The Pitch

 Bella is like any normal teenager. Nothing interesting ever happens to her, well, until now. All of a sudden everyone is acting strange and nothing is like it's been before.

Group Blog

   I have picked a group for my project. It started with my best friend and me, Stephanie. We had been planning for a long time to work together. We were talking about different pitches for our movie. Even before school started we were talking about different ideas that we could film. We came up with a few ideas that we liked. We were thinking of some plots and what we definitely wanted to include. Since we live super close together we started planning things for when we had more information about the project itself. We had decided that it was only going to be her and me together. However, our plans changed. 

   A friend of ours texted us today asking if he could be in our group. We have both known him for a few years. We told him that he could join the group. We all joined in on a FaceTime call. We had to tell him about our plans. We shared our ideas for the project and asked for his input. He liked what we had so far. We also asked him for ideas but he didn't have any yet. We all agreed that this would be our group and we didn't want to include anyone else because it would be too many people and too difficult. For health and safety reasons and because of the pandemic we decided that us 3 would be enough and we all live close together which is good. 

Intro Blog

    I'm so excited to be back in AICE Media A-Level. Last year was really fun and I knew I had to do it again. This year will be even better. Now I know how the class works and what is expected. This year I also have my best friend in my class. I am really excited to work with her on this project. I already love the concept and work for this year and doing it with her will make it even better. I'm excited about all parts of the project. I love that this year we are allowed to be freer and do our own thing. Last year was more structured and learning while this year is more about being hands-on. 

   However, it will not only be all good this year. Since we are in a pandemic it will be difficult to do everything we would want to do. My teammate and I have seen each other regularly so that is not a problem. The problem would be finding a place to film to make the movie how we want it. With all the restrictions down here in Florida it will definitely be an obstacle we will need to tackle. I am sure we will figure it out and do great anyways. We could even film from our homes if the outside and public places are not available. Once the movie is complete, we won't have to go out as much, and we would be able to work "from home." We will still be able to work together but safer. I can't wait to actually start planning and working on the project. I have waited all summer. 

Audience and Institution Essay

Evaluate the impact of media ownership on the media texts which get produced

   In the world of film media ownership and status is very important. When looking at some of the most successful films that have been created, we see a clear pattern. Most of the movies that do the best have been distributed by high status/ well known companies, often the same ones. When it comes to film and distribution there are many companies, but two companies that have done the best is Walt Disney Pictures as well as Universal Studios.

   When a person hears Walt Disney or Universal many different successful movies come to mind, some of these being “Beauty and The Beast” and “Guardians of the Galaxy VOL.2” from Walt Disney Pictures and movies like “Furious 7” and “Jurassic World” by Universal Studios. Disney is in fact the largest media conglomerate in the world and made a total revenue of $38 billion back in 2010. Since these companies are already well known and expected to produce great movies, every time they come out with a new release more and more people will go out and see it to see if it’s as good as the rest. Both Universal and Disney have come out with many films and have been able to observe and adapt to what people like to see and what often ends up being successful. They have the opportunity, unlike many other companies, to experiment with what movies are popular and even if it ends up being a fail, they still have a high status and will get viewers for their next films. These companies having high status and ownership over the media text which is being produced because they have gained the audience trust in them making a movie, they like which makes them grow even more.

   All this makes it hard for other companies to compete. Since these well-known companies basically rule the film industry, it makes it hard for other smaller companies to grow. Smaller companies must try and make movies that are similar to the ones that are successful, based on research within companies like Disney and Universal, but also have to make sure it’s not too alike because then there would be no point in viewing their movie if someone with higher status and budgets already made the same one. And being too diverse will not be beneficial either because it could push away the general audience who have grown to like what these higher-ranking companies put out. Smaller companies need to do a lot of work and research before attempting to compete with these more popular distribution companies in order to make it big.

   The success of a distribution company can be clearly seen when looking at the revenue they make. As stated before, Walt Disney created both “Beauty and The Beast” and “Guardians of the Galaxy VOL.2” which are two very successful movies. After Beauty and The Beast was released it made $1,263,521,126 (1.3 billion) worldwide. And Guardians of the Galaxy VOL.2 made $863,756,051 worldwide after its release. Due to them being distributed by the trusted and well-known company, Disney, it gave them the potential to grow and ended up being huge successes making millions and billions of dollars for the company and inspired for new movies. Universal has experienced the same success through different movies. Furious 7 made $384 million within the first opening week and Jurassic World made over 1 billion dollars in total. These successes also led to a series of movies related to its original made by the same company, like Jurassic World by Universal. There are several distribution companies that have made it big around the world and part of this is because each of the companies create different types of films and all reach different types of audiences. Since there are major distribution companies covering all genres it makes it difficult for new or smaller companies to either start a trend in films or make it big themselves.

   The large companies that were bring discussed have worked incredibly hard and all been unique in their way of working their way to the top. Now that they are known for releasing popular films, they have gained the audiences trust and no matter what the film may be like, they will have someone watch it to see if they like it or not based on who released it. They have much ownership over what is being put out and seen which can benefit themselves with their future projects as well as making sure they are staying on top.

24 Extract Essay

   The director’s vision seems to be that people should be careful when it comes to who and what they trust. Always expect the unexpected because there is no way for knowing what someone else is capable of doing or what information they know. It’s vital to always be on the lookout and it’s always better to be safe than sorry when trusting people because no one can control their actions except for them. People should be careful and not have so much trust and faith in others.

