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Filming our film had some challenges due to the lack of good sound equipment and lighting. I learned that good sound and lighting are vital to producing a well-made film. As the editor of our film, I discovered how important it is to have multiple shots from all different kinds of angles and positions. During the editing process, I struggled to cut some of the shots together because we only filmed shots once, and if that shot didn’t have great coverage, it didn’t fit well into the movie. I learned that coverage is overlooked in the production process but is crucial for the postproduction process. After our teacher watched our first cut, she also emphasized the importance of quality sound and lighting. If we decide to reshoot, we will better prepare by having sound equipment, and we will also take into consideration the lighting. I will also explain to the cameraman how important it is to the postproduction process to film shots multiple times for the best coverage. Overall, the experience of working with a team to shoot a film taught me a lot about the production and postproduction process in filmmaking.

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Independent Distribution and Marketing Plan -- Clean Kills

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Independent Distribution and Marketing Plan -- Clean Kills

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If we were to distribute our film independently, we would try to get Blumhouse Productions because they specialize in horror and thriller films, which matches the genre of our film. We would need to get in contact with a sales agent for Blumhouse to learn about our film. I think that the Overlook Film Festival would be most interested in screening our film because this is a major horror film festival. This festival is also a major film festival that attracts a lot of people and distributors, including Blumhouse Productions. We would most likely approach BitMax with our film because they are well-known in this area of expertise. We might be able to approach Shudder, a streaming service for horror films. This will allow our film to be seen by our target audience.
The title of our film is Clean Kills. I think it works because it is short and reflects the genre of our film. The tagline for the film’s poster is “Better not leave a mess.”
The target audience for horror and thriller movies is males who are 16 to 29 years old. They make about $30,000 to $40,000 a year and are either in high school, college, or the workforce. Most 16 to 29-year-old males are interested in their education, sports, their job, and being active at their school. Their education and future are most important to them. If they are in college, they are probably a part of different organizations on their campus, like clubs, sports, and religious groups. In terms of social media, they are active on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat. Most young adult males follow athletes, influencers, musicians, and celebrities. They also play video games such as FPS games and sports games. The target audience also hangs out at school, friends’ houses, and restaurants. Adventure, fantasy, and dystopian books are most popular among young adult males. In terms of movies, they watch mostly action, mystery, and thriller movies. They are mostly watching these movies on VOD platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max. They shop at malls and clothing stores and eat at fast food restaurants.
Based on our target audience’s interests and lifestyle we will reach them by posting content about our movie online through TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook. Posting on these platforms will allow our film to be seen by tons of people in our target audience. We would also advertise at malls, on billboards, at sporting events, and through merchandise. We would do this if we self-distribute our film.
We will engage our target audience online by creating an interactive website that will engage with audience members. To get people to click on our ads, we will offer them a chance to win free merchandise through a giveaway. If a person shares our website with five different people, they will have the opportunity to see exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and specials. This will include videos from the actors and director explaining how the film was made and footage from when the movie was filmed.
I would design our movie poster to be very simple. The background of the poster is white, and, in the center, there are blood stains. A hand reaches from the edge of the poster with a paper towel to wipe up the blood. Under the hand, it states in red cursive, “Better not leave a mess.” It will be new to horror fans because, unlike most horror film posters, our poster will be very minimal. It will also be familiar to horror fans because of the way the poster creates suspense and mystery. The main colors in the poster are white and red. In terms of iconography, the hand with the paper towel represents people with OCD.

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As the editor of our film opening, I want to incorporate the use of a montage for the beginning of the two minutes. After researching Se7en’s film opening, I want to use a montage for the audience to learn some information about the killer, like Se7en did with John Doe. This montage could include fades because fades create a peaceful tone to the film. We don’t want the beginning of the opening to foreshadow the suspenseful ending. This breaks normal thriller conventions because most thriller movie openings create a dark tone. I want to include music in the beginning since all our researched film openings incorporated some kind of music. I want to use a match cut to introduce the flashback scene. During the flashback as the two characters are fighting, I want to use closeups and quickcuts to make the scene more intense and impactful. A smash cut that cuts abruptly back to the present would also work well. The last shot will include asynchronous sound. The audience will hear the screams of the lawn worker and the sound of the shovel, but they will only see the OJ glass. In terms of the logo, I was thinking of having an spilled glass of Orange Juice sitting on top of a counter in a creepy kitchen. For the font and color of the credits, I want to use cursive font that is red. This will give the audience the illusion that the movie is a drama. The credits will appear over different shots at the beginning of the film opening. We are hoping to incorporate music into the film opening. We want to use the song Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra. We will only be able to about 30-60 seconds of the song due to copyright rules. In terms of sound effects, I will have to create sound effects for the fight between the killer and her friend. Sound effects will make this scene more realistic. I will also create sound effects for the ending of the film opening when the killer attacks the lawn worker with a shovel.

