Deciding Genre

After full consideration of the three genres that I did research on, I have come to a decision on which genre I will use for my film. I will be making my project as part of the crime genre. I think that it is the only genre that would truly fit and make the best out of my pitch idea. It is a genre that I am truly interested in and would put in all my effort to accurately create. The crime genre is one that i find very intriguing and would love to attempt to create. I also feel it will be a little easier to do so effectively as a one man team, and would not require a lot of help from other people, something that the other genres did not allow me to do. I am very excited to continue and do more research on the project and finally get to it.

Different Genres

ACTION GENRE

• Movies of this genre usually have an abundance of long shots, or wide shots in order to demonstrate the action effectively. They often do tracking movements as well in order to move alongside the characters to truly feel the action and create a sense of moving with them through their perspective. Sound in movies like these are often diegetic noises such as walking and punching, as well as guns and explosions. 
• Common types of costumes in these movies are often of the current time period, and made to be comfortable or suitable for action, i.e. jackets, shirts, suits, etc. Lighting in action movies seems to often be natural, as most of the time, the action is taking place outside, meaning that the lighting has to match the setting that they are in. The acting has to be serious, but also requires the actors to do a lot of stunts and action, so often times stunt doubles are used. The make-up in these types of movies is fairly light, with only the use of fake blood for cuts and bruises that the characters might get. Setting for action movies vary greatly, but they mostly take place outdoors in the streets of major cities, or maybe inside in a warehouse or agency building where fighting and action take place. 
• Sound in these movies is mostly diegetic with sounds of guns and explosions, as well as punches and kicks. They often include very lively score that complement the action, and have very energetic soundtracks and background music.
• Editing in these movies is usually very fast paced including a lot of jump cuts and action match. They help accentuate the action and create a fast pace.
• Some elements of this genre that I like is the fast pace seen in them and the action scenes, as they create a very interesting type of film. 
• Some elements I do not like is that if the film relies to heavily on action, and not enough on story and acting, it can become quite a dull experience that becomes less engaging to the audience. So it can become challenging for an action movie to become very entertaining if it only delivers on the action part of the genre

COMEDY GENRE

•  Movies of the comedy genre usually use angles that focus more on the characters and their dialogue, therefore it is common to find medium close ups and over the shoulder while watching comedy movies. Camera movements aren't as common but there could be use of pans to demonstrate reaction to certain moments in a comedic fashion. The sound in these movies could be both diegetic and non-diegetic as there are often sounds that are used to make the comedy funnier.
• Costumes in comedy movies mostly range from every day clothing that any regular person would have to comedic clothing that is out of the ordinary. Lighting in comedic movies is usually very bright and energetic in order to create a happy move to encourage the comedy found in the movie. Acting in comedy movies is, as expected, very comedic, meaning that a lot of actions and moments are exaggerated to create a sense of humor within the scene and to get that across to the audience. Makeup is similar to the costumes as it can vary from either day to day realistic makeup, to extremely goofy and comedic makeup depending on the setting and theme of the movie. Settings are usually normal households, or settings that are relatable to everyday people. 
• Sound in comedy movies is usually a combination of diegetic and non diegetic sounds, as the sounds from the actors are all mostly kept in while still using sounds without origin in the screen in order to create a bigger comedic effect. Scores in these movies are usually very lighthearted and goofy, much like the soundtracks. 
• Editing in comedy movies has to be fast paced and dynamic in order to create effective comedy and keep the audience entertained without running the risk of boring them. Therefore there are a lot jump cuts and cuts that fasten the pace.
• Things that I enjoy from this genre is mostly everything, as I find that a comedy movie can be one of the funnest experiences to watch and see on film. The fast paced humor and the great use of editing in some films makes this genre one of, if not the best genre of movies. 
• Some things that I do not enjoy in these types of films, similar to my problems with actions movies is that if not done properly, the comedy can have the opposite effect it desires and create a truly horrific movie. Therefore the comedy has to be very well done, and most often than not its not, so truly great comedic movies are unfortunately very few and far in between. 

Genre Powerpoint

 This was a PowerPoint that I had to make a couple of months ago. The PowerPoint was made to research the crime genre. I chose crime because i enjoy those types of movies and they interest me. We had to do research about several thing in the genre we were researching. We were instructed to look up camera angles and movements commonly found. We were told to look up sound and editing in theses types of movies. Afterwards we had to describe what we liked about the genre and what we did not like.

Choosing the Top Pitch

I have cut down my decision to two pitch ideas. The first one being "Would you murder others if it meant your own personal safety". And "What would you be willing to sacrifice if it meant gaining all you desire, money, and fame".

For the first pitch, "Would you murder others..." I really have great ideas, and have a very vivid picture of what I can do with it. It can be very ambiguous and mysterious, and can allow me to do a lot of work even if I am working by myself. I also find it a very interesting topic, and feel that even the first 2 minutes, which is what we are supposed to do, could be very captivating. However, there could be some drawbacks to it. I'm not really great at editing yet, so for something like this, I would have to put in a lot of effort in order to accomplish it effectively. I would also have to make sure to give a good performance as for this I would only act and film by myself, and to do so I need to make sure to do a very convincing job. There are many things that I would like to do with this pitch idea, and I feel like I could deliver on it very effectively. However, if I am not careful, the amount of work might backfire, and the film might not come out as good as I want it to be.