   In the first scene Jack enters a large empty room with nothing but a table and Nina sitting in a chair. The lack of props plays a role in the setting that they are in. It seems as if they are either at a police station or a detective office where Nina seems to be questioned. There is a lack of items since they want to make sure that any possible risk is minimized when dealing with criminals and suspects. This clue of the setting helps the director’s vison because criminals in the first place are there because they violated the law and can’t be trusted. The lighting is very dim, and it makes it hard to see and interpret the scene and the things happening. The lighting made certain things unclear, just like people’s trustworthiness in the director’s vision for the scene/extract. From the start there are close up shots on Nina as it shows her emotionless face which makes it difficult to analyze her expressions and understand what she is thinking. As Jack walks into the room an eye-line match is seen. He looks up to the corner of the room where we later see that there is a camera. This seems to be foreshadowing something that will eventually take place. As he steps into the room non-diegetic music starts playing and creates a suspenseful mood and creates the feeling of not knowing what is going to happen next.

   In the second scene starts off with a two shot and medium close up combined as two, what seems to be detectives, are watching a screen in a different area but seemingly the same locations. The main prop within the scene is the screen that the two detectives are studying in silence. On the screen the audience can see that they are watching Nina in the room that her and Jack are in. They are watching them and seeing their every move to make sure nothing goes out of hand in there. Since they aren’t in there themselves, they need to make sure that neither Jack or Nina does anything they shouldn’t since they can’t control them or know what they are thinking or will do next.

   In the third scene there are many over the shoulder shots of Jack and Nina as they are talking to one another and Jack questioning her and trying to get information out of her to help stop an explosion. As they speak, using dialogue, Jack says to Nina, “I’m not going to make a move until I believe you’re credible…You are a trader Nina…You would sell anyone and everything.” Jack is already aware that Nina can’t be trusted and that he has no idea what her intentions or plans are. He doesn’t trust her easily, after all she is the one being questioned in an ongoing crime.  He knows, from what seems like past experiences, that she is a liar and selfish. Jack proceeds to lose his temper and flip over the table that stands in front of Nina. This is a cut away; it went from showing them having a normal conversation to Jack getting angry and acting out. Jacks behavior escalated out of nowhere and no one was expecting it. No one can trust him on what he could potentially do next.

   The fourth scene shows the detectives that are outside watching the questioning become on edge and tense up after seeing what Jack did. After Jack flipped the table and it crosscut to the detectives again to show their reactions there was more non-diegetic music that started playing, but this time it was louder. As the situation is getting more intense the music does the same and keeps everyone on edge. As the detectives seem to become worries of Jacks behavior, they can’t tell what he will do next and they can’t trust him that it will be the right thing.

   As the fifth scene starts the music is louder and louder back in the room where Jack is slowly walking back to his chair and sits down as the situation seems to be de-escalating. Nina starts speaking and once again Jack loses his temper but instead this time, he pushes Nina, while she is sitting in her chair, to the back of the room and starts chocking her. We can identify diegetic sound as the chair is screeching across the floor and Jack screaming out of anger. The scene cuts into a split screen where on one side is Jack attacking and talking to Nina and on the other is the detectives running to the room. As the moments intensifies it was important to see how both groups reacted. Jack continues to speak, through dialogue, to Nina as he chokes her, and the incidental music is louder than ever. The detectives are followed with a tracking movement as they rush to the room.

   The sixth scene starts off with a sound bridge that links Jack talking to Nina into this new scene as the other detectives enter the room. There is now a close up of Nina, showing a reaction shot, to what is happening to her and it’s clear that it wasn’t expected. The other detectives make Jack leave the room to ensure that he doesn’t do anything else to Nina. As Jack leaves they use a wide shot and pan movement to show Jack leaving Nina and the room behind.

   The scenes clearly show that Jack himself and the other actors were very unpredictable and that there was no way to trust their actions. The director’s vision was shown through the unpredictable characters and their actions. There was no way any of the actors could trust one another when it came to what they would do next and what information they knew. This shows that people should always be careful when trusting others; just because a person might know what they would do or how they would react, that doesn’t mean that others will do the same thing.

"Go Away" Final Film Video CCR

   I filmed the CCR. I went through and answered the 3 questions provided. At first I didn't understand the questions. I read them multiple times. I searched certain words I didn't understand. I also thought back to past CCR's with the same question and how I answered them. We challenged conventions by giving people a new idea of what a teenager is really like. We wanted to show that not all teenagers are the same. Teens are just like other people and  we react and handle situations differently, We also wanted to make sure that teens had an outlet they could relate to.
   Our film engaged with the audience by forming a connection. We know the feeling of being seen a certain way because of our age. We wanted to prove to other generations that the stereotypes aren't always acurate in every situation. Not only teens but other people who have been stereotyped could relate. The film would be distributed on streaming services like Netflix or Hulu. My production skills improved a lot throughout the making of this film. I learned more in depth how angles and movements should be made and I see the difficulties of filming. We integrated technologies by using softwares and devices we already know how to use. It made everything a lot easier when we actually knew how to work out equipment before starting and jumping into things. This filming experience has taught me a lot.

"Go Away" Final Film

I really liked the way the movie ended up. The movements, angles, and timing were done very well.
However, we needed to work on the audio during editing.