For my first film, we put together a drama. In this film, we conformed conventions by creating a drama filled story with a great plot. We made sure that the audience would be surprised and entertained while watching this film. We introduced all the characters in this film, and who they were, as well as their importance to the storyline. For the setting, we made sure to change it whenever we filmed a new scene. For the iconography, we added a coke bottle because it played a significant role in the film, as it was the item that was spiked. The values in the film were obvious because it was basically what the whole film was about. The goal was to get revenge on the boyfriend by spiking his drink. For codes, we used the sun for lighting as well as a camera stand for our camera (phone). As for editing, we used an app to edit. For the second movie however, we conformed conventions by creating a comedy/horror filled story with another great plot as well. We made sure that the audience would like our film and plot better than the original film, as we were tasked with recreating another group's film for this assignment. For this film, we basically copied the storyline, characters, setting, iconography, and values as the original, except we changed it to make it “better” in our eyes. For codes, we used sunlight as well. We also used a phone stand to prop the camera so that the scenes weren't shaky or crooked. As for editing and special effects, my team edited using an app to make each transition and scene flow together nicely. 

Personally, my favorite genre is horror. A potential idea/story synopsis for a final film project that I have, is about a girl who finds out her parents aren’t really who she thinks they are. Basically, my idea is that a girl grows up in the perfect family. Her dad is a doctor, and her mom is a lawyer, or something like that. She grew up in a massive house with everything she could possibly ever ask for. She is the only child, so sometimes the house seems a bit quiet, too quiet almost. The first two minutes of the film would introduce her and her family, as well as the lifestyle they live in, their friends, her school, and the people around her. The audience should expect to be shocked in this film, with a lot of plot twists and unexpected things to occur. The camera work will be slow and steady, with no fast movement in the beginning. Lots of panning and tracking. In addition, the lighting should be dark and mysterious, putting the audience on edge as to what's going to happen next etc.  

The requirements for my midterm film is to have a one to two minutes; horror or horror hybrid; an "opening" rather than a finished film product; minimal dialogue (mostly music, sound effects/ambience); no wall-to-wall music; no long takes; start in black with company ident and/or logo and title and (optional) credits before straight cut or dissolve to first image; minimum of three crosscuts between actor and nightmare; edited/shot/uploaded by student; accompanying blog post. The film must also 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 spinaround; 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.  For extra credit, I would include any of the following: 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. 

In many ways, I followed the rules, norms, and expectations of the horror audience. To start, I added sound effects to some of the scenes to enhance them and used music to heighten the suspense. In an effort to make it seem "scareier," to fit the horror genre, I made the lighting subdued. Additionally, I've positioned the camera in certain shots so that it appears as though someone is staring at the actor. This gives the audience the disturbing impression that someone is staring at them in the same room as the actor. I also ensured that each scene flowed into the next. For instance, you might hear a noise in one scene then a different noise in the next. I did a lot of things that broke audience expectations, horror conventions, and codes. First off, I thought the lighting was too strong in a few of the shots. For instance, the lighting in one of the "horror" sequences should have been darker, but it was actually very bright. Additionally, I made an effort to make it humorous by briefly pausing several of the sequences to depict the actor's initial shock upon discovering the visitor inside her home. Though I'm not sure if some folks thought it funny. Additionally, the location—a house—and the establishing shot—which was light rather than dark—didn't make the scene particularly spooky. The lead actor in this movie was the main character. By having her call her mother and express her anxiety and worry about hearing noises within the house, I was able to demonstrate how terrified she was. Additionally, she conveyed her fear in some situations with her facial expressions and shouts. 

Near the end of my movie, I believe the transition from the dream to the actor sleeping was my most successful scene. In spite of the acting, I believe my transitions were smooth. Additionally, I believe that some of my editing was the weakest aspect of the film. I doubt that it went without incident. I edited this movie with the help of a software called capcut. Because I had never edited anything before, I also acquired editing skills while doing my midterm. Additionally, I had never independently recorded or filmed a movie before, so that was another first for me. 

1. A man is biking around the city, then arrives at his home. His wife is watching him as he opens his front door. 

 

2. This movie is about a husband who allows his wife to have affairs. But suddenly, he becomes a prime suspect when his wife’s lovers start to disappear. So this movie is a romance/mystery film. I would say the target audience for this film is females around 17-30 years old. 

 

3. In the first 30 seconds or so of the movie, there was a grey company logo for regency as well as a blue/grey for eone. In addition to this there was the green Hulu logo, as well as transitions merging into the next logo. After this, there were opening credits in front of the establishing shot of the city. Each logo had distinctively different font and style, using different unique transitions as the logos formed together. I didn't really think it aligned with the opening of the film because it didn’t relate to the film at all, it simply just showed company logos/idents. But, in the establishing shot, it did show opening credits, which did align to the film as the movie was just beginning, showing a view of the city and the main character biking his way home.  

