In every film, advertisement, magazines, or music video, there are specific elements that the directer and producer make sure to incorporate. Gender is something that will always apply in the things they show or include in all types of media to give an appeal for everyone who sees it. For example, they usually include certain things that would appeal most males to get them to want to watch a movie/video or buy their product. Things like cars, watches, alcohol, or women are usually seen to be geared towards appealing the typical man. This is because they are characterized to be ‘tough’, ‘sweaty’, and ‘hard’. The typical women are seen to be the complete opposite. So things like the color pink, shoes, attractive men, and makeup are things that would catch the attention for a woman to want to spend money in those products. This was all because they’re seen to only care about materialistic things and how something is presented. The men care most about strength, physique, power and sexual attractiveness as the women care most about beauty, emotion, and relationship related things. This is the line of division between the two genders but nowadays, most things are unisex considering the different genders and sexual orientations.

There needs to be different camera angles incorporated in each film so the viewers are in a position that they can understand the relationships between characters and the meaning for specific things. If the movie were to be all at one perspective in one shot, it would cause confusion and would overall look bad. This is so the angles can bring a contrast of events, include meanings to specific things, and show a completely different view that the viewers can understand what the plot consists of and how or what the characters are each doing. For example, the close ups are usually to show that there is an item or specific detail that is important to focus on. This is sometimes to implement something important for the viewers to keep in the back of their mind for later or just to give a deeper explanation to have a further understanding to what is happening in a scene. A point of view shot is something shot from the eye level as you were to be placed in the shoes or see something that a character is seeing it to be. There is the eye-level shot which is the most common. This is so that the viewers can see the general scene or focus on someone or something. Low angle shots are a way of showing importance or dominance. Usually it is to show that there could be something out of reach or mainly to show that the character or thing they are capturing is at a higher level of importance. High angle shots are ones that show the whole landscape of something. It is usually to show that there is something on a high place. It can be used to focus on details for an important thing that is out of reach or someone that can be on a high building. Lastly, there can be ground-level shots as well. This is commonly used to show the surface of something that would focus on something specific. It it to show the lowest level where your shoes would be so you know where the person is going or have an idea up to your interpretation of what they are doing. Each of these are most commonly used at least a few times throughout a film so the viewers have several different views of what is going on in a film.

Sound is something that draws everyone to different understandings of each movie. This is what separates the movies from other genres or even what makes it different from other movies within their genre. It is important to contrast what is going on in the plot and when there is something bad or good that is going to happen. The sound that is playing around or in the background always has it’s own reasoning. It could be because they’re trying to make the audience understand that they are in a good or bad mood, it could be just to amplify the sound that is around if it is quiet so it draws effect to the plot, or it can even be to visually understand a scene in an easier sense. All in all, the sound in a movie, whether it is diegetic or non diegetic sound, is extremely important to draw different conclusions to a plot, to contrast a mood within the scene, or to even draw more attention to the smaller and lighter sounds in the background which are important. Without sound, the movie is incomplete.

As anyone would guess, audience is a huge factor in making any movie. There is no movie and no pay, if there is no audience attraction. This just means that when the directors and producers are conducting plot and thinking of the actors they intend to include, they are mainly thinking about how the audience would react. The actors play an important role not only because they need to find someone who would really sell the qualities of their character plot, but because they know that if they used a well-known actor the audience would be more likely to watch it if it is their favorite ones. Then, they take the storyline into account. If they pick a genre or a storyline that is complicated or research proves it to be reviewed terribly, they are most likely not going to implement it. This is so that the audience has a desire to want to go and watch it. If the movie does something controversial or includes something that they think will get the audience’s attention, they will try to include it. This is because people will start to talk about it. When people talk about it and/or spread the news about it on things like their social media, this draws others to go and watch the movie to see what they are all talking about. So audience basically directs the press and is the only reason that the producers and actors would be making an income. In other words, the audience is what holds a film together no matter if it is in a good or bad way.

In the film, ‘It’, the opening scene already got the audience to wonder where the plot of the film was going to go. The scene was very dark and gloomy, due to even the weather drawing effect to set the scene as scary. The rain is something everyone thinks of when they’re sad or when something bad is going to happen. The boy, one important character in the entire plot, was running in the rain to go play. He was wearing bright clothing that sticks out compared to everything else around him. When he loses his paper boat into the sewage, it introduces Pennywise and slightly shows how he is going to make a huge impact on the plot itself. Altogether, it draws in the audience to want to learn who these characters are and what is going to happen next/throughout the rest of the movie.

