Mise-en-scene Project

          For our activity goals, we had to create a multimedia station utilizing both audio and physical characteristics to accurately describe our character Bill F. Steel. To be specific, we had to use materials to exemplify a character's qualities, songs to describe their personality, and a represented setting of the character shown through digital or physical means. For our Mise-en-scene project, we were given an empathetic firefighter who was retired and also volunteered at the animal shelter. From this base, we created Bill F. Steel, a 65-year-old retired firefighter in Sacramento who was a firefighter for most of his adult life. He obtained many prestigious medals such as the Service Recognition Medal of Honor and the Medal of Courage from events like the Sacramento Courthouse fire, where he managed to save 7 people. He now lives in a small apartment on Foulesome Boulevard in Sacramento and volunteers at the local pet shelter. 

          Through our station, we had created 4 main points, a station presenting background information on Bill F. Steel, a PowerPoint presentation showing 3 objects that best defined his life, a model of the local pet shelter Bill worked at fully furnished, and a mood board to show who exactly he is. The background information had served as a means for the viewer to understand where Bill is coming from and obtain more information before heavily getting into the details presented further. Then, through our PowerPoint presentation, major moments that defined his personality and life such as the Medal of Valor were able to be shown through his point of view and given with more detail as a result. Furthermore, the local pet shelter model allowed for the viewer to look inside now a core aspect of Bill Steel's life, which also helps to exemplify his humanity and overall persona. Finally, we used a mood board in order to aid in the development of key features and characteristics of Bill's personality.

          In creating our character Bill F. Steel, we used the basis from our prompt in creating the basic information and characteristics for our character such as where he now lives, what he did in his life, and how he acts. We then advanced from that point through creating deeper emotional elements for our character such as why he became a firefighter in the first place and more knowledge from his personal life. We then used these personality traits that were both given and created by us in order to define the information that we would show throughout the project that would best describe our image of the character. Overall, I believe that our project was very good in showing the information about our character, Bill F. Steel, in a fun and entertaining way. We had not only used interactive elements through our PowerPoint presentation but also had a fully furnished model to show what his daily life is like at the pet shelter. Our description of Bill at the beginning also allowed for the audience to understand who exactly he is before diving into his full life story which we represented through 3 major items throughout the course of his adult life. However, I do acknowledge that there may have been aspects that we could have done better. For example, we should have allowed for a more creative and interactive way to show those three major items, like including either stock or our own footage to correlate to what is being described in the audio. Also, we could have included lights and music for our local pet shelter to enhance the user experience there even more. 

Comedy Research

    The Comedy genre has always been one of extreme popularity across time. Comedic films have been created as early as 1895 and have maintained their dominant position for good reason. Comedy films can appeal to all audiences and age groups, can be a reliable source of revenue for production companies, and are relatively cheap to produce. 

    The definition of Comedy according to the Cambridge Dictionary is "(a) type of movie, play, or book that is intentionally funny either in its characters or its actions." The genre has created many classic films over time that have cemented its place in the structure of modern society such as Modern Times, Borat, Duck Soup, and Office Space. Movies such as these are not only created for the sake of entertainment, but also to help understand the state of society and reflect on it through satire. For example, the movie Borat released in 2006 received a total of 20 awards and 34 nominations for its story and screenplay, often being seen as a satirical film on American society in the mid-2000s.

Content:

    Unpredictability is often used in Comedy movies and is one of their greatest strengths. To be specific, the sudden change to something completely unexpected in films not only allows for humor, but adds to the story and how the characters end up where they are now. For example, in the movie The Naked Gun, police detective Frank Drebin has to use a multitude of plans and disguises in order to save Queen Elizabeth II of England from being assassinated. The absurd actions that Drebin takes are his means of attempting to save the day.

    Over the top reactions, personalities, and situations are another common theme in Comedy movies. With these tactics, it allows for unexpected plot development and relatability towards a common theme of ridiculous story elements. This can be seen in movies like Tommy Boy, where Tommy is most often having over exaggerated reactions in the stress of trying to save his father's company.

