Abigail Carpenter AICE MEDIA BLOG by https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog en-us 2022-08-23 14:24:09 UTC 2023-04-07 02:33:39 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f986.png First Student Film/Reflection AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2268890815 This was our first class movie project in AICE media. I shot the movie with Harper and Meredith. The story was about a cheerleader that gets kidnapped and killed that is then found by some of her teammates. I played the main cheerleader that gets kidnapped and killed. I believe we executed the storyline very well and the actors portrayed the characters they were given very well. There were a lot of things that could have been improved. We filmed everything in the same area, making things overlap and noticeable. The sound quality was not good. The viewpoint of the scene where it was supposed to be a coach didn't exactly look right but we lost one of our actors so we had to just work with what we had. Some of the scenes could have been filmed longer or cut shorter depending on what they were supposed to showcase. But, overall I think my team and I executed the movie very well for our first time filming.]]> 2022-08-23 15:08:40 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2268890815 Film Remake and Reflection AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2308800818      My group was assigned another group's film about a bully losing his friend. We were tasked with rewriting and improving the script. We had to include at least 10 different shots including camera movements. The original plot was that a guy was bullying a girl and he lost his friend due to him being a bully. We only had a group of girls so we changed the bully to a girl. While we kept the plot mostly the same we focused on improving the video composition of the film rather than changing the whole plot/storyline of it. I played the victim of the bully. The victim in the original film was a girl so there was no change there but my experience with it was a bit different. In the first film, it was more verbal bullying while in ours the bully ran into me so there was more physical contact. I believe this is due to the bully being a girl in our film rather than it being a guy in the original.

     I think we had a lot of well received shots and camera movements. We wanted to show more of a diversity of shots and add a lot movement so we did that by the use of pans, tilts, and a spin around that showcased between the bully and her newly lost friend. Sound quality was definitely still an issue for the film but I also think that we overused some of the pans. Also, we ended up having an issue with the camera placement with one of the scenes. The camera ended up being off centered during one of the shots. Personally, I think our group could have added a little bit more to the end but that is just a personal opinion. One of the biggest achievements with the camera shot and movement was the spin around take that we had. It showcased a a conflict between the bully and her lost friend and I feel like it added a sort of chaos and more emphasis on the conflict. I liked how the conversation between the victim and the bully's friend was shot in one take rather than cutting it back and forth. Instead of shooting it multiple times we incorporated one take and tilted and panned the camera at the same time which added the feeling of just one long conversation rather than a bunch of perspectives and cuts. Another good take was when we tracked the bully while she was on the phone with her friend. It showcased what real life high school would be with the phone call and the friend actually being heard through the call.]]> 2022-09-22 13:46:03 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2308800818 Genre and Presentation Reflection AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2365735748           We studied drama, romance, musicals, thriller, horror, young adult, fantasy, animation, family, crime, comedy, western, Shakespeare, war, history, superhero, documentaries, and adventure films. Within the genres we studied there codes, the audience expectations, and there general conventions. We watched 3 movie clips from each genre that were each from a different time period that showcased the genre and its conventions, codes, and experience how we should feel. We also discussed hybrid films such as romcoms. Hybrids films are films that contain two or more genres.
          For our first film that we created, my group and I decided it was a crime/mystery film. In the film we incorporated suspense with the mystery of the kidnapping. The element of something illegal or crime was incorporated with the kidnapping/ murder that happened in the film. In the film we used a lot of pans that shows the character and the victim. We broke some of the codes/conventions due to not using lighting in the proper way and we did not fully conveying the suspense portion of the story. In our second film we decided the film was more of a drama/young adult film. We decided on the young adult genre due to the aspect of the teenagers overcoming some sort of problem or conflict which was showcased by the bully losing her friend because of her bullying. The drama portion was incorporated due to the conflict/fight that happened between the bully and her friend. The codes that brought out these genres was the amount of tracking and panning between characters which helped get more in depth with the characters and showcased each individual. Also, the zoom on the bully's friend that showed what was going on in her mind showcased the intimacy of the teenager, which is something that you see in young adult movies. We broke the codes/conventions because we incorporated by the use of low lighting and the wide angle that was used because it took away from the characters which broke the genre.
Personally my favorite genre is young adult. In my final project a potential story I could do is a group of teenage girls turning on each other and having a verbal fight until one of the girls finally helps resolve it. The title card would be very simple and the logos would be slightly colorful but not too kiddy. We would make it a goal that the young adults could relate to the film. Also, showing intimacy within the character by having one of the girls realize it is wrong to be having this argument and resolve it. Also, make sure to showcase the arguments in a way that the audience could relate. ]]> 2022-11-01 23:47:04 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2365735748 Genre and Presentation Reflection AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2365736110           We studied drama, romance, musicals, thriller, horror, young adult, fantasy, animation, family, crime, comedy, western, Shakespeare, war, history, superhero, documentaries, and adventure films. Within the genres we studied there codes, the audience expectations, and there general conventions. We watched 3 movie clips from each genre that were each from a different time period that showcased the genre and its conventions, codes, and experience how we should feel. We also discussed hybrid films such as romcoms. Hybrids films are films that contain two or more genres.
          For our first film that we created, my group and I decided it was a crime/mystery film. In the film we incorporated suspense with the mystery of the kidnapping. The element of something illegal or crime was incorporated with the kidnapping/ murder that happened in the film. In the film we used a lot of pans that shows the character and the victim. We broke some of the codes/conventions due to not using lighting in the proper way and we did not fully conveying the suspense portion of the story. In our second film we decided the film was more of a drama/young adult film. We decided on the young adult genre due to the aspect of the teenagers overcoming some sort of problem or conflict which was showcased by the bully losing her friend because of her bullying. The drama portion was incorporated due to the conflict/fight that happened between the bully and her friend. The codes that brought out these genres was the amount of tracking and panning between characters which helped get more in depth with the characters and showcased each individual. Also, the zoom on the bully's friend that showed what was going on in her mind showcased the intimacy of the teenager, which is something that you see in young adult movies. We broke the codes/conventions because we incorporated by the use of low lighting and the wide angle that was used because it took away from the characters which broke the genre.
Personally my favorite genre is young adult. In my final project a potential story I could do is a group of teenage girls turning on each other and having a verbal fight until one of the girls finally helps resolve it. The title card would be very simple and the logos would be slightly colorful but not too kiddy. We would make it a goal that the young adults could relate to the film. Also, showing intimacy within the character by having one of the girls realize it is wrong to be having this argument and resolve it. Also, make sure to showcase the arguments in a way that the audience could relate. ]]> 2022-11-01 23:47:35 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2365736110 Editing and Sound- Midterm Film AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2440902440           In November and December of 2022 we learned the fundamentals of editing, sound, and screenwriting/screenplay. We reviews over 20 different editing techniques and created documents to go along with those techniques. We watched a documentary called "The Cutting Edge" and a video on use of color to advance our knowledge on editing. We watched a documentary on sound called "Making Waves" to advance our knowledge on sound and the use of sound. To learn about screenplay and screenwriting we read the screenplay for "The Incredibles". We learned how to format screenplays using a special software and we used this software to write a two minute horror film opening about someone having a nightmare for our midterm project.