In the thriller film ‘MA’, the opening scene begins with a scenic shot running through water. Then it is dragged through to show that there is a long road that passes through the woods. This is all to start off with the vibe of a thriller or something mysterious is about to happen. It continues on and on for awhile so that the audience feels how long the road is and how they’re in a secluded area. Mainly, this is to show the viewers where the film is going to be based off in. But it is also to draw attention to the fact that there are bad things that happen where there is no one else around in sight. It continues to show how the rest of the town that they live in looks like. All these shots have the same color scheme to contrast the fall season and warm tones all around the characters.

The film ‘A Quiet Place’ is one the greatest examples for a thriller movie. This is simply because the opening scene has such a mysterious vibe to it. It opens up with small clips of just the corner stores within the town that the family was living in. What the viewers could instantly tell was that there was broken down and abandoned. The point of that was to show the circumstances they were in. It then moves onto the family and what they are doing to get the food that they need from the abandoned grocery store that they found. The whole point was that they all had to stay quiet. Because they had yet to explain the background behind the reasoning of the place looking that way, it left the audience wondering what was going on. It was to draw them into the plot and invest themselves into figuring out the characters. The way the shots were taken and the basis of the plot they were shooting for, was all very interesting and played a huge role in the mystery aspect of it all.

From the mood board I have created, the film ‘Insidious: The Last Key’ was a movie that I thought would make sense for the genre I was to utilize for my film opening project. This is because of the theme, the wardrobe, the character storylines top fit in with the plot.

In this movie, there is a lot of adjustments, like the lighting. Throughout the movie, you can come to the realization that there seems to be a common background color every time the plot thickens. When there is something about to happen that is scary, the lighting goes dark with a shade of blue. This is to set the scene for the audience to feel the fear that the characters are feeling and portraying as well. In terms of wardrobe, it was pretty basic and normal to the main characters as there was nothing ‘weird’ or wrong about them or their plots. That is something I will be taking into account while I direct my partners that will be acting in the film. I think I will have normal clothing as if they were themselves but then when it comes to the problem of the plot, I will be making the clothes either darker or completely out of the ordinary. The plot for this movie was that one of the main characters receives an interesting phone call, implementing a mysterious aspect to it. This is something that I planned to include in the film as well so it gets the audience to wonder what will happen next or what it is that is so horrific.

In the end, there are particular aspects within this thriller film that I plan to take away and include in my film opening project as well. Things like the wardrobe, lighting, and other mysterious qualities are ones that will make the film opening project a lot better. It will improve the plot and draw in the audience to want to continue watching of what the rest of the movie will hold.

From the mood board, there were 3 films that were there for a purpose because they have an influence towards what my group and I have been deciding to do. One of them being ‘Ma’. This is because the vibe throughout the entire movie is creepy because you can always expect something sketchy to happen. Throughout the whole movie, I was on edge on what was gonna happen next and why ‘Ma’ was acting the way she was, along with what was her background story and what was the reason she had those targets that she had. She targets these high school kids, making you think as to why she could want anything to do with kids less than half of her age.

One thing that is taken into account the most are the characters. They were perceived as clueless as they were just looking to go anywhere that would promise them a good time. This was to give a taste of frustration, considering the audience understands what is going on and feels as if they could help the characters make the right decision. That’s at least what I was thinking majority of the time I was watching the movie for myself. The setting is mainly on the school campus or in the woman’s basement. The slightest bit of inspiration that it gives is the vibe of it all. The creepy and suspenseful vibe of the dark basement she uses to throw parties in for the high school kids, makes it seem as if she has a toxic motive that the viewers end up finding out. In the film opening I am preparing to produce for the end of this year, I want to take away the idea of there being someone who is a threat to the characters and even the plot. I want to have one thing or person to be the part of the film that everyone wants to know more about. Then, their wardrobe seems to be normal in terms of the high school kids. They wear things that I, as a high schooler myself, would wear when I go to school. When it came to ‘Ma’, they would always have her dressed in ragged/old clothing. This is to show how she does not belong with the high school kids. When she threw parties or hung around the high school kids as the movie went along, her style started morph into a similar style as a teen would have as she was beginning to continue getting closer to them. I want to use the same idea in the sense that the character that would cause the problem in the film, would be wearing something that does not go with or match with the other characters. I want the wardrobe to be weird or run down and torn so it would be clear that there is something that is posed a threat. Finally, the music and sound effects that are used are things to make it seem suspenseful or that something is going to happen. This is all features I will include so the audience knows that there is something somewhat bad coming. I intend to keep the audio simple yet scary so there isn’t too much to focus on in the film.