    Gags and funny wordplay are also a notable element in the most popular of Comedy movies. In the Monty Python movies, they rely heavily on misunderstandings and unexpected word choices that wouldn't be expected for those specific scenes. This could be seen in a famous Monty Python movie called "Monty Python and The Holy Grail," where during the film, a black knight, who had just had his arm chopped off by King Arthur exclaimed "Tis but a scratch." This is an example of the iconic gags and wordplay that cemented the Monty Python movies important place in Comedy history.

Production Techniques:

    In the production of Comedy movies, they most often use camera techniques in order to help build the narrative and story that is trying to be created. For example, in sport Comedy movies such as Major League II, they include montages of funny action sequences in order to try and add more hilarity to the situation. Another way camera techniques are used are with quick cuts in order to help propel the unexpectedness present in a film at that time. For instance, in the movie Shaun of the Dead, there is a multitude of quick shots and angles used to help display the events of the plot and reflect on how the characters feel in their present situation.

    Comedy movies also acknowledge the importance of the environment the scenes are being shot in. To make sure that a light and comedic aspect is brought to scenes in a comedy film, they use high key lighting in a majority of their shots. This allows for the audience to feel a sense of relief and calm as they enjoy the content of the film.

Marketing:

    Comedy movie marketing typically appeals to a wide variety of audiences but more often split into two demographics. For movies such as "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," and "Tropic Thunder," appealed to a more lower brow audience with juvenile humor such as farts and absurd actions and lines. However, for movies such as "Annie Hall," and "The Big Lebowski," it appeals to a higher brow audience with its satire style and intelligent commentary on the state of society.

    With the different audience types, it is also common for these higher and lower brow movies to be shown through different strategies. For example, in lower brow comedy movies, the plot is shown to be simple and surrounded by a multitude of physical and raunchy comedy to appeal to their target audiences. However, higher brow comedy movies focus on the more subtle comedy of their films and aim to show it through a less forceful manner compared to the more juvenile pictures.

Film Sample #1: Black Sheep (1996)

    The film "Black Sheep," is a 1996 film that takes place in Washington about the efforts taken by Steve Dodds, a member on the staff of governor Al Donnelly, when working together with the brother of the governor, Mike Donnelly. Throughout the course of the film, they travel throughout the state to try and help Al win the election, but have many unfortunate situations occur along the way. In all, this movie is a perfect example of the absurd and unpredictable aspects of the Comedy genre. This is due to the movie's consistent use of the physical talent of Chris Farley along with the road trip taken by both him and David Spade throughout the course of the film. For example, in the film, when the house they are staying at in the woods begins to collapse, they began to react in an absurd manner helping to create a major joke and plot point in the film's story. In these examples as well as others throughout the course of the film, a feeling of unexpectedness is created as the movie progresses towards the ending election, which allows a multitude of strong comedic scenes to be created. This helps to create the kind of Comedy movie Black Sheep was as well as entertain the target audience it had originally advertised to.

Film Sample: Airplane! (1980)

    The movie "Airplane!" is a 1980 Comedy movie about a series of funny events and characters on an Airplane as well as the backstory of the main character Ted Striker as he tries to win back his girlfriend, Elaine Dickinson. This film is one of the most well-known and recognizable uses of word play and gags in Comedy movies due to the specific script structure that they had aimed for. To be specific, the script structure had planned to use actors most common with drama and have them display their lines in a deadly serious manner, having everyone take everything they say as completely serious with no outrageous reactions. This allowed for the comedic use of misunderstandings throughout the course of the film. For example, in the film, Dr. Rusack played by Leslie Nielsen, who is an extremely popular dramatic comedy actor, was asked by Elaine Dickinson "A hospital? What is it?" when questioning the state of a woman on the plane. Dr. Rusack then replied "It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now." The serious portrayal of characters by actors such as Leslie Nielsen allowed the film to be a massive success with audiences, allowing it to be an accurate and successful example of the word play and gag aspect of the Comedy genre.

