Thursday, October 31, 2024

Genre research blog activity

 made this while i was sick, mightve done it wrong

Genre: Adventure

Genre Conventions – Content

The Adventure genre 
involves exploration, quests, and journeys to exotic or remote locations. It mostly deals with physical challenges, the bravery of a protagonist, and a goal, mostly combined with self-discovery or heroic deeds. The typical conflicts in this genre would be man versus nature, hostile groups, or impossible odds.

Genre Conventions – Production Techniques:
The typical adventure film uses fast-paced editing, expansive shots of the landscape, and immersive sound effects to give the sense of the enormity of the journey. A lot of the production usually involves practical effects, on-location shooting, and big set designs in order to really keep the audience in place with the sense of the story. Cinematography showcases vast, natural landscapes, creating an epic sense of discovery.

Institutional Conventions – Marketing:

Adventure films are usually promoted by focusing on stunning vistasnail-biting situations, and the hero's quest. Trailers focus on action and settings of an exotic natureaided by slogans that distill the adventure of the film, such as "Discover a world beyond imagination". Posters often use wide landscapes with small central characters to convey a journey against insurmountable odds.

Typical Target Audience:

In general, 
adventure films also appeal to mass audiencetypically teenagers and adults who enjoy action and adventureAlthough family-friendly adventure film tends to attract young viewers through its components of humor or fantasy elements.

Film 
Exemplar #1: Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Analysis: Raiders of the Lost Ark 
is the exemplar of the Adventure genre, with a high-paced journey, exotic locations, and a central quest for an ancient artifact. Indiana Jones, the heroic archaeologist, has to overcome physical challenges, deadly traps, and enemies within the genre'emphasis on courage and witWith its practical stunts, shooting on location, and rapid editing that engages the audience, the action is even more sensational and thrilling.
Film Sample #2: Jurassic Park (1993)
Analysis: Jurassic Park 
combines elements of adventure with science fiction by placing the story on a remote island populated with dinosaurs. The main character and his companions experience both natural and artificial dangers, such as dinosaur attacks and greedy industrialists, respectively, which increases the potential sense of risk and awe. The movie employs animatronics and visual effects to achieve realistic dinosaurs, while the sweeping shots and sound effects increase the sense of scale and danger on the island.
Additional Film Examples:

The Mummy (1999) Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) King Kong (2005) Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) The Revenant (2015) Life of Pi (2012) Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Friday, October 18, 2024

Representation research post - Steven universe

Steven Universe is an amazing show created by Rebecca Sugar that simply disrupts the traditional means of storytelling with its vast atmosphere and fusion of characters and themes. The show really explores stuff like identity, love, and belonging in such really great ways, represented so well through the characters Steven Universe and Garnet. Both characters were tools to talk about the discourses of race, gender, and sexuality; Steven Universe was a really interesting example of how we do this today.


So, Steven Universe is the main character, this uniqur combination of human and Gem heritage. He just outright shatters those stereotypes of what guys should be like, being tender and caring as opposed to whatever stereotypes people call "feminine." This is a pretty subversive feeling, really reminiscent of dismantling gender stereotypes and forcing everyone to question what makes someone strong. Steven's emotional smarts play an enormous part in the storyline, offering new views on stereotypical male roles in media.


Garnet, being the fusion of Ruby and Sapphire, represents completely love and being oneself. She really exists outside the realm of stereotypes about relationships and womanliness through her strong, complex character. Also, this whole fusion business presents her as a beauty in the symbolism of love between two females, which is a cool, positive way to portray LGBTQ+ relations in kids' media. Rather, it's about normalizing queer love, messing with traditional notions of sexuality, and giving younger viewers a view of this stuff simply existing, and also giving them some knowledge that LGTBQ+ relationships aren’t something to look down on. For a more detailed explanation (and some evidence) of one of the points listed check out... https://www.teenink.com/opinion/social_issues_civics/article/964141/Garnet-A-Great-Representation-of-a-Gay-Relationship/ and https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2019/01/11/steven-universe-a-model-of-queer-representation/ (the second source isnt so specific on the character, however it does have a section on Garnet.)


 Community, inclusivity and the representation of race and ethnicity is another very important part of the Steven Universe storyline.The diversity in casting brings to light a number of backgrounds and experiences through which we can root around for some historical and social contexts shaping these identities. Characters like Garnet and Pearl really push the story along for the community, bringing focus to themes of inclusivity and acceptance. This show does not aim at making characters exotic but celebrates their differences while pushing across this great message of unity. This is sort of a reversal of what usually happens-they make the marginalized identity an outsider-and instead puts them into the main storyline.


In conclusion, Steven Universe really revolutionizes the way representation is done in today's media. Characters like Steven and Garnet give us deep looks at gender, race, and sexuality all mixed into one in fresh perspectives. The show completely shifts away from the usual cultural norms and promotes inclusivity, reminding us of the importance of real representation. For that reason, it's showing a path that future animated series should go by with more diversity and empathy.



Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Sound film project experience!

 So basically, Sound has a lot of different uses, it conveys emotion, builds suspense, Ect. but you got to know how to use it.


For this project, I was partnered up with another person, we had to make a Brainstorming sheet, where we listed all the scenes and sounds we would need. Then we would need to collect sound effect online, BUT, 4 of the sound effects we would use we had to make ourselves using the Foley method.

Basically, we had to submit 3 files
- Edited project
- How we did the Foley stuff video
- And like 4 images of our progress in the editing program


Here's how it went for me.

In brainstorming, I did most of the work, though my partner did come up with the original idea of an eerie horror setting and plot. I basically made the entire thing though.

I then grabbed all of the sound effects except for 2 that my partner did. And used the Brainstorming sheet to organize all of the sounds.

I used Adobe Premier Pro, which I do not recommend, unless you are an insanely fast learner, or already use it. Its hell.

Though, when I went to edit at home, I got locked out of the google drive that had the sound effect because I did it on my partners computer for convenience, and I'm guessing they made a mistake or something and for some reason I didn't have their number.

I still did it all thought, until I realized that it was 1 file we had to submit, which had me puzzled on what to do.

In my edited file, I personally liked how well I placed every sound together, and how well I made it match the brainstorming sheet, However one thing I would love to improve is making sounds sound a bit more fluid, as the best I could do is put in some fade-in's and fade-outs and hope for the best. I did, however, link some sounds well using simple cuts.


Link to the Sound file if you want to see it: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m6ChxqdWrADZN8OSod6sLDFkRncRIkbW/view?usp=sharing

:3

Special Meet up day!

  Cambridge Portfolio Project Hello Today in class we had group meetings!  We were instructed to visit our teacher's website (tstok.net)...