Overall, this specific film from the mood board I have created has made a strong influence in the idea of genre and theme that I want to incorporate in the end of the year project. The codes and conventions that were used in this film are ones I intend to include throughout the filming process. Things like the wardrobe selection, the location, the lighting, and the character storylines are all going to be taken into account when I conduct the production for this film opening.

Some things we have to plan out before we start filming our end of the year project, are things like the setting, theme, wardrobe, characters, genre, and storyline. This requires lots of ideas being thrown out in the air to help shape the plot my group and I want to create. I want to do something within the same theme of horror, thriller or even mystery like the projects we have constructed throughout this year so far. One of the group members suggested that we would do a comedy, but I don’t know how well it would play out since it’s easier to naturally be funny rather than act funny in my opinion. From there we need to think of some sort of storyline or main idea for a plot. I want to make a continuation for the short film opening we had to make for the class, since our classmates feedback was great and made me think we had a smart idea of a plot. The more I think about it though, it seems as if we should present something better which we haven’t shown already. I think that maybe we could even go to an abandoned place or empty lot where the vibe of it would be creepy so we make a story to follow with the horror or mystery theme but make the audience think it is more real. With that, I found an abandoned stadium that my group members and I thought could be a cool idea. I could record someone sitting there with some kind of motive, show a clip of a game as a flashback of some sort, that is what the audience is eager to figure out. Then, as I kept researching, I found there were more abandoned places near me that we could possibly film in, like a old city hall building or even a hospital. All of which they have a vibe that’s creepy, with it’s location, construction, and disheveled parts. I think that the acting would end up even being no scripted and natural because it is truly going to be terrifying to just go into. From there, we can either do a mystery of a friend group who goes to discover some things, ghost hunt, look for answers to a murder, or even lose a friend in the process to ad an element of fear that even effects the audience as they watch. From there, we need to plan out the shots and wardrobe that we want the characters to wear. I want to bring in props that would show how real the situation is and make noises to set the scene and mood. Once we figure out the exact plot of the movie that we come to terms with, we will chose the hoodies or color of the clothing we want to use on the characters, who they are going to play as and what is to happen to each of them as well.

As you can probably tell, this is a mood board I put together of pictures of the same theme. All these are pictures of scenes in particular movies which are horror or mystery to portray a dark kind of mood. The mood can even contrast with the literal lighting. Each of these movies are all dark to make the plot more suspenseful and scary. The first picture is showing darkness behind her and a warm, dark blue color to show her facial expressions yet keep the theme going. The second is showing that the place they are in is dark and creepy, due to the things that were done as you continue watching the movie. The third picture is to contrast with the mysterious or sketchy vibe as she is walking in a forest with no site of anyone else around her but other possible things like animals or spirits (depending on the movie plot). The fourth picture is showing some one looking at their cracked mirror. It shows the mirror cracked since everyone knows that there is bad luck when mirrors break. It then has a way to playing out as a main idea or main conflict in storyline. The fifth is showing someone in darkness, with blacked out eyes and black veins through the skin on their neck. This is to contrast that there is a spirit or demon, according to the use of blacked out eyes and dark blood, as it has been used for the spirit related films before. Finally, the sixth picture is showing a normal, little girl that has a face. This is not a normal face, but there is a purpose for making her look crazy so that the audience can understand that there is something wrong with her. Overall, there is a common quality to each of the pictures. They are all dark, portraying a common theme of suspense that they each share.

In the process of filming and producing this class assignment, I wanted to show the items that were used for the making of my film opening. We began by making out script, followed by thinking of who we were going to ask to act in it, creating the storyboard from the script, and then finishing it off with the shot list. This what shaped the film opening I created in that was a base to then making it better and adding more to the plot and/or dialogue we had already planned. It make it easier than when we tried making a film without a script and shot list, which meant that we all improved and I know now that we cannot be working without being prepared anymore.