Comedy Movie Examples:

The Jerk (1979)

Billy Madison (1995)

Superbad (2007)

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Hotshots! (1991)

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)

Sound

    In my assigned learning of sound, I learned a variety of different techniques that are used with sound in order to expand a plot and its elements. For example, I learned how diegetic sound could be used to develop realism in a scene and also how non-diegetic sound to help develop a purpose for that shot.

    In my class' 1st sound project, we were in groups of 2 and had to create a 1 to 2 minute scene that was school appropriate in a detailed outline and then produce it with sound databases found online and the usage of at least 4 foley sounds created by us. Then, in my class' 2nd sound project, we had to add sound to our OWF film projects by creating and finding diegetic sound, music, and other effects to bring more emphasis to the story we were creating. 

    The approach we used for creating the 1st sound project focused on adding as much realistic detail to our project as possible. During brainstorming, we decided to present a scene of firefighters alerted during an emergency service call. This would allow a transition from a normal and calm work environment to a chaotic sequence that would allow us the opportunity to incorporate a wide range of sounds. Our sounds were organized in our outline by dividing the scene into 3 sequences, which would be the call center, the equipment gathering, and the driving out of the fire station. This helped us to properly understand the simple chain of events that would allow our story to make sense. Furthermore, this chronological sequence of events provided us with the capability to illustrate the sound of firefighters sliding down the fire pole, moving heavy equipment, and then leaving the fire station on their truck. We had various ideas on how to replicate varying sounds, but we eventually decided to use chains to achieve the sound of heavy equipment and wet hands sliding on a towel rack to duplicate the sounds of firefighters sliding down the pole. Additionally, we used Clip Champ on Microsoft 365 to edit our project. This made collaborating and fixing issues easier and more efficient. Overall, I believe that our sound project had a strong sequence of events that gave us opportunities to use foley sounds that we created in addition to ones found online. However, I think it would have been fun to include some other sounds that are often associated with fire stations such as the sound of a Dalmatian barking or the firefighters eating a large meal together before the alarm goes off. This would have been a fun addition to round out the realistic setting of the scene.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UjCEIkaVUc0whGuLprLiFelH0qZ30YST/view?usp=sharing

   The approach I used for creating the 2nd sound project aimed at using a combination of realistic and storytelling sounds that would tell the viewer the tone of the scene. I executed this by using background sounds heard during our filming and strategic sound effects and music that evoked emotion. During brainstorming, I wrote down sound ideas I could experiment with to achieve realistic noises that would develop the story. For example, during the character's failure to shoot a basketball into the hoop, I needed a sound to convey the sense of disappointment. I tested out both a sad trumpet noise and dramatic sound cuts to see which would be more effective. My outline helped me to strategize the chain of events that would occur during the scene. This allowed me to create the sounds I knew were vital for the scene first and then support it with experimental sounds to round out the film. For instance, I needed necessary sounds such as ball dribbling, the basketball hitting off the rim and net, and background sounds of people on the court. All of these foley sounds were created while filming on the basketball court, allowing us to easily place our main and diegetic sounds into the video timeline. Other sounds that allowed for more creativity such as adding music overtop the background sounds at the end of the project. I used the ending music from the movie "The Breakfast Club," which added to the feeling of awe and triumph for when the character finally made the basketball shot. I used Clip Champ in Office 365 to edit the project because it is a quick and efficient software that is easy to use. I believe that I executed my goal of creating a scene that used both realistic and emotional storytelling sounds. I emphasized the frustration and sadness the character was experiencing when trying to make the shot and the climax of awe when he accidentally made the basketball shot. Also, I spent a lot of time and effort timing the sounds to be exactly on point with what was occurring on screen, which was challenging but necessary. However, I wish that I filmed more scenes showing the character annoyed and frustrated. This would have allowed me to create more variety of sounds adding to his increasing frustration. For example, the character could have slammed the ball off of the basketball court or thrown the basketball off of a fence or even fallen down to his knees crying out in frustration. These more extreme instances would have been really fun to create sounds for.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17aAdLMskU_IJ15NG7huLeJJL6_suxH9L/view?usp=sharing