AICE Media Studies

                                                                                       Critical Reflection   • How do your products represent social groups or issues? Many thriller films have been criticized for perpetuating gender equality in recent years, often portraying women as helpless victims in need of being rescued. By normalizing these plotlines, these movies fail to represent women in society and contribute to reinforcing gendered power differences. However, our short film challenges these false conventions by placing a female protagonist as the dominant one. Our narrative follows two assassins, one male and one female, who are tasked with eliminating each other. By giving both the characters equal placing in the fi...

Thank you all for staying tuned during this long but fun process. I enjoyed working on this movie with my group and I hope you guys enjoy!!!  Website:  Website Link Postcard:  Postcard Link .  Movie:  Movie Link Thank you all for staying tuned during this long but fun process. I enjoyed working on this movie with my group and I hope you guys enjoy!!! 

 Hello guys... we are finally done!! Today in class, I edited the video all together. I cut all the clips to the right size that they needed to be. Then I put them all in the right order on iMovie. After that, I added all the transitions. For one of the scenes I had to add a voiceover and make it a split screen because they needed to seem like they were on the phone being told they had a new task. After that very simplified explanation of what I did, I added the royalty-free music and the title cards. The editing process took a couple hours over 2 days.  One thing my group had to figure out was the title cards. For this, we each put the roles we actually did for the title cards. So for editing and music I put Brianna, for director I put me, for actors I put me and Noah Lendick, the other actor in the film. The rest of the credit went between Isa and Savannah.  Now, I have to work on the final task blog and the CR. For the final task, I already have everything needed. The ...

 Hello guys, it's been a few days. This past week has been the most productive for the project!!!! We finished recording and now we are onto the editing process. But first, let me explain how it went.  On Wednesday, the day before Isa and her boyfriend were supposed to film, I asked them to make sure that they were still going to record on Thursday. She said there were some issues with a ride and her boyfriend being able to make it. I realised that having them film would be really hard and we only had a week before it was due. So I decided that I can record it with my boyfriend, and that's what I did. I knew my boyfriend would not want to be an actor so I had an intervention with him and my group. We sat him down and told him that it was urgent and that we needed him to do it for us. He agreed!!! So, after school that day, I went home with him and we recorded. His dad filmed for us and he did an amazing job. I couldn't finish all the recording in one day, so on Friday we re...

Hello!!!      So while I'm waiting for the clips to start editing, I need to learn how to use iMovie. I'm excited about learning iMovie to turn my raw footage into something cinematic. Figuring out the features and tools has been a mix of challenge and reward. Also with this, I'm looking into royalty-free music for the movie soundtrack to make sure the movie stays legal and sets the right tone.       It's been a journey of trial and error with tutorials helping me learn how to use iMovie. The process is not just about technical skills, but it's also about storytelling through visuals and sound. So far I've learned how to edit clips together and add music to them. I also saw how to add cool transitions and edit the sound in the actual clips. Editing the movie sounds like it's going to be fun.  When researching royalty-free music, I came across many sites that have thousands of songs for me to choose from. I wrote down a couple of songs I'll be able...

Hello!! It's been a couple of days and I've had the chance to talk to my group about what the plan will be. For the time being, I'm still trying to work on a day that everyone is available. This has turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated.  But for now, here is the plan... Savannah bought the props for the movie on Amazon. When those come in about a week, the scenes in the park will be able to be recorded. In the meantime, Isa and her boyfriend live close to each other so they can record their scenes together easily. They will record their scenes together. The ones that can be easily recorded at least.  Once they get those clips, I will start editing them together and add the music. I already found a couple of songs that can be used in the movie. The platform I will use to edit will be iMovie. In the next week or so, my group will get together and we will record the park scenes. Once I get those, I will be able to edit everything together. The thing that will tak...

 Hello everyone, welcome back again! So my group's original plan was to record on Wednesday the 28th. My group would meet up after school and go to Red Lobster. But unfortunately, this won't work. Let me explain... Recording in a loud restaurant will mess with the sound. Recording in a restaurant, in general, is hard to manage. My managers aren't 100% okay with the idea. Isa lives 40 minutes away from the Red Lobster. None of us have a way there.  Isa and Brianna aren't allowed to be driven by a teenager if Savannah could drive us. The person who is playing the guy character in the movie can't make it.  So basically, our plan crumbled.  But it's okay!! This is because my group decided to move the plan to the weekend. Instead of going to Red Lobster, my group will make a restaurant set at Isa's house. I took an establishing shot of Red Lobster so when we edit the film together, it will seem like they're at a Red Lobster, but really they're at Isa'...