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The movie I picked that is similar to the film opening that we are making for the final project is Se7en. In Se7en’s opening credits an unknown man shaves the skin off of his fingers, writes in notebooks, and examines pictures of people. The man places the pictures into the notebooks and uses thread and a needle to bind the pages together. Se7en is a mystery and psychological thriller. The film’s target audience is males ages 20 to 35. The credits appear over the shots or on a blank black screen. The text is in white and is in a creepy font. It aligns with the opening film by adding suspense to the dark tone of the film.

Se7en begins with a closeup shot of notebook pages being turned. The next shot is a high angle of pictures of hands. Then there are quick cuts of a person with a razor cutting the skin off his fingers. Then there are more quick cuts of the person dipping pictures in water. Next, a high angle shot shows the person grabbing and opening a notebook. There is then a closeup of him writing in the notebook. He then cuts pictures and tapes them into the book. A slow-motion shot shows a page of the notebook being turned. More closeup shots shows the man underlining words and drawing on pictures. In another series of closeup shots, he gabs a needle and thread to bind pages together. There are more quick cuts of the man turning pages and doing other mysterious things. Lastly, there is a track shot of tons of notebooks that appear to be on a bookshelf. Throughout the opening there is wall to wall music. The music is unsettling and adds to the creepy tone. The music starts with a thunder-like sound. Then there are multiple distorted sounds. Some of them sound almost like a typewriter. Then music then builds, becoming louder. The distorted sounds are accompanied by drums.

At the end of the film opening, I felt curious and very captivated. I wanted to learn more about the mysterious man and what exactly he was doing. The opening made me want to keep on watching to find out. Most of the shots were edited with quick cuts. There was also the use of superimposition. The first two minutes adhered to thriller conventions by creating suspense and mystery through the unknown man. It broke conventions by mostly using closeup shots. The opening of Se7en did not give enough information about social groups or people to represent any of those groups. But I think it did represent the idea that men are usually the villain. I think that Se7en is distributed on HBO Max because of the amount of other popular thriller movies that is on that streaming service. HBO Max’s movies are also generally targeted at an older audience. I thought that the opening did an amazing job setting up the film’s tone. It was mysterious, while also foreshadowing events that would play a large role in the rest of the film.

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During November and December of 2022, we studied editing, sound, screenwriting, and how to write a screenplay. We learned about different editing concepts and created documents that featured 20 kinds of editing techniques. While studying editing, we watched a film editing documentary called “The Cutting Edge” and a video on the use of color in films. Next, we studied the basics of sound in film and watched a documentary on sound called “Making Waves.” Then we read the screenplay for “The Incredibles,” which taught us how to format screenplays. With that knowledge I wrote a two-minute opening to a horror film about a person having a nightmare for my midterm project.

Our midterm film was required to be horror or horror hybrid, one to two minutes long, an “opening” and not a finished film, minimal dialogue, no wall-to-wall music, start in black with company ident and/or logo before straight cut or dissolve to first image, minimum of three crosscuts between actor and nightmare, edited/shot/uploaded by student, and an accompanying blog post. The film was also required to have: 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 spinaround, one zoom or dolly zoom, one subliminal cut or multitake or smash cut, one match cut, one J cut or L cut, and one use of slow or fast motion. In terms of story and visuals we had to include: 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, and one piece of incidental music or one sound motif repeated three times. For extra credit we could have included quick cuts, a montage, a wide establishing shot, a split screen, POV shot, a 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, and a company logo with high quality graphic.

I adhered to horror conventions through the use of low-key lighting, creepy sound effects, a smash cut, slow motion, a POV shot, a flashback that revealed information to the audience, a vulnerable girl, and a reflection shot. The horror codes I adhered to were the repeated use of the color red and poison.  In terms of audience expectations, while watching my film the audience experiences uncertainty and terror due to the suspense. I broke horror codes and conventions by including minimal dialogue and a cliffhanger. I broke normal horror audience expectations by revealing at the end that the main character was actually the killer. I represented the idea that you are your worst enemy. The character at the beginning seems innocent but in an unexpected twist, he realizes that he killed the girl. I also represented the horror convention of having a girl character as the victim.

