Title Research: The Final Destination

-How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

The title sequences display 21 titles.

-What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

The image of death and danger and dying is portrayed in the opening sequences and it's constantly shoved in different manners how an individual is killed. Some are creative and it follows this theme throughout the tile sequence.

-What connotations do the images carry?

The title sequence obviously takes the connotative meaning of death and dying in the most gruesome ways. It portrays this as characters continuously get hurt in the worst ways possible. They follow this theme throughout the title sequence and it's really pushed.

-How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

The genre is reinforced by the continuous scenes of skeleton characters getting hurt. The genre is like an action slasher but the one doing the slashing is a mysterious force. This is reinforced because the characters in the opening seemingly die from random incidents.

-How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

The film's opening is a whole enigma. Though people are dying, it is still interesting to know why they are dying. It's interesting to see the ways the actors die but its more interesting to know why and get a clearer perspective on it. and that's what the movie tries to hide which gives it a sense of mystery.

-What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The interesting deaths and cool transition will appeal to the masses. People want to see that happen and the movie doesn't hide it. The masses are amazed by random exciting images and the movie provides that.

-What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

 The CGI used in the beginning is what appeals to the audience and its cool transition and kills. The audience gets to watch cool things happen on screen and it is interesting and appealing to them.

Title Research: Daredevil

-How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

 The title sequences display 10 titles.

-What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

The braille in the opening segment is the main focus. The movie is about a blind superhero so the designer of the title sequences makes the titles come in braille first and then it glows like your reading the braille then the actual title comes in English.

-What connotations do the images carry?

The connotative meaning in this title sequence has to do with the braille and the sweeping shots of the city in the background. The meaning behind it might mean that the movie will focus on the city. Like the city will be a character in the movie. The braille definitely has to do with the blind superhero. The title sequence wants to give the audience a "glimpse" of how it feels to be blind.

-How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 

The genre of being a superhero movie is reinforced through the sweeping shots of the city. The superhero is always supposed to save the city and the city is always in danger. That cliche is expanded upon with the shot of the city, we expect the superhero to save this city. The dark and white contrast and sometimes dark parts of the screen might be a symbolic representation of being blind as this films somewhat documents a blind person.

-How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

The opening shot doesn't really show anything and that is very mysterious to the audience. The audience, if they didn't previously research this movie will ask themselves, "what is this movie about." The opening sequence doesn't show anything. Yet, the braille themes also might be interesting to the audience and spark their curiosity. 

-What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

They used shots of the city and anyone who is a fan of any superhero movie knows the importance of the city to a movie. They are aware that is the city that will be saved. They also hint at the blind element of this film for anyone who is a fan of daredevil who will understand this reference. Also the notable actors they put in the beginning appeals to any fans of the actors.

-How has technology been used effectively?

Technology is being used extremely effectively. The CGI city is being used well and with the artificial sweeping shots of the city. They also used the contrast very well to keep the attention of the audience and the music was perfect and gave a mysterious but exciting tone. They also did well with the transition, the title sequence is very dark and they keep that theme throughout.

Title Research: Mission: Impossible - Fallout

-How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? 

Around 16 different titles are displayed during the opening sequence of the film

-What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

 Throughout the opening sequence, there were a lot of images that were passing by. They prioritized/ focused on, the stars and actors in this movie and also action set pieces that happens throughout the movie. 

-What connotations do the images carry?

 This movie isn't a heavy story based movie. The movie is a straightforward action movie and the opening segment connotative meaning embodies that. The images are basically telling the audience, "This is a movie that has your favorite beloved actors and you are going to see them do cool stunts." It's simple yet effective.

-How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? 

 The outset heavily reinforced the genre in this movie. The title sequences were fast-paced and in your face. They had great action scenes playing in the background as you read the director's name. They had flashy burning transitions that signified action. The whole opening segment was screaming "this is an action movie."

-How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

 The opening segment leaves the audience wanting. They only flash a few seconds of the action scenes so the audience wants to know what happens next. They allow you to get a quick glimpse of the actors. This keeps a sense of mystery for the audience. They are longing to see how events in the opening segment pan out and what their favorite actors do in the movie.

-What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

 The film uses fast and eye-catching transitions to appeal to the action hungry audience. It appeals to the fans of the actors by giving the audience a glimpse of them. They play out the whole movie in the beginning but they do it in the way that the audience wants to see the in-betweens. 

