AICE Media Studies

      Good morning and good evening. The short film me and my teammates made was released last Sunday. It was about two friends and represented a struggle between cultural and internal differences. Lucky, the main character, is a believer of superstitions and sticks closely to her beliefs. Charmie, our secondary supporting but also maybe main character, is dismissive and ununderstanding of Lucky’s beliefs, most notably about her 7 years of bad luck, even going as far as trying to disprove her. Subtly, Charmie at the beginning was placed in low angles to show a sense of power and throughout the story becomes on the same angle level to show how she started to believe Lucky. Through costuming, Charmie is wearing darker colors to metaphorically show how she is “in the dark” about the superstitions, how they are very real but she is disbelieving. Lucky, in contrast, wears green (the color of clovers, a representation of good luck) and pink (a color representing innoc...

Links are provided in case photos or videos do not load on blog.  https://www.canva.com/design/DAGhAC9kdrE/OlppMHntOeLR6kGkKIhoLA/view?utm_content=DAGhAC9kdrE&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=hf768d6122a https://perrypool90.wixsite.com/knock-on-wood https://youtube.com/watch?v=dfeP59Ea-uA&si=_yb_j0b0XqamEuWY

      Good morning and good evening! The team started by gathering what would be recording today. My teammate recorded the scene where Lucky finds out she bad luck ends. The scene was split the scene into 4 shots. To add more comedy, the team and I had out cameraman voice the final line. "Oh yea!" like the kooaid man. Me and the team were giggling the whole time it was being done. It was so much fun. I also randomly started dating Lucky's sister apparently. Two scenes reference it, but only one says date, the other says salsa. Most of the scenes were filmed at my house today, but a few were filmed downstairs. For example, one scene has Lucky moving a gate because a museum is closed. While another has Lucky getting an apple Charmie thought would fall on her head. There is still two more scenes to film and one voiceover I have to do. Just the beginning and ending ironically. This is mostly due to the lack of latter, and lack of breakable mirror. But considering both the plo...

      Good morning and good evening! Yes it has been a day. I've just been ideally doing the card. It seems easy but I want to be satisfied with it before I present it to you all. Getting the colors correctly has been the most difficult. Should it be grey? Or should it have a blue tint? Maybe the background should be blue-grey, the highlights should be a light blue and the words be a dark blue-grey. Then, there are the other questions. Should the social media accounts stand out? Should they blend in? For example, if they did stand in, I would desaturate them. Standing out would be leaving them normal. And maybe being cheeky and making X the old twitter logo. The bright colors would definitely stand out, but I think it would look bad. In the meantime, I've jus been watching super mario odyssey videos. I'm hoping the bright colors and the creativeness will stimulate the flow in my brain. Watching people cheese and break the game is mostly just fun, and brings a little more ...

      Good morning and good evening! So i met one of my teammates for filming at around 5PM. First we went to go over what exactly we would film. Then we started on the second scene. This was the first duo scene and also the easiest to film with just two people. It was decided to change the popcorn burning in a house to running into something at the mall. I also filmed some of the bad effect scenes, such as finding a tails-up penny. One Charmie trying to disprove Lucky was filmed as well. It was with the clover field and the dog poop. I think a still need to film a voice over for one scene with Lucky and a Bee. There were some scenes that needed another person to film because they were duo scenes. Therefore, we got my teammates mom to film about one scene. Everything else could be faked into looking like a shot reverse shot. After a while, me and my partner just decided to film more on sunday, march first. Mostly it was decided to film some home scenes, maybe our solo sce...

     Good morning and good evening! Business is going. I wanted to name this blog like 'Video!" or "Filming!" but I remembered those names should be reserved for the actual final movie. Just to avoid confusion. Side note: my nail is killing me and I need to book an appointment to get my nails done before filming. They are too long, snag on everything and kill me. My parents came back from Puerto Rico and you'll never believe it. My mom got sick with a 102 fever. It's BAD and very worrying. This doesn't have a lot to do with filming but it shares my mindset and where I'm going to be at with the final project going on. I also have to make sure I either get my haircut before all filming or when it's done. I need a little self-maintenance, basically. I'm a little bit of a mess right now. But we are going to be filming on Wednesday so it's likely I'll be doing it all after filming, just so everything in the scenes is consistent incase we ha...

(this photo isn't accurate, but I thought it was funny.)      Good morning and good evening! It's been weird a little. The filming in groups hasn't been going well for one reason or another. It's kinda annoying. Either I can't met cause the family's sick and I need to take care of them. OR my groupmates aren't feeling well themselves. Or they have after school things. Overall, going eh. Therefore, we made another meeting time net Wednesday. A whole week for everyone to sort themselves out. We still have another three week to edit and film, so I'm not too worried. But it's still getting a little too close for my liking. I already have a lot to deal with in my school classes, so it's a little unnerving. I think the group will be fine though. Me and a groupmate had to work to the bone on the last day last time. If need be, I'd do it again to get it finished in time. I'm just thankful I'm not the editor this time. It was stressful and I c...