          We had certain requirements we had to make for our film. Some of the requirements were; it had to be one to two minutes, horror or horror hybrid; an "opening" rather than a finished film product; minimal dialogue; no wall-to-wall music; no long takes; start in black with company ident and/or logo and title; straight cut or dissolve to first image; minimum of three crosscuts between actor and nightmare; it had to shot, edited, and uploaded by me and write a blog post to accompany the project. We had many shots that we had include in the film at least once; those consisted of 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 around; one zoom or dolly zoom;  one subliminal cut or multi-take 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; three sound effects; one piece of incidental music or one sound motif repeated three times.

          I adhered to the typical conventions of a horror film with the dim lighting and the suspense between the crosscuts of the nightmare and the sleeping person. The audience expectations I feel like were met with the suspense and adrenaline that the suspense will give the audience. 
          I feel like I broke the conventions, codes, and audience expectations with the ending of my film because you have that surprise of the stalker ending up in the house and it seeming like her nightmare coming to life.
          I tried to represent the known issue about how women and teen girls are scared to walk alone at night. How women are always on edge walking alone at night because that is usually when some men or even other women will take advantage of people. So I wanted to show that through film, I wanted to show that this is an issue of girls, teens, and adult women have that on edge feeling of something like this happening. I particularly showed it with a teen girl because that is honestly the age group this issue happens within the most.

          I feel that the I did a good job with following the script and working with the equipment and people that I had. It conveyed what I wanted it to and it overrall worked out a lot better than I thought it did.
          I would have to say that the setting I was in was not the exact place I wanted it and I wish I put more time into really setting everything up right.
For hardware and software I used Arc Studios to write my script, my normal iPhone camera to shoot, and Cap Cut for editing, sound and music. I learned how to edit. I usually am not an editor so it was difficult for me to figure out how it works but it was just something I had to learn and practice with.]]> 2023-01-11 14:33:30 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2440902440 Film Openings AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2471936365 1) There is a young girl getting her school phot take and then it cuts to her getting the print outs of the photo and here and her friend walking around their school.
2) The genre is YA/Comedy and it's target audience in 13-21
3) The credits all roll before but then there is a short scene that goes into the opening title of the movie. The color and style of the edits definitely show a light hearted more upbeat movie. There is a lit of purple and blues.
4) Starts with credits then there is a dolly zoom out that shows a wide shot, there are some close up shots that go into a still picture and then the title card. Then there is some tracking of what seems to be the main character. Quick cut to a door that shows another character and then a quick cut to the main character happens again where the two characters meet up and tracking begins again.
5) There was music and then a little bit of dialogue but nothing crazy.
6) I felt like I wanted to watch more and that there was like this unfinished story that I wanted to watch.
7) The editing seemed like a normal edit of this sort of scene. The tracking in the beginning seemed a little unusual to me just because the tracking was a little long.
8) It adhered to conventions by showing the young kids and showing something a little funny because she got a bad photo.
9) I feel like the little argument the girl and the photographer had broke conventions a little bit.
10) It represented young kids getting their photos taken for school and friendship between people.
11) At the time it was released it was probably the best option to get people to see it.