-How has technology been used effectively?

 Technology is being used extremely effectively in this sense. The editing seems seamless. Action is synced with the music in a cool appealing way. The transitions use this burning effect that continues throughout the outset. The close-up, medium and zoom-ins of the actors and action is used perfectly at keeping the audience engaged 

Title Research: Nerve

-How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

 When it comes to the number of titles during the opening sequence, there is about 33 title sequences throughout the opening sequence of the film

-What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

 I don't think any specific image is prioritized, but the designers or designers behind the opening segment had a specific goal. They wanted to prioritize the references in the opening segment. Every title was a reference to an app or website that originated from the web.

-What connotations do the images carry? 

 The images may carry the change and randomness of the internet. The images and titles are never the same and continue to change throughout the title sequence frequently. Maybe its a reference to the internet itself and how it's always changing in a way.

-How does the film establish an enigma from the outset? 

 I think the randomness and references to well-known pop culture gives a sense of curiosity to the audience. They want to know what the movie is about because they couldn't form the title sequence and that gives a sense of mysteriousness for the audience.

-What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

 The target audience for this movie is obviously individuals who are well aware of the internet and its background and content. The audience I well used to technology and it's safe to say, don't have the longest attention span. So, the title sequence executes a strategy. It flashes different vibrant colors and references their favorite website or computer to grasp their attention.

-How has technology being used effectively? 

 Technology is being used highly effectively. The title sequences do not have any camera angles are movements but rather use and rely on transitions and visual effects. They have highly creative transitions, that are super effective at grasping the audience's attention.

Title Research: Watch the Titles Website

www.watchthetitles.com

This website is about finding and watching the title sequences of a movie. The design of the website is easy to use and it's really simple to find the movie you are looking for. They don't have all the movies that have came out, but they have a good number of them. The website is nice to look at, it is smooth and entertaining at some point. This website offers the ability to watch a interview from the director of the movie you're researching. The interviews aren't for every movie because not every director has done an interview but it's most likely there for the popular ones. I learned from this website that directors put a lot of thought into their title sequences and the tone of their movie. They care deeply about, how the audience perceives the movie. The interviews that this website provides gives great insight into the actual meaning of certain movies. The website doesn't seem to have every movie, they lack certain popular movies. I think they focus more on the title sequences that hold meaning. The titles sequences that are unique and have connotative meaning. It more about quality over quantity on this website. Consequently this taught me a lot about the tone of different title sequences and the necessity of it.

Title Research: Art of the Title Watch

This website is a great website at seeing the opening segments of a movie. They have a plethora of movies in their catalog and it's really easy to find any movie using the search bar. The website is all about title sequences in movies. They give a clip on the opening segments which has all the titles. Hence the name, "Art of the Title". Title sequences seem to house more than just the title of the movie. They have a fixed amount of credits. The credits in the beginning most likely have the important people in the film. The director or star or anything of that sort. I also learned that the graphics in the title sequences can have connotative meanings. The title sequences have a way of introducing the 'feel' of the movie. Either with sound or graphics most title sequences exercise this. When I didn't have a movie, the website did a good job at showing me a list of movies to choose from. The website has a great set-up and is graphically appealing. Art of the Title is a great website, when trying to look at title sequences of different movies. I really enjoy utilizing this website and it has taught me a lot.

Genre Research: Now You See Me 2

1. Common CAMS in the movie

This movie contains a lot of tracking. Since the characters are also on the move the camera man has to constantly keep up with where they’re going. There are also quite a few close up shots for when the characters would perform a magic trick.

2. Common Clamps

The characters in the movie are usually wearing something casual or semi-formal. The lighting is sometimes under a spotlight or a bright light. The actors are Morgan Freeman, Jesse Eisenberg, Daniel Radcliffe, Mark Ruffalo, and many others. The main characters of the movie most likely had a little bit of makeup to hide small blemishes. The movie contains a lot of magic trick props such as cards or bunny. The movie takes place in Macau, China.

3. Common Sounds

The movie contains a lot of different sounds the main one being diaguloe but also includes sound effects for fireworks, or the sound of a card flying through the air.

4. Common Editing

The main type of editing would be the jump cuts as they have a lot of them in the movie. But there are also effects to make screens in the actual film glitch out. One specific scene is Jesse Eisenberg creating the illusion of stopping rain in the middle of a crowd. 

