", learned how format scripts using a specialized program called Arc Studio, and used that software to create a script for a 2 minute horror film opening involving nightmares that would serve as the basis for our midterm project.

Section 2 - Our midterm project was required to be a 1-2 horror or horror hybrid film opening with minimal dialogue, no long takes, no wall-to-wall music, the beginning had to start in black with a company indent, a minimum of three crosscuts, and an accompanying blog post. Along with these, the film had to include a close up, a Dutch angle, a high or low angle, a low key light setup/silhouette, a pan or tilt or track/push or spinaround, a subliminal take or multitake or smash cut, a match cut, a J cut or L cut, a use of slow or fast motion, an intentional use of color for story/emotion, an instance of intentional costume/hair/makeup, an instance of visual complexity, three sound effects, and a piece of incidental music or a repeated sound motif. For extra credit, we could use quick cuts, a montage, a wide establishing shot, a split screen, a POV shot, a reflection shot, an intentional break of the fourth wall, an 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, a fisheye lens effect, and a company logo with a high quality graphic.

Section 3 -
A. I adhered to horror conventions in my opening by having it take place inside of a dark, forest-like setting, adhered to audience expectations by the main character be stalked by an unknown (but clearly hostile) force, and keeping the audience engaged by having the antagonist attack the protagonist towards the ending of the opening.

B. I broke horror conventions by having the protagonist be a male. Although this sounds strange since films are a largely male-dominated field, horror movies in particular have mostly had women in the lead role, with a traditional "final girl" a well-known convention in the slasher sub-genre.  The audience expectations were subverted by having the antagonist at first make a sound, but the protagonist turns and sees nothing there, and I broke engagement by having the film cut between the protagonist  being in the forest and him laying inside of his bed.

C. My film opening had the intention of showing that trauma can affect someone so deeply that they can't even find comfort inside of their dreams. When the protagonist stumbles upon the hill, he is shown to be very excited, as if he has some sort of close connection to it. However, this comes to end shortly after the antagonist makes his move and just the protagonist is about to be killed, is woken up in a jolt. In this instance, the antagonist was supposed to represent the darker aspects of his mind attempting to spoil the protagonist's fonder memories.

4.
A. I feel like the pieces of my opening that succeeded the most were the opening shot and the building of tension in the dream. The opening shot (inspired by 1978's "Halloween") was meant to inspire a sense of unease in the audience. Was this the point of view of an unknown character? What is the purpose of the house going forward? These questions would only be heightened with the use of a stinger (also taken from "Halloween") set the tone for what the film would be like going forward. Along with the opening, the building of tension as the protagonist progresses through his dream felt like a notable success. The eerie quiet of the forest setting, along with the inclusion of a red herring (when the protagonist turns around frantically thinking that someone was behind him) gave the opening a great amount of tension.

B. For the less successful portions of my opening, I felt as though I could've done more with the camera angles, as well as the editing. The aspect ratios have a notable shift in some parts of the opening (due to accidental inconsistencies between filming vertically and horizontally) which may cause the viewer to be taken out of the film. This, along with some odd editing choices, (particularly with the final part of the dream in which lighting issues and camera quality persisted) gave me a sense of what I should narrow down for my next project.

C. To create and edit my project, I used Arc Studio to write the script for the opening, and then used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the clips after I filmed. For ambience purposes, I used stock sounds of crickets chirping and nighttime ambience from a pre-recorded video. For sounds used, I lifted several of the singer sound effects from 1978's "Halloween", as well as the song "The Shape Stalks" from the film's soundtrack. My company graphic was taken directly from "Chainsaw Man", a popular graphic novel that I read recently, which inspired me to place a nod towards it in my film. As for learning anything new while making my film, I felt like I used a majority of skills that I had already learned prior, I did learn several new tricks on Premiere Pro that helped me become a more effective editor, such as tricks with editing the color in a frame and making audio sound distant or muffled.

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1. The film opens on a lake, with text stating that the year is 1958 and that the lake pictured is "Camp Crystal Lake". The camera cuts to show several camp counselors singing inside of a cabin from an exterior shot. The camera then cuts into a POV long-take that shows several kids asleep in their bunks as the camera continues through the cabin.
2. The film's genre is horror, and it appeals to teenagers and young adults.
3. The Paramount company is shown at the very start of the film, which features a mountain. The title features white text across a black background, which establishes an eerie setting for the opening.
4. The opening begins panning down towards a lake, and then cuts to several different portions of the camp. Further into the opening, the camera cuts into a POV long-take that remains for the remainder of the opening.
5. The opening's sound contains a lot of nighttime ambience. Rustling leaves, bugs chirping, and wind howling fills the camp as the camera shows the different parts of the camp. The counselors muffled singing can be heard as the camera focuses on them, and the creaking of wood floors can be heard as the camera moves through the cabin.
6.  I felt intrigued by the first two minutes, as the POV long-take going through the cabin made me wonder whose perspective we were focused on and what they were planning to do next.
7. The editing had very quick cuts, with no notable style or transitions to them.
8. The opening adhered to horror conventions by taking place at night, a setting deep in the woods, and ambience filing the air.
9. The film adhered to typical conventions, although the POV long-take was unconventional for the period it was filmed in.
10. The film depicts a group of camp counselors caring for a group of kids by singing to them.
11. I believe that this film was created with the intention of capitalizing off of the popularity of "Halloween" (1978), as they feature very similar openings (POV long-takes).

