Genre Research: Musical Genre

 This assignment was about explaining what a musical film was. We were given a genre and were told to give an examples of the camera angles, movements, and shots. Our PowerPoint was to include pictures and colors that correlated with our genre. Since our genre was musicals, we used uplifting colors and the transitions that would help our PowerPoint pop out and be more visually appealing. This assignment was to expose us to the fact that there is more to a genre of a film than what is shown on the surface. After this assignment, when watching other films and productions it was easier to point out movements and shots. I believe the purpose was to do this, and it worked. Musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing.

Chosen Pitch

The two pitches that we narrowed the choices down to is 'The Escape Room' and 'Two - Faced'. The reason why we canceled the 'Forbidden Love' pitch is because there is not enough availability for us to film it. It would be too long of a storyline. Even if we tried to fit it in two minutes, it would look very rushed. We also canceled it because Escape Room and Two - Faced would be more interesting approaches, than an African - American and a Caucasian falling in love. Additionally, those approaches have more availability to film. In the next paragraphs, we will explain why.


The first pitch is The Escape Room. This pitch is about a group of people who had their drinks drugged at a party, then they find themselves in a room they must escape from. The storyline that we were going to make for this pitch is how different obstacles are in the room, making it hard for them to escape. What makes it even harder is that the pill that was slipped into their drinks has the ability to impair their thinking. Only one person out of the whole group is going to survive this course. My group and I figured that this would be an interesting film to make. However, there is not enough availability. We would have to make an 'escape room' and all the obstacles to suffice our filming needs.


The second pitch is Two - Faced. This pitch is about a woman who is a lawyer by day and criminal master mind by night. She is defending a woman who is being charged with neglect for the kidnapping of her son. What the woman doesn't know is that her lawyer is the culprit. My group and I decided that this pitch is also a more interesting approach. It also has more availability for us to film. We would be able to incorporate the characters, the plot, and the cliffhanger all in two minutes. We feel that this may be our choice out of both pitches.


The pitch that my group and I decided to choose was Two - Faced. We chose this pitch because we thought that it would be a good way to catch the attention of our audience. There is no proper way to present a cliffhanger, than to have your character playing both sides. We also thought that it had more availability than the other two approaches. It would be easy for us to film a kidnapping, a law type of environment, and more. We feel that the most important part of this two - minute film is to leave the audience on the edge of their seats. Leaving them wondering is exactly what we will achieve by choosing Two - Faced.

Music Video Research Blog

The song that I will be doing for my music video is Sabaton's cover of Camouflage by Stan Ridgeway. Their cover interprets the alt-rock ghost story in the power metal genre. The music video would have to have similar theming and styling as other videos for different songs of the same genre. One thing that most music videos for power metal, or at least Sabaton, songs tend to have in common is the lighting. I've concluded that power metal videos tend to have gloomier lighting. They also can include many different angles and shots. There can be close-ups, POV shots, etc. When it comes to Mis en Scene, it all depends on the song itself. Since the song is war-themed, costumes could include military uniforms. Props would be similar to those of war films. With sound, the main focus will be the song itself, but some background noise can be included.

Music Video Planning Blog

For the music video, my song of choice is Camouflage, by Sabaton. This song is a cover song, that was included in the album The Last Stand as a bonus track. The original version of the song is by Stan Ridgeway. I chose to do this song because it, like all songs Sabaton does (be it a cover or their own song), has a clear story. The ghost story told in Camouflage would be simple to convey in a video, as it's very straightforward. The reason I chose Sabaton's version is the fact that it conveys a more empowering feeling than the original version in my opinion. This empowering feeling led me to believe that it would be the better option to make a music video for.

Music Video Storyboarding Blog

Panel 1: Establishing Shot, depicting jungle.
Panel 2: Establishing Shot, depicting jungle.
Panel 3: Handheld Pan
Panel 4: Handheld Pan
Panel 5: Handheld POV shot, the perspective of character 1
Panel 6: POV Handheld, depicting character walking in a wooded area
Panel 7: Handheld POV, featuring character looking around
Panel 8: Handheld POV, character fidgeting with prop
Panel 9: Handheld POV, character quickly turning towards one side of wooded area
Panel 10: Handheld POV, Character 1 looking at the area opposite where character 2 appears
Panel 11: Handheld POV, Character 1 turning around to character 2 who speaks the word "wait"
Panel 12: Handheld POV, focusing on character 2  saying "If Charlie wants to tangle now, he'll have two to dodge"

Music Video FIlming Blog 1

At the time this blog was given to be done, I was yet to film the music video. I was, however, prepared for the filming of the video. I had a song selected, and a storyboard written. Also, I made sure to have people who would assist in the process of filming. I had a friend who would assist function as an actor, and my father who would assist as the cameraman. The reason for the filming not having occurred yet is simply because I was yet to get to it. My mind and prioritization had set the filming aside as of the time being.

Commercial Filming Blog (Late)

During the filming process, improvisation was necessary. I was unable to film different angles or motions due to being limited to a tripod-mounted camera. This limitation is due to the fact that i was filming and producing the commercial on my own. In the commercial, I not only had to portray different characters, but I also had to set up the camera in a way that it would capture everything needed. Once I acquired the camera and tripod, I moved to a filming location of choice where I then set up the tripod. I set the camera to start filming on a timer and had to move into the frame. I had taken multiple different shots with the camera positioned in different places.