     Good morning and good evening! These past few days I've been working on the card more closely. As I mentioned before, I've made some accounts for the social media portion. However, there is still other stuff to do. I also have to include a QR code of the website. So I found a QR code maker and uploaded the website onto there so I can put it on the card. Luckily, the websites already been made and is being managed by another group member. I also have to include a premier date. There is already one set by the teacher so I have that set. Finally I have to include the title. Duh. I have all the info, so I'm also going to out everyone who worked on the project. It's all been going very well. The hardest part is making it all look nice while still sticking to my mirror theme. I don't want to have to switch. I'm quite attached to it. I've been wondering if I should add other superstitions. Like a black cat or a coin to make it more obvious. Possibly numbers or...

    Good morning and good evening! I've recorded some of my solo scenes, such as one in my living room. It's the scene where I'm answering the phone. The most trouble I had with the scene was getting everyone out and the dogs to be quiet. That or actually recording at the right time. Often, the only time all the conditions are met is when my parents are walking both the dogs. The most hiccups I've had actually have been related to my family. My sister got sick so she's been staying with me and my parents. It also means I've had practically no time to properly record without coughing in the background. It's annoying but also my sisters sick so I can't say much. My parents are also planning a trip to Puerto Rico, I believe I said this before. So I will possibly have all the time when they go. Because my sisters getting better she'll be able to take care of me. Side note: training my dogs has been going well so they've been quieter overall. The fami...

    Good morning and good evening! Progress on the card has been going well. Because it's based on superstitions, I want to do this mirror design. Additionally, the websites have been made and given a cool domain name. Now for the project I need to either make a sock account, or make an actual account for the mini-movie. Though, I'm not sure on whether I want to make it themed around the characters or make it about the production. It would be pretty cool to have the accounts named after Lucky and Charmie. For example, Lucky's profile picture would be a four leafed clover. Charmie's would be a good luck charm. I've thought about it so much but being about the production is more straightforward. It's also more convenient because i wouldn't have to pretend to be in character. I'll think on the decision and come back next blog with the answer. That or I'll have come up with an even better idea. On the other hand, I'm trying to figure out Charmie'...

 Good morning and good evening! The plans didn't go through. With all the homework and my dog stuff the plans weren't finalized and i wasn't able to go on Saturday. My parents are also making plans to go to Puerto Rico for family stuff. Overall, it's been a little tense. The team and I have tried to put a focus into getting this done so we aren't rushing. I also remembered the website and card that are needed. I'll ask my teacher when I see her next about it. One of my other teammates has the website planning. I have the card. The other teammates has a lot of afterschool activities and will be out of state a lot so we cut her some slack. I've also been swamped swamped with work, it's really a lot. I can't allow myself to fall behind so it's been a struggle a little. Funfact, my sister has her college spring break a month early. Which means a lot of my moms time has been spent making plans for her to go to my uncles. Which means I've been stuc...

 Good morning and good evening! my team and I have been discussing plans for filming, seeing what can be done alone and how many locations are needed. It's been troubling though, everyone's been having problems with scheduling, because of afterschool practice or other things. For example, my family's been over, and my mom wants everyone to spend time with them. The team has made plans however and me and another member will be finalizing location and time throughout the week. There has also been a discussion around props and what will be used, such as a mirror that needs to be broken. Actually, it's been a lot of fun trying to find ways to prevent a 7 year bad luck streak for the person who has to break the mirror. Things like "crush it up and throw it into a river" have been super fun to look into. Other then that on the team front it's been quite, everyone's swamped with school work and it's been challenging managing it all. I have to talk to my t...

  Good Morning and good evening! The storyboard for the mini-movie was finished, so here are the rough plans. (Note: the two main characters are in bright colors to make them pop out from the background, aka the main characters aren't actually yellow and blue)  Scene one is of the main character, Lucky, getting the bad luck that sets the story into motion. It is meant to set up her character, she freaks out at both the cat and the breaking of the mirror, two very common signs of bad luck, showing how supersitius she is already.  The second scene shows Lucky telling the other main character, Charmie, about the 7 years of bad luck for the mirror after Charmie mades a side comment about her being unlucky after Lucky burns popcorn. Charmie doesn't actually believe doing things or saying words will cause bad luck, and so this is the primary conflict. The next scene is just show what exactly her bad luck is, as well has showing it to Charmie, the bad luck presents itself has be...

Good morning and good evening!   Titles are everything in a movie, it's how you recognizes  and share films. When making one, you take many things into consideration. Things like the genre, theme and message. The film me and our partners are making is comedy about superstitions, so we looked into the origin of the word when we started it. Superstition came from old wives tales and those came from fearing the gods, so I suggested " Old wives fear the gods." Simple and straightforward, however it doesn't match with the overall theme, hopefully funny and goofy. So another one suggested was "Its not fear, its annoyance," to show how the main character is feeling about the whole thing. Annoyed. But that felt off. So we come up with some to match the original idea about mirrors. Like "Shattersitions" or "Seven years later." But one seemed too close to a certain curse word and the other sounds like a thriller or romance. We almost did "Tail...

