Mise-En-Scene Project:

For this project, we were instructed to create a character with a one sentence prompt given to us. Grouped up into five people of our choice (for privacy each member will not be named), we brainstormed one day and worked on the character for the rest of the time until presentation day. Our group split up the work into who could do what since two of our members were going to be gone somedays. Currently, you are reading through the bias of the character designer of the group.

We were given the prompt of a movie buff who likes to hang out with friends to create our character. Her name is Angelina, and she was made out to be this introverted and soft person. Each of us looked online for examples of who she would be, minus one clothing outfit to which I modeled exactly off the person who created the mood board. With input from my partners, I modeled what Angelina looked like (pictures and links at the bottom of the page). The outfits were mostly up to me to decide if they fit the criteria, though I drew mostly in front of the other group members just in case. The mood board was all done by another at the table, to who even came up with several different ideas before letting us vote on which one is preferred. Another created an entire website to interact with Angelina, which included a minigame, pictures of the mood board and character model, and audio. There was the person who collected the audio, most of which came from movies chosen by who created the mood board. And our last person created the description of who exactly Angelina is for everyone coming to see our project. When creating Angelina, several ideas were put up. Though we had stuck with the idea of a softer look of a person. Even if we were one of the few groups that got a gender-neutral prompt, we had gone with a female portrayal. Neither her sexuality nor race was brought up about, although in the minigame version Angelina is shown to be either Hispanic or white. Her community was talked about having eccentric friends and going out to the center of town to walk around as an activity, although it was never truly put into act. When a group comes to our project station, there would have been a big mood board and a piece of paper next to it with a drawn body of Angelina. A bunch of drawn-out clothes were hung up in the mood board’s closet which could be used to ‘dress up’ the model of Angelina. There were four computers that displayed an online presentation/minigame. Though our table was a bit too crowded, I wish we could have gotten rid of the computer to bring more attention to the tactile aspects of our project. I would have also liked to bring more attention to Angelina’s outside world.

Access to the online project:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAG2WvodYRk/Rm2noa1CikoIGgBa-1NWUA/edit?utm_content=DAG2WvodYRk&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton 

Apocalyptic Genre Study

What makes up the genre apocalyptic?

Before we dive into what makes up the genre of apocalypse, we need to understand what it means. The apocalyptic genre is a destruction of a world or the civilization's collapse, as described when in a dictionary. The word apocalypse comes from the Greek word of revelation. In media, the apocalyptic genre is most known to be split in two: apocalyptic fiction and post-apocalyptic fiction.  Apocalyptic fiction is when the media, whether film or otherwise, occurs during the downfall of all civilization. While, post apocalyptic occurs afterwards of the downfall of society. 

What content is needed to make an apocalyptic film?

Worldbuilding is a major part that a director needs to make an apocalyptic film. What happened to make the world the way it is? Was it a pandemic that hit or a nuclear war started? What is stopping the world from rebuilding? While there is no need to get into the nitty gritty about how exactly the world is collapsing, at the very least there needs to be a major conflict. 

Example: The film WALL-E shows the Earth as uninhabitable throughout the film.

Loss of humanity and societal struggles are common content in apocalyptic films. A protagonist's ideas of humanity are tested as they fight to survive amongst the struggles of the remaining population or immediate conflict. People start fighting over what is left of rations or they fight over who gets to live. This helps build the world and what it comes to when everyone's life is on the line. All of this builds up tension, which is what the next content needed to make an apocalyptic film.  

Tension is needed throughout any apocalyptic film or show. There is always some sort of tension running high, whether from a lack of supplies, hostile survivors or beings. Without tension, the conflict does not resolute with people, some may even make a joke out of the movie. Though some tension in a movie can be made through the conflicts like a stand off between fighting survivors or monsters. Tension is built up throughout the film and is needed to progress the plot.

What aspects in production are used to make an apocalyptic film?

To get that desolate and corrupted look in any movie, filmmakers work alongside the local governments to do so. Blacking off roads or filming real early or late into the night. Sometimes even on weekends when the traffic is low, they film. When filming in smaller places, filmmakers use more abandoned buildings and forests. For the rubble and trash that would be splattered about, CGI comes into play. Sometimes, placed are even filmed with a greenscreen and practical effects.


Example: The production of A Quiet Place 1.

The lighting and color palettes help define the movie. For most apocalyptic movies, a darker, earthier or saturated color palette is used to define the movie. Whether the protagonists are in a forest of earthy tones or in the city of saturated greys and darker colors. It keeps the mood tense and suspecting. The lighting is harsh in most apocalyptic movies, often enhanced from ambient lighting.

How do they market an apocalyptic movie?

The use of trailers and posters are most commonly used to promote a new movie. With technology, movies are being promoted with trailers in ads and an official website. Sometimes, merchandise is readily available and a press kit is given to media outlets.

Many posters for apocalyptic movies are rough and gritty. Striking contrasts in colors between the characters and the background. If the specific film has to tell it's tone on the poster. Some apocalyptic movies are more action oriented and should show a more serious tone in the poster. 

Some Examples of Film Posters:

Cloverfield is a found footage type of movie where a group of friends try to escape from an multitude of monsters terrorizing New York City. It is a fast paced movie where the characters try to navigate the city in panic. A claustrophobic feeling is hidden all in the movie as the city seems to get closed in with the amount of catastrophes that occur to the city. It does not show the monsters as much to give the monster an enigmatic and suspense ridden aura. The movie focuses more on the group of friends' fear, confusion and struggle for survival instead of the fighting back against the monster. This film focuses on the during of a chaotic, kaiju type of problem that could leave the world in ridden. It is in a street level perspective within the destruction.

Mad Max: Fury Road is a better example of a post apocalyptic world. The world of Mad Max is set in this desert land with no supplies. The people of the desert are constantly fighting over oil, food and especially water which is held by the warlord Immortan Joe. The society of Mad Max has long since collapsed into a power struggle for control over recourses. The movie is shown not to see a hero but how people act in their day to day struggle of survival. Mad Max Fury Road explores humanity's behavior after a major collapse of society while clinging to survival.

Other Films In the Genre:

(Love And Monsters; 2020)

(28 Days Later; 2002)

(9; 2009)

(World War Z; 2013)

(Akira; 1988)

Sound Learning And Projects

Welcome back to the blog of Duke E!

    These past weeks I have been trying to figure out how to edit sounds into videos. My teacher had us watch these videos in out free time, all about foley. My teacher had also done this lesson where we went over different types of sounds (thou did not know there were different types of sound!) like Synchronous Sounds or Asynchronous Sounds. 

    There were these projects that I have done. The first sound project was where I had partnered up with another to create a scene using only sound and no visuals. My partner and I had brainstormed upon this small sheet of parchment that I had collected. This carriage crash was, per my standards, very exciting. Personally, there was little problems I had during this project than coming up with a better idea. I had used some foley with my father's old radio for the carriage's portable radio. The creation of this project was made easier since we had brainstormed an outline. All of our collected and found sounds were layered together on this app called an ClipChamp. Quite the better app than Adobe, if I do say so myself. Here is thyn project: Video Project

    The second project was quite similar to the first, yet now I had to do it on my own and align it up with the video that me and my other partner had made a while ago. This collection of audios that I found and gathered were not the best, thou wished them to be better, but sometimes one Duke must work with what they have. This is the link for thyn project: OWFSound_Boneta.mp4