 Hello everyone welcome back once again!! So while I wait for the day my group can record, I can get all the props and stuff ready. Since we all are recording after school, everything we need for recording needs to be taken with my group next Wednesday. To record and get good quality, we will need a decent camera. I prefer cameras over phones because they are better quality. They also make it easier to edit the video together since you can export all the shots onto a computer. My dad has. many cameras so I will ask him to borrow one. We also need someone with a steady hand to be able to record. Or we can use a tripod. personally, I prefer a tripod since it ensures the steadiness of the camera. Along with that, Isa will need to have her red dress ready. One other very important aspect will be the script. As of now, we have a vague script and layout for what will be said. I think it will be better to have more of a set script. For the next few days, I will be working on a script to m...

 Hello everyone!! We finally found a day for my group and I to record our project! The past couple of days I’ve been sick and stuck at home. I mostly used these days to rest and do school work. My group and I had a long discussion earlier to plan out when would be s good day to record. Brianna and I have jobs and get our schedules every Sunday. This makes it hard for the both of us to know when we will be free. But I decided that if we assume what days we will have work and try to match up when we think we wont be busy then my group can find a day that works. This week won't be a good week because Isa and Brianna have National Qualifications for Debate. So we mostly looked at next week. Next week I assumed that I wouldn't have to work Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Brianna said she wouldn't have work Wednesday or Thursday either. So I decided that Wednesday would work the best for me. Everyone else agreed. Wednesday the 28th is our planned day to go and record after school...

 Hello everyone welcome back to another blog!  Last week my group and I were in 1st period talking about what our plan would be for recording. When all of a sudden, one of our administrative staff came on the announcements. She said for one of the buildings to evacuate. Lucky for us, we weren’t in that building so we kept talking about our project. I was planning when I would be open when the lady came back on the speakers. She said for 3 more buildings to evacuate, one of those buildings being mine. So, me and my friends all evacuated to the softball field. On the way over, I heard some rumors about what the reason for all of this might be. It turns out, there was a gas leak in one of the buildings which spread to the other buildings. While waiting for more information, everyone was forced to stand on the softball field for a while. Lucky us, it rained last night so we couldn’t sit or else we would get wet. My group and I decided to use our time to figure out when would be a ...

 Hello guys, welcome back to another blog regarding our progress.  As of now, my group still hasn't been able to record but in the meantime, I've decided to research some camera angles and music. I wanted to know what the best camera angles would be for the movie so I looked it up. For the scene where they are fighting, I wanted to know how to portray that in the best way possible. I found that fight scenes are really planned out. The choreography needs to be set up so it looks like an actual fight and not just a scripted scene where people pretend to hit each other. Since the actors are going to use fake weapons, we need to make sure the hits look real. What I found is that the camera angles are the most important parts of the video. High and low angles are super important to show who has the power in the battle. they add depth and dynamic in the fight scenes. Since in at the end of the scene the girl wins, low angles on her will signify her dominance of the situation. When t...

                           Hello everyone, welcome to the first production blog for my group's project!! I'm so excited to start this project and be able to create an amazing movie with my friends. After the storyboard and finalizing our story, I  am finally able to schedule meeting together with my group to film. Although this may cause some issues. I, for one, have work at Red Lobster where I get my schedule every Sunday night so it is difficult to know when I won't be working. I also know Brianna has work so our schedules might clash. My plan is to find a Saturday when I can take off work to do the project. Since the plan is to go to Red Lobster to film, I will ensure a day with my boss so we can record in a secluded area in the back. There is a back corner at my work will be the perfect spot to record and get the best angles. This part I am excited about since I get to show my friends what I do outs...

After a lot of hard work and details with figuring out exact plot for our movie, here is our storyboard. ;) scene 1: establishing shot of a house scene 2: girl making breakfast when she gets a call scene 3:  she picks up the phone and knows who it is immediately  scene 4: guy walking to his house gets a call scene 5:  he picks it up and immediately knows who it is scene 6: both the boy and girl realizing they have a new task to complete scene 7: girl runs to her computer to search up the name she was given scene 8: she cant find anything scene 9:  she closes the computer scene 10: guy searches up the name he was given on facebook scene 11: he finds her immediately and finds out she lives in the same neighborhood as him scene 12: the next day the girl is getting ready for work when she hears a knock on the door scene 13: she goes downstairs to open the door but she sees a knife on the counter by the door, she puts it away. scene 14: she looks through the peep hole to ...

Hey blogger, welcome back! As it is getting closer to the filming period, we need to start planning.  • Schedule We will meet in person every 2 weeks to film. As we are in class we will see each every other day to discuss our plans. • Location We all live in different areas so we chose somewhere we all know we can go to. We will film in Sawgrass Mills Mall. We will find a designated drop-off area for all of us to go to. For the alleyway scenes, we will go to one of our houses and use the back alleyway to record.  • Participants As for participants, it will just be our group and 1 other guy who plays the lead role in the film. That guy will be a friend of Isa's who agreed to be a part of our production.  • Health and Safety The mall is a pretty public place and we all know to stick together when working so no one gets lost. we are all going to be dropped off by our parents at the location of the recording which will be discussed soon. Once we are all together, we w...