The use of sound effects was very successful in my film. I added a heartbeat effect during the most suspenseful moment to build tension and allow the audience to feel like they were experiencing the nightmare. The repeated sound effect of the glass of water increases the suspense. I also think the low-key lighting added to the tone of the film. My film’s pacing was less successful because I tried to include a lot into the two minutes of the film. At times, especially during the beginning before the nightmare, the film doesn’t flow well and feels rushed. During the postproduction process, I used Arc Studios for writing the script, Premiere Pro to edit the film, and different sites including YouTube to find music and sound effects for the film.

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During this unit, we studied the different genres of films. The genres we looked at were: action, adventure, animation, b movies, biopic, comedy, crime, documentary, drama, family, fantasy, historical, horror, indie, musical, mystery, romance, sci fi, sports, superhero, thriller, war, western, and young adult.
While learning about these genres, we studied the conventions, codes, and audience expectations of each genre. Every genre has different stories, characters, cinematography elements, and reactions that is unique to those kinds of films. In class we watched three film clips from different time periods for each genre. Some of the films we studies were hybrids, which means that the film incorporated multiple genres. For example, romcoms use elements of romance and comedy movies.
The first film that we created, The Loser, was a young adult movie. We conformed to the conventions of a young adult movie by having young characters, two takes, and a school setting. Most young adult films have a conflict between characters which was present in our movie. Our film didn't necessarily break any conventions, codes, or audience expectations of a young adult film. Our second film, The Stalker, was a horror movie. We conformed to horror movie conventions by using POV shots, low and high angle shots, and shots with lots of depth. The movie also caused our class to be uncertain and shocked by the ending. We didn't use low key lighting, which is present in most horror films.
My favorite film genre is thriller because of the suspense and the mood that thriller movies create. For my final film project I would love to create an opening to a thriller movie about a detective tasked with a mysterious case. I would like to explore using low key to create a dark tone. I would also like to incorporate dolly zooms in my film in order to make a sense of uncertainty and shots with lots of depth to create a more intriguing setting.

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For this assignment our group was required to take another group's original film. We had to rewrite and improve the scrip, while including 10 different kinds of shots and camera movements. In the original film, a girl in school was stalked by another boy at the school. After following her around school, the stalker grabs her. The girl's friends attack the stalker and he was expelled from school. We improved on the movie by beginning with a POV shot from the stalker's perspective of him stalking his victim, Lily. Then the camera paned to show Lily walking to sit with her friends. We used over the shoulder shots and a three shot while the friends talk at the table. The next shot was a high angle pan of the stalker watching Lily from a balcony. We used more over the shoulder shots of the friends talking with distinct depth to show that stalking watching from a distance. Lily tells her friends she is scared that someone is stalking her, but they tell her not to worry. We included a long shot of Lily walking away and the stalker following her. She looked behind her, but he hid behind a corner. A tracking shot showed the stalker following Lily again and chasing her. She ran into the bathroom and called her friend. As she exited the bathroom, the stalker placed a rag over her mouth causing her to pass out. We used a low angle POV shot to show Lily's perspective as she fell down and looked up at the stalker. The last shot in the film is an extreme close up of Lily waking up and gasping. In this film I was an actor, cinematographer, and editor. I loved being able to brainstorm different shots to come up with the best one and put it all together in the editing process.
Our class loved the POV shots that were in the film, because it added a creepy effect to the movie. The ending was also well received because it left the audience wondering if Lily was alive or not. The use of music to create suspense was a highlight of the film too. The sound continued to be an issue throughout the film. We could have also incorporated different shots of the friends talking to show more perspectives. The opening POV shot from the stalker's perspective while he followed Lily worked really well. It set a creepy tone for the whole film. Another shot that worked well was the high angle shot of the stalker watching Lily from the balcony. The camera paned from the group of friends to the stalker. We wanted to show that the stalker was constantly following and watching Lily. We also wanted to show that at first Lily didn't know she was being stalked. The last shot of the film was great because it was an extreme close up of Lily waking up after she passed out. It left the audience with uncertainty, because it was unclear whether she was okay or not. It was the perfect way to end the movie.

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This was my first film for AICE Media Studies. I worked with Liliana Melia, Sophia Lascano, and Claire Beaudet. We decided to make our film about bullying. In the film the antagonist (the bully), with his friend, makes fun of a girl. The bully's friend begins to realize that her friend isn't a good person. She stops hanging out with him and becomes friends with the girl who was being bullied. The bully made fun of her for sitting alone, but at the end of the film he is the one with no friends.
After sharing the film with my class, we received both positive and negative feedback. The editing of the introduction, credits, and music was a strong point of the film. In one scene we included a voice over, which worked well because the audience could hear the thoughts of one character. Because we filmed the movie in our courtyard, the sound quality was poor. My class suggested that during the voice over we could have zoomed in on the character to make it clear that the voice were her thoughts. We also could have added some close up shots to see the characters' faces better.