For the second pitch "What would you be willing to sacrifice.." I feel like it could make for a more compelling story. There would be a lot more dialogue, and would make it easier to fill the two minutes. This would create a more intricate story, that I feel could captivate the audience easier. I am working on this by myself though, so I would have to find people willing to do it for little to no recompense, and that might be difficult. With more dialogue also comes more editing, and that could be quite the challenge for me. I feel like this pitch could also present more ideas for the movie, and allow me to touch on more themes, like family and values. The pitch I think is something I would like to do and would be creatively fulfilling. However, I don’t know if it is realistically achievable by one person. This is creative ya good idea but maybe a little unrealistic for a one man team.
Therefore, I have decided to go with the first pitch. I believe it is a realistic pitch that I can accomplish with the little to no assistance that I will get. This pitch will allow me to create a movie that I am happy with. It will be a challenge but I am willing tot ale the risk. I look forward to creating this project. I truly have a lot of ideas for the project so I believe it will turn out exactly how I want it to.

Starting the Final Project

My name is Emilio De Hoyos, I am a 17 year old senior from Fort Lauderdale High School. I have attended Fort Lauderdale High School for all my four years of High School.  I was born on May 28, 2002 in Colombia. I moved to the US when I was ten years old as my dad got a great job opportunity. I've always been interested in the arts and story telling, so movies have always been very interesting to me. Some of my favorite genres in movies are Sci-Fi and action, as I find them very interesting and entertaining. I don't really see myself doing this as a career, but making films is fun, and a good hobby to have. I am nervous but excited to finally start on the final project. I am working alone for this project.
In my time in this class I have learned and improved on many things in film-making. I learned a lot about camera angles and movements, the reason for them, and how they affect the movie. I learned about editing, as I had never edited anything before. I learned a lot about the actual filming process and the collection of data. I got better at planning and creating storyboards. I improved my ability to come up with ideas for films and videos, as I never really did anything of the like before. I also learned about the equipment necessary to create movies, and how crucial all of it is. This class has been very interesting, and though there has been a lot more work than what I was anticipating, it has been a blast to create these videos, and create this final project. I look forward to what the project will look like, and hope that all my growth will be apparent in it.
For this project we have to create three pitches. Pitches are terms to describe what films are in 25 words or less. Pitches serve as a way to get an idea out there fast, and effectively. For my pitches I created the following; Would you be able to murder others if it meant your own personal safety. How would you live your life if your memories started to fade away? And, for the final pitch, what would you be willing to lose in order to gain all you desire, money, and fame.

Editing Blog

We have now finished everything that we needed to film. We were not too pleased with everything that we had shot during our first session, so we had to shoot again. We talked over our plans on Tuesday and what our schedule should be like. Then, after school, we got together and decided to film absolutely everything that we would need. We started by going to the mall and filming there. We filmed at the food court for three or four shots that we needed. We then went to the entrance of a store and filmed there as well. And we filmed the outside of the mall as well. After, we went to my house and filmed here for the rest of the scenes we needed. We filmed in the common area downstairs, as well as in my apartment. The day was very efficient, and we took multiple takes of almost every shots to make sure we always got the best one. All that was left now was to gather the footage and edit it.

Today we finally started to edit the music video. We were worried as we didn't want to rush it and for it to not come out the best. We did not have any computers with an editing program at home, so we had to work only at school. Our group mate Victoria was looking for free editing programs, as the others are very expensive and she maybe found one that could be useful to us. She said it was quite similar to the one we have at school, but a little trickier to figure out. The good news is that we have made good progress on the video on the school computer. Our shots are all selected, and ready to be organized in the order that we desire. We made sure to closely follow the storyboard, but we did make some changes. We successfully found and downloaded our song and have put it into the video. We have about twenty percent of the video done, and Victoria says she can do even more at home, now that she has a program. 

All that is left to be done is finish the edit. We have to finish and sync the last of the mall scenes first. After, we will do the ones of us at the common area. And finally, the ones of us at my house. I trust that Victoria will get that done quickly and greatly, and we will be there to help her if she needs. I really enjoyed the filming process and thought it was fun. The editing was fun as well, for what I did at least. I am sure that our finished product will be great. I had a great experience doing this project and would do it again gladly.

Filming Blog Finally

During the week of our thanksgiving break, we did get to film. We were supposed to film after school on Tuesday, at around 4:00 pm. Most of our group members did not go to school on Tuesday, so Jeffrey was the one who had to go and pick up the camera, SD card and tripod. While we had plans, to film at my house we were not able to do it due to scheduling conflicts. The next, day however, we did film. We decided to film some scenes at my house first. Victoria and Jeffrey came over at around 2 or 3 pm. We had scheduled to shoot about 4 scenes. One in which Victoria looks at her phone and sees our location. Another where we catch her snooping at us. And then a scene where we open the door to find that she is at our house. We had only those shots planned as they were the ones we could do this at this location.

Unfortunately, we had technical difficulties with the camera, that made filming a little harder. The camera's battery was dead, and it would not turn on. This meant that for every shot that we had to find an outlet nearby, or we wouldn't be able to get it. This was quite annoying, as now we couldn't get as many shots done as we wanted. So in the end we were only able to get around two of the original shots that we had planned out. However, we did get them to the best of our ability and made sure they were the best shots possible. After that, we reviewed the footage, and confirmed that we were satisfied with each shot we took. Shortly after everyone went home. The next day was thanksgiving, and we made sure to enjoy it to the fullest so we did not shoot. And we did not film either during black Friday.

I think that we were supposed to film during Saturday or Sunday, but there was a bit of miscommunication form  the group so we did not. It was a little annoying that that happened, but we learned from that mistake. We are planning when and where we are going to shoot this week. I hope that we will have filmed it all before Thursday so that we have at least two days to edit it. We have a very specific plan of what it is that we want to do, and how we want to edit it. We just need to make sure that everyone's schedules align. I hope we will get this project done without any problems. I know that we can do it, and that all we need is to actually shoot it. I have faith that it will be way better than my past project. That's basically all that we have done thus far for the project.