 

3. It started off with an establishing shot of the city, while the camera moved upward. Then it cut to a shot of a boat moving in the water, and a person riding a bicycle passing by. It then followed that person by tracking. Then it went to a still shot of that person biking through a tunnel. The next shot was a close up of that persons face, with movement to show that they were biking. It then cut to a wide shot of them biking from behind them. Then it cut to a shot of them walking to their front door to unlock it. Then it cut to a woman watching the man open his front door. Then it cut back to the man noticing the woman looking at him. Then it cuts back to the woman, zooming in on her face, then cuts to a wide shot of that woman as she stands up and walks up the stairs, out of frame. Then cutting back to the man standing there watching her. It then cuts to the man walking up the same stairs the woman just walked up. Then dissolving to another shot of a lake with running water , then the title appeared in all caps “DEEP WATER” as it started to zoom out from the lake. Then it cut to a high angle shot from the stairs looking down as a kid passes through the hallway below. 

4. During the first 30 seconds or so, when they showed the company logos and idents, there were sound affects connected to each transition of the logo, from where the logo was starting to form to when the logo was formed. It was a cool, loud type of sound, but it wasn’t music. It then transitioned to music as it showed the establishing shot and the man biking around town. The music then cut out when the man got to his front porch, as he opened his door. 

 

5. The first two minutes were boring in my opinion. It was just an establishing shot and a man biking around town and then a woman looking at him. I was a little confused as to why the woman was looking at him, but I wasn’t so intrigued to know why. There wasn’t really anything that caught my eye or really made me want to watch more. 

 

6. The editing style is simple, and cuts to the chase. Nothing special. Although, I did notice that the shots were short and simple. The only shot that was longer than the rest was the establishing shot.  

 

7. The first two minutes simply introduced the characters. One being the man (husband) and the other being the woman (wife). 

 

8. The first two minutes broke conventions by showing the establishing shot and shots of the man biking which didn’t really adhere to conventions. 

 

9. The first two minutes brought up a question, rather than an issue. It raised me to question why the woman was staring at her husband from the stairs, and then proceeded to act like it was nothing and walked away after she was questioned about it. 

 

10. I think this film was distributed on Hulu because Hulu has a lot of adult films. Deep water was originally on Disney, but Disney dropped it to Hulu as it was too much of a mature film for Disney. Hulu is more of a teen/adult site, which was perfect for this movie. 

 

11. I felt that the woman, who I believe is the wife, seemed a little suspicious. She was simply sitting on the stairs as if she'd been waiting for her husband to get home, and just stared at him. When he noticed he questioned her and she smiled and looked at him and brushed it off, then got up and walked away. The smile seemed a little off to me, it didn’t seem a genuine smile, which leads me to believe that something is up with the wife. I think she's up to something or something is going to happen regarding this woman. 

 

2. The title of our film is “Lover from the Past”. I think that this is the perfect fit for our film as the movie is literally about a lover from the past that comes back from the dead, back into the main characters life again. Our original title was “Dead Boyfriend” but that seemed way to blunt and boring. It didn’t seem like the type of title that would catch anyone's eye, whether or not they were interested in mystery romance. The title just seemed boring and didn’t really describe the movie too well. Which is why we decided to change it to “Lover form the Past”. It seems more mysterious. Leaving the audience to wonder who this lover is, and what was their significance in the main characters past. I think the title really reflects the genre in that way, leaving the audience to wonder. In addition, I think its short and sweet. It's simple, not too long, but not too short, and it gives a good idea as to what the movie is going to be about. But, it doesn’t make the movie seem too boring either.  

 

3. Our tag line is, “If the loves real, it’ll come back.” I think this is very fitting for our genre and our target audience as girls this age are really into love and finding the perfect guy, so I feel like a lot of them would agree with our tag line and feel connected to the movie in a way.  

 

4. I think our target audience is girls in between the ages of 15-30. These are girls that want to find the love of their life and want someone to spend their time with. They want to find the person who they can spend their rest of their life with. Their best friend and soulmate. These are girls that are very interested in love. They want to find the same love that they are watching in movies. These girls will usually follow famous couples who they aspire to live like. Who they aspire to find love like. 

 

5. The places we would advertise would be on social media: tiktok, instagram, snapchat, facebook, Youtube, TV ads, commercials and Vimeo. In addition to film festivals and film markets. We could use the information about our audience to help reach them by making our ads relate to them. Making our ad interesting enough that they will stop and watch it for a few seconds, and hopefully catching their eye long enough to get them to want to watch our film. By making our ads interesting and similar to what the audience likes, we could grow a large number of people fast and increase our audience. 

 

6. By relating to my audience, I will grab their attention and hopefully engage them because they are interested and relate to the ad. My marketing strategy would be to put out a trailer that enhances the love life and the romance of our film, catching the audiences eye. I will get them to click on the ad by making our trailer interesting and highly attentive to watch. If they are interested in our trailer, they will talk to their friends about it, and their friends will talk to their other friends and the trailer will be shared continuously.  

 

7. Our movie poster will enhance the love life and romance of our film. It will show a picture of the main actress, and the two boyfriends behind her. The three main colors we would use on our poster are red, pink, and white. We would use these colors because they are mainly associated with love and romance, especially on valentines day. Not only this, but we would use cursive, to make the story seem more elegant in a romantic way. This will help us build on our genre. But, to enhance the mystery part of the movie, we will have different expressions on the actors faces as well as dark spots along the poster to show that somethings not right, and that something else is going on. We would use the colors black and grey to do this, as darker colors have always been associated with sadness or mystery.