  Good morning and Good evening! My teammates and I have open schedules most days. The only issues for me is that I'm not free some Sundays, as I have work this year. I'm doing an internship with which messes with schedules. I also now take college classes in person on Tuesday's and Thursdays, so even if all of us have the day off. I wouldn't be able to film unless early in the day. Although there is a chance one of us may fall ill. This shouldn't be an issue as with the edits skills a person can just be added in. An with extra filming days as I'm not focusing on swimming as much. So, there will be more time to recover a scene. If issues do appear, my teammates and I will discuss what needs to be done. Likely making new arrangements for the movie. So far, our schedules match up. There have been no issues with discussing what needs to be done. All of us hope to record together so everything goes smoothly. Our backup plan is likely to record in pairs and not with ...

Good Morning and good evening! This is the working/draft script we have so far, both major and minor changes will be made to match things as we work them out :) Location: ????? (Main characters home)  *Breaks a mirror* Lucki Location: (Charmie's House) Lucki* knocks on Charmie's door* Charmie Dialogue: Hey, you made it. Lucki Dialogue: Yup *Happy expression* *Charmie moves out the way to let Lucki in* Charmie Dialogue: You want some water  Lucki Dialogue: Su- *Lucki trips and falls* Charmie Dialogue: You ok *worried expression before looking in confusion* Charmie Dialogue: The carpet/couch wasn't there earlier? Location: Outside the mall by a fountain Charmie Dialogue: This was fun Lucki Dialogue: Ya it was, I'm happy nothing bad happened Charmie Dialogue: Today can't get ruined anyways *They sit on a fountain as a kid plays ball near them* Lucki Dialogue: Shouldn't we move from the fountain what if my bad luck hits *Charmie shrugs not believing the bad luck* *T...

Good morning and good evening!  More original ideas for me, and more enjoyment for you when my movie comes out. Today's Short Film is SEE SAW. Below I answer some things about the comedy genre overall from the film. A. Mostly natural noises and background noises in this short. Like a phone ringing or dinging from messages. As well as tv or just the main guy talking. There's some upbeat music fills in the silent moments as the character does stuff.  B. The costume is just a basic clothing, at home outfit because throughout the movie he was home. However, in other comedies they may change more often. There's not a lot of make-up at least not prominently, in comedy unless you're trying to dress up as something maybe a monster or such. The lighting really helps show how the main character feels throughout everything happening in the short film. The only props may be the clock and the phone and other items around the house maybe even the car at the end. Which would be the sa...

(this photo is not one from the minimovie) Good morning and good evening!  To make more original ideas for my movie. Today's Short Film is A SZIV KERTJE (The Garden of Heart). Below I answered somethings about the comedy genre overall from the film.  A. Upbeat, and usually speech of some form. As sometimes they crack jokes or make conversation. Sometimes it's more of a blurry noise in the background that is peaceful as people enjoy the jokes being spoking or the stories in the moment. The sound is supposed to give a happy feeling without blocking out the funny aspects going on throughout the movie. B. There isn't a lot of costume as this is an animation. There isn't a lot of make-up or acting as it is an animation. The Lighting show cases the facial movement and expressions of the characters, especially how their feeling in each moment. Which is important in most movies. There aren't really props but for sets, it goes scene by scene in a fluid motion. Each showcasin...

Common Sound When the film isn't focused on the characters, the film uses music which is a cutaway from the silent moment of the characters. Which when paired with another recurring scene, creates comedy. Hearing a strange sound randomly creates a sense of unexpected comedy. Common Mis-En-Scene The actors really fit their roles. In this film, you can genuinely believe that the old lady does not know how to use her phone, which makes it all the funnier (although a bit sad.) The acting is realistic, which immerses the viewer deeper. Great immersion can make films funnier Common Editing A close-up to a character's surprised face is common and funny. Cutaways were used to distract the viewer, allowing them to process what happened Which Elements I Enjoy I enjoy that inherently funny comedy can be paired with darker themes to pull your heart in both directions. I enjoyed the funny reactions of a character, especially when the situation was so simple. Which Elements I Dislike I don...

  Common Sound Non-diegetic sound in the form of music is used very frequently to express a mood. Diegetic sound effects to show something happened. Common Mis-En-Scene They pay great attention to text anywhere, whether it is on a shirt or on a menu for comedic punch. Outfits fit the environment, and a change of outfit can comedically show when an environment is different. Common Editing There are subtitles for a language barrier joke. Many reverse shots to show the reactions of the sisters. Extreme close up used to emphasize pennies which is used for comedy. Which Elements I Enjoy I love how the first character interaction we see is a joke, a bid crude, but the unexpectedness made me laugh. I like the small jokes, that shows a lot of effort went into making it. Which Elements I Dislike Naturally the problem with comedy is that it's objective, so of course I may dislike some jokes. I personally don't like how sometimes jokes play out too long. For instance, one line may be a jo...