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In our latest AICE media unit, we learned of the many genres that cinema has to offer, including: action, adventure, animation, biographies/biopics, comedies, crime, drama, family, fantasy, historical, horror, musical, mystery, romance, science fiction, superhero, sports, thriller, war, western, b-movies, melodramas, documentaries, and Shakespeare, and the conventions, (the plot, location, themes, and iconography) codes,(use of VFX, types of shots filmed, lighting, and editing) and what the audience expects to feel when watching a particular genre. For each genre, a student was assigned to create a PowerPoint and demonstrate 3 clips from films of their genre from 3 specific time periods to show how the genre evolved over time. In some cases, the films shown were a hybrid, which are films that combine two or more genres together.

For the first film that me and my group created, we attempted to create a hybrid of drama and comedy. For the conventions that we followed, we had an underdog protagonist and a bully antagonist, a common trend in school-based dramas. For these types of movies, the audience expects the protagonist to beat their bully in the end, and we took that heart in the end by having him literally punching him. However, we subverted expectations by having a character stand up to the bully, who then loses to the bully easily. For this film, we didn't follow any codes due to our lack of knowledge of how we should film. In our second film, we attempted to create a full-on drama, and played it serious for the entire time. For our conventions, we showed a protagonist fighting an inner conflict, two friends who show concern over his condition, and a therapist who attempts to help the troubled lead. In this movie, we had better equipment and new knowledge of how to film, so we used high and low angles to demonstrate how the main character felt, and long takes to gain a perspective of the setting.

For my final film project, I would love to create a horror film. For the movie, I would have a slasher antagonist, dark lighting, a fighting protagonist, and long takes from the killer's protagonist to gain a unique perspective on the plot. The film's plot would be about a lone student researching a string of murders that have one common factor: music being played during the act. Soon enough, the protagonist becomes a target of the antagonist, known only as The Boogieman.

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For this assignment, we were assigned with the task of remaking another group's movie with the goal of improving on it by adding new shots that we learned over the course of a week. The original plot of the film was that a girl was depressed over her parents fighting with each other, and her later seeing a therapist and feeling better about herself. For our remake, we chose to keep what the main character was upset about ambiguous, but many of the plot points remained unchanged. The 10 shots that we used for our film was a long-take, low-angle shot, high-angle shot, manipulation of color, track-in, track left, track right, track-out, zoom-out, and a close-up shot. My role in the film was as Mr. Stopsign, the therapist, and I also edited and filmed a majority of the scenes, to which I did in the first film we worked on. Although I could've done better as an editor, I think I did a decent job as the director and including the shots that we needed.

Criticism that we received on our remake is that the editing needed more work. During one of the last scenes of the film, you can hear the director of the scene saying "action" before the take started. Another scene that could've used more work is the final scene that involved a majority of the actors present skipping happily. During it, another person who wasn't involved in the movie could be seen just to the left of the screen. As the editor, I think what I could've done to improve that scene is to either cropped him out of the frame, or used an editing software to remove him if possible. Another criticism that our film faced is that keeping the main character's reason for being upset ambiguous wasn't really a strong narrative decision. I thought the element of mystery would've worked well in a short film, but the original had a deeper narrative because it played off the idea of her grief being from her parents divorcing, compared to my film, in which the plot can be confusing because you don't really know or understand why the main character needed help. Three shots that I thought worked well in the film were the second scene's long take, because it added depth to the film and gave an idea of what the school area was liked. The over the shoulder shots between Andrew and Shaden in the first scene also were strong because the shots had depth to them and a good focus on each of the actor's faces. Finally, the change of color to black and white after the long take greatly added to the idea of how deeply saddened Andrew was by the news he just received.

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The video shown here is the very first project that Shaden S., Juan C., Juan F. and Andrew P. created, with the title Big Bully. In this film, we portrayed a short story about a bully who torments an innocent kid who just wanted his chips, but stands up to him at the end. I myself played an unfortunate hero who attempted to stand up to the bully, but was too weak to stand up for myself. I also directed some scenes for the film, as well as edited the project together.

After watching the film several times in class, the film was praised for it's editing, sound design, music, and somewhat realistic fight scenes. However, the film shared it's fair share of criticism due to it's shorter length, inconsistent story elements, and poor shot framing.