5. Elements of the Genre in the Movie

This movie is labeled a mystery/crime film but it’s based on magic. They’re a lot of surprises and excitement elements because of the magic aspect. The overall film is to solve a crime but it not the main attraction.

6. What elements of the genre did it have that I liked?

I like how the film is a mystery film but contains a great deal of magic in it. There aren’t a lot of movies that create the magic effect and show how some of the tricks are done so well. The specific movie I’m talking about as well is the sequel and it’s just as good as the original.

7. What elements of the genre did it have that you didn’t like?
As I’m reflecting on the movie I can’t think of anything that I didn’t like about it. Everything was entertaining and doesn’t have any flaws to pick at.

Genre Research: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

1. The Camera angles in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (TRS) is generic. The camera angles seem generic and consist of over the shoulder shots and medium and close shots. When during certain fight scenes they might have wide shots of scenery and the characters fighting. The tracking shots of the ships are the best parts. The dutch angles are rare in this movie and the angles stay straight most of the time. Establishing shots are plenty in this movie since they are traveling all around the galaxy

2. The costumes are unique in this film. Since there are aliens and different characters from different planets each character has difference styles and different costumes. Aliens have sophisticated make up and costumes to look other worldly. The iconic storm troopers are in this film and look amazing as always. The locations of this film is always changing from different planets to planets.

3. The sound in this film, is very unique. They obviously have the iconic imperial march and the sounds from star wars. They have the light saber noises that are so iconic. They  have the blaster shots and those are also iconic. The sounds were very nostalgic.

4. The editing in Star Wars films are very iconic. Iconic on the fact that they used simple transitions and cuts when doing a star wars film. Even the sequels have cuts where the black goes from one side of the screen to the other. They even have the iris opening and closing shots and even cut to black. They keep the transitions and editing simple to the original star wars films because it is part of the film.

5. Star Wars have a very iconic genre. Technically it was supposed to be a fantasy but its technically a sci-fi. It has the shots of space and space ships like any sci fi movie. They have a lot of hard to say words like any sci-fi movie and has technology we can only wish for.

6. I like the nostalgic elements that this movie has. Like the callbacks to the original star wars movies and the ending. Where they bring back the voices of al the jedi but that's really it.

Genre Research: Django Unchained

1. Common CAMS in the movie

Camera angles in this film consist of medium shots and and wide shots. The movie is an action packed adventure but it consists of a lot of wide shots of huge land and individuals all the way in the distance doing something. There's also a lot of panning shots and establishing shots of the scenery. 

2. Common CLAMPS in the movie

The movie is a western so characters wear old time clothes. The costumes are not  modern at all and are mostly suits and dress clothes. Women wear traditional dresses and the poor characters wear rags basically. Lighting is flat and sometimes overwhelming with the sunrays. Actors are Leonardo, Jamie Foxx and many more. 

3. Sound is mostly gunshots, people talking, the western soundtrack, horses and many more. Sounds feel real like they belong in the time era. You won't hear anything like a cell phone or a radio. sound is realistic.

4. Common Editing

Editing is simple in this film, it consists of simple cuts and panning cuts and etc. The cuts aren't special and neither is the visual effects. I don't think they implemented any visual effects and if they did it was to boost the scenery and make the world look a little bit more realistic.

5. The movie had a lot of western elements. The action wasn't lacking at all and it was very entertaining. The slapstick humor and it made it feel like an old time movie. The horses was a huge element from the western genre and the close shots of the actors expression. 

6. I like the action of course, its a change from the regular shoot and someone dies action. Its more energetic and interesting to me.

7. Some of the humor wasn't really appealing to me. It was dry and seemed uncreative. Sometimes the jokes went on for too long and it was just unattractive.

Genre Research: Lucy

1. Common CAMS in the movie

Answer: The common cams in the movie is Lucy is very generic. The camera will mostly be at a medium shot or a close shot. The movement of the camera is very reactive to the scene. 

2. Common CLAMPS in the movie
Answer:
C- low angle as she sees the first Lucy while she is traveling back in time. Eye level angle as she is speaking face to face with the man she just stabbed. High angle as it shows Lucy’s last victim before she leaves

L- Higher key lighting as she travels through time and sees the Native Americans. Kicker light with soft fill lighting is used as she awakens from taking the CPH4 drug.

A- Scarlett Johansson, Luc Besson, Morgan Freeman, Amr Waked, Analeigh Tipton

M- No makeup suggested in movie

P- Cars, tables, computers.

