Short Film vs. Feature Length Film

 The short film and the feature film for the 9 were both good in their own categories. I feel like the short was a good way to start the audience off with that the movie could be. And the feature film gave us exactly what was expected. The concept of the entire story is amazing. The short was quick to the point with what Shane Acker wanted the story to be. With such a unique world, the feature film elaborated on what happened and it all made sense. What the short film had that the feature film didn't was the lack of dialogue. The lack of dialogue made the film more interesting because you had to focus only on the animation. With just the animation, the director was able to get his point across perfectly. While also having the outline for the main story. 

The feature film in my opinion was a good extension of the short film. Unlike the short film, it had dialogue between the character. It also gave the full story of the numbers and what occurred in the world. With the dialogue between characters, it's easy to see how each number acts and the role they play within the group. I do like how in both films the beast was killed differently instead of sharing the same way. Out of the two versions of the film I enjoyed the feature film more. Although I did enjoy the short film. The short film really did intrigue me because of the lack of dialogue but because of the director's ability to keep the audience engaged. The feature film gave me the full movie experience. Meaning introduce the characters, conflicts, and ending. Having an in-depth version of the story is what sold me.

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Research 9 | The Feature Film

9 as a feature film was a good movie. I personally enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. From the beginning of the movie, I didn't know what was really going on but just based on the setting I knew that the film would be interesting. I liked how we didn't get an immediate explanation of what happened in the world. Instead, Nine is just as confused as the audience at the beginning of the film. When Nine leaves the first room and sees what the world looks like, I'm already curious as to what happens. Throughout the film, the audience is slowly shown each number without any specific order. Although I liked that, when Three and Four were introduced they never said their numbers so while watching you just had to guess who they were. Another thing I noticed around the end of the film is the character design between all the numbers. Each design created by the scientist was different as if he already knew that he'd have exactly nine numbers in total since Nine looks the most refined.

The story developed quite well in my opinion. When One told Nine that they just need to stay safe and wait until the beast died and Nine refused, leading to the death of Two. It made me think that Nine's drive to end the chaos that was occurring was extremely necessary. If Nine didn't try to kill the Beast, who knows how long it would've stayed like that. I liked how the Machine was tied into the story. It showed the backstory of what happened in the world. It shows that the scientist created what ended the world. For his last act to try to save the world he created Nine with the purpose to destroy the Machine. At the end of the film when Seven asked "What happens next?" it really did leave me wondering what next. The rain was a nice touch to the ending that indicates that life can grow again but is the human population going to come back? If not how do Nine and the other numbers repopulate if they do? It'd be interesting to know what happens next.

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Research 9 | The Short

 9 as a short film was very intriguing. For starters, throughout watching it I was engaged the entire time. That says a lot especially since there wasn't any dialogue. For Shane Acker to create just characters along with a very vague story and keep the audience watching is really shocking. These characters are clearly in a world that looks run down and abandoned. They start off fiddling with a light bulb, then with the actions that they start to have the audience can easily notice that there's something or someone around. One of the characters tells the other to grab the light bulb and run, as he gets caught and his ''soul" gets taken. Then the entire rest of the short film the other character running away from the beast until the beast falls to its death. But there's clearly information that we're missing. It makes the audience wonder where they are, who are they, and what's their backstory. 

The short film does a great job of making the audience care for the characters. Near the end of the film, you see one of the characters jump onto his creation that was shown at the beginning of the film to kill the beast. While watching it I completely forgot that scene happened until I watch it again. In the first watch, I also didn't realize that the main part of the film was a flashback. After the part where the character kills the beast, we see what occurred after he had the flashback. With the device that the two characters had and the device that the monster had, he was able to bring back his friend and/or his friend's soul. There are so many questions that can be asked about the short film. Such as what was that device and who were the other souls that were released? In such a short time span I was fully engaged in the film. I feel like having such an elaborate setting is a big part of why the film was so great. The setting only could make the audience simply wonder, what happened.

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Genre Choice for Film

 The genre I chose for my film is drama. Out of the three, I thought could possibly work drama just fit the best. The pitch I created isn't anything that's too unrealistic and the story is what really drives it. In drama films, the story is the main driving point that creates the entire film. The spy film would require more spy film aspects other than an attempt to sneak in. One of the characters in my film is going to try to sneak into a house steal and although this does correlate to spy movies that aspect alone isn't enough. To make my movie a horror film there would need to be way more of a scary feel to it and that's not quite how I imagine the film being. The drama genre fits my pitch the best without having to make many changes to the pitch. I imagine having a scene that's kind of open to the audience's interpretation. The two characters are going to be looking at each other back in forth before one of them decides to let the other go. 