  Hi everyone! I decided to watch a YouTube video titled,”How to make a short film” . It gave me amazing insight and I thought I would share.  1. Stick to your theme. Make sure that your shots, flashbacks, and dialogue connect to your overall theme. It seems easy to get off track so the first tip the video gave to me was to keep my team and filming on task by creating and sticking to an overall theme. He gave an example of a short film he created where it all went back to the message the main characters mother was trying to relay to her.  2. Don’t be predictable. One of my favorite quotes from the video is,” If your brain is telling you to go left go even farther right.” This is so your audience can’t predict your next move which keeps them engaged in the film. He gave an example of a horror film. There was a specific film his team was working on where the actor was brushing their teeth in front of a mirror. It was expected for him to do a corny jump scare. But instead he...

  The short film Unleaded begins with a black screen, typical from a thriller short. The audience is only given the sound of what is revealed to be a person filling up gas at a station. A woman is shown to be sitting in her car as she looks inside the gas station. She then is shown to be watching two people robbing the gas station inside, one pointing a gun at the cashier and the other holding him down. Another car pulls into the gas station and the women watches the car very closely. What is going on in the car is then revealed. There are two men in the front and a third in the back. The two look to the back and at the third guy as he objects to going inside the gas station. It is not known if they are aware of what is going on inside, but the man who was objecting in car ends up going in, putting on a gray hoodie, and walks right past the robbers. The robbers notice and one sneaks up from behind the guy in the grey hoodie and points a gun from the back of his head telling him to ...

  In this film it begins with flashbacks of this women when her husband was alive to the present after his passing. This is a common thing used in thrillers as it shows important events in the storyline and increases thrill or suspense. Next in this film, they incorporated the sound of the intruders scheming to break in and rummaging through things. A tracking shot is used to show the women going to her window to see what the sound was. Once she hears more, they used a close-up to see her peaking through the window once again. Multiple times midway through this film the camera cuts from the women on the phone with 911 to her baby crying. This is commonly used in thrillers to show multiple things going on. It also creates lots of activity. A lot of over the shoulder shots are used. It shows the door and the women on the phone and the sounds of banging are heard all the while. Extreme closeups are used to show the womens fear as the intruders are continuing to try the door. Yet anoth...

  The short film Oracle first begins with a black screen, only letting viewers hear the noise of, what is revealed seconds later, a carpenter machine. I think this had an eerie effect, which is typical of a thriller, as it gave the viewers a bit of information, but held back the rest. The short then moves on to showing several children, one sitting in the snow, another eating a plant, with a child playing in the snow in the background. What I noticed in the first minute of the movie is the lack of background noise, which also adds to the eerie effect of the short. By choosing to omit the music, viewers like myself pay full attention to what is going on. This actually almost feels unsettling. The short then moves on to showing a boy going up the stairs, while the noise of the carpenter machine plays in the background. However, the noise is now distorted, which really made me anxious as to what was going on. The boy seems to look at the door, as the distorted noise grows more intense...

 For further research my group and I decided to watch Amber, an award winning thriller short film made in 2021. In the establishing shot, we noticed that the filter and coloring was very summery and chill. There were also birds chirping in the beginning, making it clear that it was a chill day in the film. There wasn't any talking for the first couple of minutes in the film. In the film, the barber realizes that the guys hair he was cutting was a child abductor that the police were looking for. When we found out and the sound effect of realizing made us know for sure that this was a thriller. In almost all thrillers there are the same sound effects of the sound of  "realization." Then the guy looked out the window and saw the teddy bear the girl he abducted also has. When he saw, there was more scary sound effects. There was also common editing we've seen in other thrillers such as when the barber was cutting the abductors beard, he was getting quick flashbacks to pic...

 I  decided research some more films and I watched this  I oddly enjoyed the video. Although he explained the plots of extremely dark and chaotic scenes, the narrators voice was so soothing. Le Jetee really embodies the importance of a score in a film. Although it was considered a photo novel, it was the beginning of a transition from photo novels and stop motion films. This dark, psychological thriller was portrayed through a series of black and white pictures. But it managed to tell a cohesive narrative. “12 monkeys” was able to portray a similar storyline but it failed to truly mimic the sensation of watching the heart wrenching photo novel. This will help me to remember that every shot matters. The angles, lighting, and even sounds can build a story and take it to the next level.  I also decided to read this article. https://filmicmag.com/2015/12/29/a-comparison-of-12-monkeys-la-jetee/  I agree with the comments the author was making. He was spot on abo...