S- Tapei, Paris and New York City

3. Common sound in movie

There was different sounds in the movie going from dialogue all the way to special effects. There were gunshot sounds, modified time traveling sound, crash sounds and etc.

4.Common editing in movie.

Answer: There are different edits in Lucy such as the split screen when she is explaining her condition to the doctor, the jump cut from when she is captive to the point she is in the restaurant, and the cross cutting edit when she is trying to install herself into the computers.

5. Elements of the genre in the movie.
Answer: The genre of the movie contained a lot of sci-fi/action elements which was very fast paced and intriguing. There was a lot of special effects that kept the look of the movie amazing.

6. What elements of the genre did the movie have that you liked?

Answer: The action genre of the movie contained a lot of fast paced scenes, good altercations, and a lot of explosions and crashes to add into it.

7. What elements of the genre did the movie have that did not appeal to you?
Answer: The action scenes did not always make sense because some of them portrayed her abilities with no explanation.

Genre Research: Opening Sequence

The genre of the opening sequence for our film is going to be action based. Since our film is an action movie, the best way to start it would be with a fight. We're going to start with the sensei asking his old friend for help and he's going to explain what happened with his student. Instead of an actual explanation it's going to be a flashback of him fighting his student and his student telling him what his intentions are. We decided that it'll be fun to make and we're going to add an amazing twist onto it. With all the action movies that we've watched we definitely have an idea on how to make an action movie. This is going to be our best produced short film!

Genre Research: Western and Musical

Western is a type of genre that describes a time period/ location. The past was so enriched with culture, action and adventure that it found itself being its own movie genre. When it comes to the camera angles angles of the Western Genre there isn't anything in specific that the Western genre and only the Western genre uses. It implements a plethora of camera angles. The Western genre does implement numerous amounts of medium shots, close shots and extreme close shots. The genre heavily relies of close shots as during the Western times there wasn't much going on in the background. From movie to movie you would also get many tracking and panning shots. Scenery is an important aspect in western movies and it wouldn't be surprising if you found an establishing or panning shot in all western films. The Mis- En-Scene in these films are subjugated to the time period. Which means its always the same. Cowboy attire is the main attraction and any clothing found in that time period. Editing in this genre is simple. The amount of visual effects found in this films are nowhere near the amount found in a Sci-Fi. The effects are minimal and can only be lighting fixes, cuts and anything of the sorts. Some examples of Western films are Django Unchained, The Assassination of Jesse James and The Hateful Eight. Common sound in my genre is old time music. Most soundtracks will consist of traditional instruments and not any computer sounds. Sounds like gunshots and horses are found in these films. I like the action in my genre, the action is raw and real. I can really resonate with what's happening because its grounded in real life. I don't like the culture in film, there isn't anyone I can resonate with due to the time period. 

Musicals are a genre where they sing. Musicals have traditional camera angles and mostly medium shots and also wide shots to show everything that is happening since most of the time people are singing and dancing. The Mis-En- Scene is heavily dependant on what is happening in the movie. With a movie like Cats the costumes were cat costumes and its located in a house where cats would be. Editing in Musicals is mostly sound implementation. They mostly do the singing in post then re add it to the scene for better audio. My genre elements mostly consist of singing and dancing, that is basically what a musical is. Some examples of a musical is obviously High School Musical and Teen Beach Movie and Cats. Most sounds are the music and the voices of the actor, the soundtrack is the main appeal of a musical. I like the music and the dancing and how energetic the movies are. I hate how the songs can sometimes be consistently bad and annoying.

Genre Research: Powerpoint

The genre we used for the powerpoint at the beginning of the school year was action. We looked at everything that the typical action genre film may have. The usually lighting, camera angles, movements, sounds, and elements. Action films are known for keeping the audience excited and on the edge of their seat. To include the sounds in action films, we inserted a clip of the sound of an explosion. We talked about the different elements such as fighting scenes, chase scenes, and even CGI these are all the parts that make up an action film. There are quite a variety of different genres and action is one of the most appealing to audiences.

