Title Website Research

To be honest, when I first heard the about a title design I was very confused! This was the first time I have even heard of that term in film. So when I learned that I needed to include it in my final task, I knew I needed to research what exactly a title design is! I ended up finding two websites that helped clarify.

The first website I found was called artofthetitle.com. Finding this website was like finding gold. It has tons of title designs from every genre, decade, and title designer you can imagine! They had title design from some of my favorite movies! Some of the favorites that I spotted were Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Aquaman, and Venom. One neat feature of this website is the many categories it sorts its title designs. They organize them by designer, studio, nominations and more. This makes it easier to navigate their website and conduct thorough research. 

The other website I found is called watchthetitles.com. This website is similar to the previous one and even has unique categories like "student project" and "video game" title designs. I'm so glad I came across these two websites. They have given me many phenomenal examples of title sequences and helped clarify what exactly a title design is. They help prelude the film by using expressive motion-graphics. They are crucial for setting the tone of the movie and prepares the audience for what they are about to experience. Titles sequences are basically the first impression of a movie! If a person is not intrigued by the opening sequence or doesn't like it, they probably won't tune in for the rest of the movie.

Genre Research: Us

 I just watched US, directed Jordyn Peele, as a part of my genre research. After researching the codes and conventions for the horror genre, I couldn't help but spot a lot of them in this movie.

This movie used costumes to differentiate between the good guys and the villain's. When the audience sees someone wearing a red jumpsuit, they knew who was the doppelganger. This detail becomes important towards the end of the movie, when the mom's reveal that their roles are switched. Lighting is an important factor in creating the movie's suspense. Dark, creepy lighting sparks fear in the audience because of the potential dangers in the shadows. The actors also don't know what's lurking in the shadows too, so the audience feeds off of the actor's "fear." I also thought the use of minimal make-up in the movie was a different approach, since many horror movies use make-up for ghosts and ghouls. I think this movie wanted to look as real as possible in order for the audience to connect. Making the humans look normal makes the movie arguably scarier because these villains look just like normal people. However, the setting of the movie was a common feature found in horror movies. It took place in a secluded, remote area. This allows the characters to run into conflict without much obstacles. Scissors were the main prop, and the most recognizable feature of this movie. The iconic, long, sharp scissors became a staple of Us and follows the common horror convention: having weapons as props.

The biggest editing feature of this movie was editing the same actor and making them appear to be separate people. The doppelganger villains are what Us is known for. This movie also edits a lot of zoom-ins to show the actors frightened face.

A common shot that appeared in this film were close-ups. Specifically, the close-ups would commonly show tears running down the actor's, Lupita Nyung'o, face. The shot showed her crying with a seemingly straight face. This shows the audience that she doesn't want to show her fear, but it can't but leak out, letting the audience connect with her and feel her intense emotions.

The feature I enjoyed watching the most was the close up of Nyung'o's face. The close-up combined with her brilliant acting left me with chills. I enjoyed the editing of a doppelganger, but I don't think I would use that for my final task. It seems too advanced for my group and I to accomplish! Every single I spotted was utilized brilliantly and contributed to this excellent movie!

Genre Research: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

I just watched The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It as a part of my genre research. After researching the codes and conventions for the horror genre, I couldn't help but spot a lot of them in the movie.

Once camera shot I saw a lot was a point-of-view shot. For example, when Arne Johnson was looking around in his house for a ghost, the camera viewed the house from his perspective. This made the audience feel the fear and anxiety Arne felt when searching his home. Another common camera movement was a tracking shot. The movie used it a lot for jump scares and revealing demons in the shadows. For instance, Arne finishes searching his and doesn't fin anything, thinking that everything is normal. The camera moves in the same direction as he and reveals a demon in front of him. This camera technique inserts the audience deeper into Arne's point-of-view because we are experiencing the same scares, at the same time, as Arne.

Furthermore, this movie contained many common horror mis-en-scene components. They used lots of dark and gloomy lighting. The shadows created by the dark lighting creates suspension and fear because the audience doesn't know what will pop out at them. They also used "dead" looking makeup for the ghouls that pop out at Arne. Additionally, they used common horror movie props like blood, knives, and occult items.

Another common occurrence I found was the use of sound. When Lorraine Warren was having a vision in the woods, the music would get louder as an event builds up. Then, when there is a moment of suspense, the music goes silent. Finally, when the jump scare happens, the music gets extremely loud to emphasize the fear.

The two editing features I saw in the movie was a zoom-in and a cut. One example of a zoom was featuring the scared expression of Lorraine Warren when she saw discovered something frightening. The movie made a lot of cuts in between scenes, whether for a jump scare or to leave the audience in suspense.

The features I liked most in this movie was the use of dark lighting and the zoom-ins of the actors scared expressions. I really want to incorporate these methods in my film. Even though I like this feature, I probably wouldn't use scary make-up in our film because I feel like none of us are talented enough to make it look untacky.