]]> 2023-02-07 15:16:20 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2471936365 Preproduction Requirements- Producer AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2482094390 Shoot Schedule 
Feb 18th: Johnny's house/ 10am  
Feb 19th: Gulf coast High School/ 8am 

Locations List
  • Johnny’s House 
  • School 
  • Car 
Cast List 
  • Anthony  
  • Nico 
Prop list 
  • Frying pan 
  • Plate 
  • Eggs 
  • Bed/pillow/blankets 
  • Car 
  • Toothbrush 
  • 2 phones 
  • Avocado 
  • Bread 
  • Knife 
  • dog 
Costume/Hair/Makeup 
  • Pajamas- Messy hair- tired look with eyebags 
  • School clothes- shirt and shorts- clean hair- clean face 
Music/Sound effects 
  • Voice over of what’s going on in the characters head 
  • Upbeat and fun music over the credits 
Vision Statement: I want this movie to look professional and not cringey or “Disney like”, while also being fun, amusing and impactful. I want the audience to be impacted by what we're doing by seeing that teenagers sometimes just wish to be young again. 
]]> 2023-02-14 15:19:51 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2482094390 Independent Distribution and Marketing Plan- "Young Again" AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2509606938 1) One distributor I would reach out to is Magnolia Pictures. They have been a leading independent film studio for 20 years. They have a website that shows all their films and it has a background/cast list right next to its showing. They have three locations. Magnolia has a subscription, but they start with a 7-day free trial. Not only do they have independent films, but they show other movies as well. Magnolia also has social media websites they may post on to help their movies.

2) Young Again is the title of our film. I think the title fits perfectly with the plot of the movie. It's a teenager wishing he was young again and then he turns young.  I could see it being changed to something more mature or something that isn't so basic but it works really well with the plot line of the film.

3) Would you wish to be young again is the tagline my group came up with for our film. I think this embodies the movie spot on with the whole plot being a teenager wishing to be young again. This also gets the attention from our target audience because teenagers and adults do wish to be young all the time, they wish they had that freedom and carefree look at life like you used to have when you were young.

4) Our target audience is 15-25 males. They would be anywhere from a freshman in high school to a senior in college making the minimum wage or maybe they go a raise in their job and they are just trying to figure out the real world and how it works. These people would probably be really into sports and they like to go out with their friends for a night out or they would sneak out with their friends to go hang out without their parents being around. They mostly care about their friends and their personal life, maybe their family as well. But they don't have much care for school and they just want to get through it. They would probably be on TikTok watching their for you page that is full of sports and how to make money without going to school or Instagram looking for their next love interest. They are following the most famous guy that there is at this time. They probably sit around all day in sweatpants and hoodie or sports shorts. They probably only watch Netflix or Hulu and they only go into the theatres when their friends go out.

5/6) If I were to self distribute on YouTube or Vimeo I would put most of my video ads on TikTok and Instagram explore page.  I would create a Instagram account where I would be active with posting and doing giveaways; if they tag 4 friends in a certain post about the movie coming out then they get a $50 gift card or free movie tickets, etc. I would put ads in YouTube videos, the pop up ads in a video can get annoying but if you put in a 10 second ad with the title, tagline, and a funny moment in your movie and you show it multiple times then it could stick in the persons head. Even when this target audience goes to the movie, putting some funny teaser scenes to get them interested and laughing will help gain interest for our film.
I would put ads on Billboards at sports games so that if they went to a sporting event they could see it. I would put up small posters around gyms or workout facilities and maybe collaborate with the gym that is they by a membership they can get 2 free movie tickets. 

7) Our movie poster would have a kid feel but still look mature. Cleaner lines by using white and blue to give it a mature look but then add a pop of red to add in the attraction of the male audience. We would have a our main character sitting on out title "Young Again" looking very tired and exhausted to show how tire the teenager is of his normal life and that will help convey the story of him wishing to be young again.]]> 2023-03-09 03:21:11 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2509606938 Production and Editing Reflection AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2528924639           Going through the production process made me realize a few things. One being that you should always put your actors through auditions to make sure they can act because in our rough cut the actors did not do as well.  Also, the lighting inside of a house can be hard to figure out if you do not have professional lights, so trying to figure out lighting was a challenge sometimes. Through the editing processed, I learned that a lot of the parts of the clips that we got were not very good and having to cut it out or just edit it to the best our ability to make it look good within the movie was difficult.]]> 2023-03-23 14:13:32 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2528924639 Final Film- "Young Again" AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2543741385 2023-04-04 14:18:25 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2543741385 Critical Reflection AbigailCarpenter9647 https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2546828634 2023-04-07 02:33:20 UTC https://padlet.com/AbigailCarpenter9647/aicemediablog/wish/2546828634