Final Pitch

The first pitch we narrowed down to was the Iranian war. This movie topic really doesn’t contain pros to it because it involves war so there will be many more cons than pros. The Iranian war pitch contains cons such as war, death, altercations, world dominance, and many other factors. These cons will allow the topic of war to be put out more and show a real visual of what war is like. We got this off of what is happening today in our country, the United States vs. Iran. Other cons that could come with this pitch is government schemes, nuclear warfare, and etc. The pros that come with this pitch could possibly be world peace, nuclear deals, and etc. We believe the cons will completely counteract the pros and will be a more violent movie throughout everything. The entire movie will most likely contain other problematic things such as other countries being involved to find peace with each other.

Our second pitch involves a sensei and his student. There will also be many cons in this movie pitch because the topic involves the student almost killing his sensei due to his newfound martial arts strength and abilities. The movie will be in chronological order in which the sensei has to team up with an old friend to revoke his pupil’s abilities. There will also be showings of the extent the student will go to, to obtain even greater power. The only pros will possibly be the sensei remembering the good times he shared with his pupil and only taking away these abilities and not ending his life. Although there will be a lot of money to gain in theaters as it is an action film and action is a genre that usually does well. Another pro is there’s a lot of different ideas that could be added to the overall movie to keep the audience tuned in. Looking at the creator's perspective, a film like this is also a lot easier to create as you would only have to get certain costumes and film different fighting scenes. And because we’re only making the beginning of the film, the flashback fight only has to be around 30 seconds and using different camera angles and takes that shouldn’t be too difficult. Although this pitch does contain a couple of cons, overall the pros definitely outweigh the cons. 

I think it’s clear as to what pitch we’ve decided to use. The sensei gets revenge plot is an action-packed film that would gain a lot of popularity. The real focus is how will we acting create the film. It’s going to take a group effort from everyone and a great amount of time. If done well this film can actually look really interesting. And this is going to be the most entertaining project to make as it will be able to create actual fight scenes. Shooting those scenes and editing them to perfection is what’s going to bring our film together. And playing the part will also be very important. Meaning that we’ll actually need costumes for the sensei and student. A red liquid to replace blood and scenes shot at different times of the day. We will definitely need multiple days to film certain scenes if needed to make the great final project.

Starting the Final Task

My name is Marckins, and I am a 10th-grade student at Fort Lauderdale Highschool. I like to listen to and play music often. I listen to a lot of variety of artist that usually make hip-hop or rap music. My two favorite artists are Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole and personally, I think they're at the top of the rap industry. I play two instruments as well those being guitar and trumpet. I've been playing guitar for an entire decade but the last couple of years I haven't been as consistent. I started playing the trumpet in 7th-grade in school but I'm also in a funeral band. I have other hobbies such as producing a beat on a laptop and playing video games. On this project, I'll be working with the same two people. Quincy and Aridsondez. This final project will hopefully be more fun as we know how each other act and are skilled at.

Throughout this school year, we've done two previous projects, the commercial and the music video. Out of the two projects I definitely enjoyed both but we as students were able to be more free with our recording with the music video. The time that we had to record the commercial was very limited as we had around 90 minutes (one class period) or less to finish everything. Although we were able to get it done, it would've been a lot better if we filmed it at home or a separate location like the music video. The music video was a lot more fun to create as we got to choose what song we used and where we recorded and what we wore. I learned with the commercial that we need to use our time wisely. On the music video, I learned that we need to pick the time for when we record wisely as the first day we recorded the sun went down quicker than we expected. When I think about what I bring to the group, I think that I bring the leadership aspect to it. There are times where Quincy and Aridsondez look at me to make a certain decision. With this trait, it also brings ideas that we might have to implement on the fly to get the projected finished.

A pitch is a Hollywood term to describe an idea where a film is encapsulated in 25 words or less. This is also known as an elevator pitch and is usually within one sentence. The first pitch idea that we came up with is based on an Iranian war. One day the main character receives mail that states that he’s been drafted to the next world war against Iran and after he forgets government officials knock at his door giving him the option to either fight in the war or go to jail for life. For our second pitch, we thought that we could possibly make a film out of a guy who’s a rapper and is angry at his mentor for murdering his father and he makes an oath to get revenge. Lastly, we thought that it would be cool to make a film about a student and his sensei. The beginning of the film would be a flashback from the sensei fighting his student and losing to him. The student has seen how strong he is and wants to use his power for evil. The sensei gets help from an old friend and realizes that they have to team up and wipe his memory of the martial arts he’s learned. As a group, we’ve decided that our last pitch is more thought out and would be manageable to create.

This is me and my group mates brainstorming different pitch ideas.

And this is me working on the beginning of this blog.