The best way to make this project succeed is in the drama genre in my opinion. There could be no clear protagonist. The story is the main aspect driving the film. And it could all be done in a short time span. Drama is the genre needed to create the film I imagine. It would be cool to maybe add aspects from the other two genres. Still not sure if I'd add horror because it doesn't really fit. Although adding a couple more spy kind of scenes would make the film more engaging. I think under this genre the film will come out great. All that's left to do is begin the filming process. 

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Genre Research | Spy And Thriller

Spy movies often times have close-ups, extreme close-ups, and over the shoulder shots. In spy films, there is background music that fits spy movies specifically well. Movies such as James Bond or even The Incredibles they have music that fits a sneaky kind of feel. Typically in spy movies, the main cast is wearing an all-black outfit to fit in with the surroundings. The lighting for spy movies varies as some scenes may be bright and others may be dark, but not too dark to see. Like when a character sneaks into the typical all-white room compared to the back alleyway that usually is dark. Spy movies have their star actors such as Tom Cruise or Jason Statham. Spy films do have their usual props such as the detonation control, or the spy car. There have been multiple spy movies that have a character sneaking into an all-white room from the roof with lasers that they have to avoid. There's also the usual headquarters that the main cast uses. The most popular spy movies are the James Bond or Tom Cruise movies. And for children, the most known spy movies are the Spy Kids trilogy and The Incredibles trilogy.

In horror movies, the camera angles are usually low angle shots, tilted angle, close-ups, panning or tracking,  and bird's eye view/high angle. Sometimes the horror movie may include a handheld camera scene to increase realism. Horror movies have a recognizable sound. To make the movie scary and creepy they often have a child screaming in the background. There's also always eerie music that would send shivers down the audience's body. The clothing in horror movies are usually just ordinary clothes expect the characters that are kidnapping or killing the main cast, they often wear a scary hockey mask or have blood on their clothing. Horror film majority of the time is shot in a dark setting so there's just enough lighting for the audience to see what's going on. The makeup in horror films mostly consistent with fake blood on some parts of the character's body. The props used are usually knives of some sort or maybe a handgun. The setting of a horror movie would most likely take place in a house or different locations in a town. 

via GIFER

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Genre Research | Drama

 In the drama genre, the common shots are close up, long shot, bird's eye/high angle shot, over the shoulder shot, medium shot, and extreme close up. The common angles and movements in a genre angle are high angles, panning, tilting, and zooming. The sounds in a drama film are mostly dialogue. Clamps are a very important part of a drama film. The costumes are usually regular clothes. The makeup is simple makeup to make the actors look more presentable. The actors in a drama film definitely change how well the movie will do. An actor who is known to be a really good actor will make certain scenes stand out more than others. The props aren't usually anything special, maybe a knife or something similar. And the setting definitely sets the mood for the whole scene changing how well and real the scene can feel. 

Common editing in the drama genre is adding various different shots of an important moment. When there's a climactic scene in a movie the director will take shots from multiple different angles for dramatic effect. The jump cuts are usually clean between the end of a scene. Popular drama movies are films such as Highschool Musical, Twilight, and The Breakfast Club. I find drama movies kind of relatable. In drama movies where the main cast is teens, the suspense between the characters or the awkwardness is intriguing. And sometimes the drama aspect somehow makes the film funny. Although I don't like how drama films are predictable. It's not rare to find a drama film where the audience can usually guess how the movie ends without even watching it. The film can also overexaggerate how the cause and effect of a character's action will have a huge unrealistic change in the entire film.

Drama Lion King GIF from Drama GIFs

Genres I Would Like to Research

 The kind of movie I imagine my pitch to be would fall under Drama, Spy, or maybe Thriller. The movie wouldn't be that cheerful of a movie. These three genres are more low key kind of. They all share a certain feel that gives suspense. I haven't watched many movies under these three genres so it's going to be interesting. Without having done the research yet I feel like my pitch could be made under one of these genres. The drama aspect comes from the story. The spy aspect comes from the fact that one character is trying to rob another. And the third is kind of a stretch but there is a slight thrill that comes from a sneaky type of film. It may be possible that if shot correctly the film could fall under all three genres well. 

The other genre I thought might fit my pitch was horror. But for a horror film, there would need to be something actually scary. And a lot of the time characters are killed off somehow. That's usually a big indication that the movie is under the horror genre. My pitch could be made into a horror film if altered a little, but the pitch wasn't made under that intention. I want my movie to have the suspense needed without overdoing it. I feel like both drama and thriller would have this but not so much spy. One of these genres is definitely going to be the one I'll use. Although I'm leaning toward drama. But I'm not 100 percent sold on any of them.

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