Genre Research: It Chapter Two

After watching It Chapter Two, we noticed a variety of elements that umbrella the horror genre. This movie had tracking shots, point of view shots, tilts, pans, and close ups. We all enjoyed the close ups and tracking shots because it created a chilling suspense towards it. Whenever the clown was making an appearance the close up on him made it very frightening. For example, when Bill was stuck in the House of Mirrors at the carnival with the clown the close ups made it very scary. As you saw the clown repeatedly bang is head into the mirrors vividly, it drew my attention and made us feel as if we were apart of the movie. The fear really creeps in when you believe you are in that character's position. Additionally when It the clown arrives there is always a non diegetic sound that associates with him. As the audience when that sound plays you know he is about to arrive. We did enjoy this because it makes you want to protect the characters in the movie when that song arrives. As for the pan and tilt it gave a good summary of the setting. When another scene was going to occur the pan and tilt introduced the viewers to the next setting. Without all of these elements the movie would seem very lifeless and not feel like a horror film. When it came to the dark lightning since the contrast was not very extreme the surprising scares made it even more thrilling. Not being able to see what will come at you can create that nervousness in the audience, making the scene very dramatic. As the audience we really want to incorporate these elements as we want to make our audience feel what we felt. Although the whole point of a horror is too create frightening content, we do not want to include anything that is too gory and could possibly be unappealing to our viewers. In the movie when there were close ups, they usually showed very bloody imagery that could drive an audience away.

Our Decision

After a lengthy discussion about the three genres that have been researched, my partners and I have decided to choose horror. When we brainstormed ideas, we were left with two ways to interpret our pitch. We thought about approaching our idea with horror at first. The pitch is about a girl who lives in a creepy town and finds herself in a creepy forest, obviously having horror undertones. However, we thought about approaching this idea in an unconventional way: comedy.

The inspiration we have for this idea is the film Scary Movie. We know that horror is commonly picked for the final task project, so we wanted to think outside the box. We discussed whether we have the talent to write a funny script and if it could be funny in only the first two minutes of a movie. We also discussed if any of us had the ability to deliver a funny script. After this talk, we ultimately decided that the film may not translate in the humorous way we want. We decided it’d be best if we just stuck to the obvious theme of our pitch: horror.

We also discussed making our pitch into a love story. We thought about using a “creepy town” as a situation to develop a love connection between two actors. However, our group wanted to stray away from the love stories because our last two projects had a love theme. We were tired of the romantic theme and wanted to try something new. Plus, we thought a romance theme would be difficult to convey in only two minutes as well.

After discussing the romance and comedy genres, our group knew we were probably going to lean towards the horror choice. It could be conveyed in two minutes and we all really connect with the horror movies. All of us enjoy the suspenseful feeling accompanied with watching films in this genre and want a chance to create it ourselves. 

So, our group has decided to choose the horror genre for our final task!

Genre Research: Horror

 One genre we were looking into was horror. I spent about 3 days researching the codes and conventions of this genre, and I think I have a pretty good understanding of it!

Some common camera angles in a horror film are:

extreme close-ups: emphasizes scared facial expressions

tilt: to show disorientation

establishing shot: establishes the films location

handheld: to make the shots look realistic

tracking shot: to follow the main character and build suspense

point-of-view: allows the audience to relate to the character and feel their emotions

dolling: makes the audience believe a character is being watched or followed, which contributes to fear.

Some common Mis-en-Scene:

secluded locations are a common setting to allow the main character to get harmed with little obstacles. They are usually dark and abandoned places.

the monsters or scary actor in horror films usually wear heavy make-up to make them look super-natural or unordinary. This can include blood.

the clothes for regular characters tend to stay away from bright, loud colors. They still to neutral colors to add to the depressing atmosphere of the movie. The clothes for the main antagonist, from killer to ghost, are usually in poor or "creepy" condition. This lets the audience know who the main offender is and lets them know who they should fear.

The lighting for horror movies usually include gloomy, dark colors to maintain a haunting feeling.

Some common sound/music trends are:

horror films often use dramatic music that gets louder when something is about to happen. This effect creates suspense.

Some common props in horror films include weapons, creepy objects, or occult items. This is due to the common theme of death and despair in horror films. Some of these items include:

knives

chainsaws

dolls

crosses

axes

blood

Some popular films in the horror genre include:

Annabelle

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Insidious

The conjuring

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Overall, it was interesting to learn about the features and trends commonly used in horror movies. I personally enjoy horror movies a lot and I would enjoy using every convention I researched. I would be most excited to use the gloomy lighting and handheld camera technique. I feel like this would create a really cool product. The only thing I wouldn't be fond of using is the fake blood. I think it only looks good if applied in the right way and can look cheesy easily. Other than that, the codes and conventions for this genre are really fascinating!

Genre Research: Comedy

Common camera angles we can see The Push (Way Too Far) In, The Pull (Way Too Far) Out, Reveal movement, The Comparison Shot, The Perspective Shot and others. In comedy there aren't specific dress code, just casual normal clothing unless the character needs to dress silly. Lighting is commonly bright or natural light to keep a realistic environment.  Typically characters that are portrayed as "stupid" or “clumsy” to entertain the audience. Little to no makeup is used in comedy. Props are very important in comedy and usually includes props that hurt a character or humiliates them. The settings are usually large social areas that make it clear for the audience to see. In comedy everything is about timing and pace. Editing could be sped up to fit the pace of one scene then slowed down to match the pace for another. It really depends on the situation the characters are in. Diegetic sound such as dialogue needs to be heard in order to be laughed at. Non diegetic sounds can be used to place emphasis in certain scenes. Movies that are in the Comedy genre are "Dumb & Dumber", "Deadpool", "Superbad", "White Chicks" and "Ted". An element we would use from comedy are non diegetic sounds. Non diegetic sounds can help emphasize the importance of a scene or highlight a joke made by a character. We wouldn't want to include comedic characters. These characters wouldn't fit into our pitch and wouldn't help create the fear that the audience is supposed to feel.