Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Mise-en-scene project

For this project, my goal was to create a presentation that represented a character through visuals, setting, and interaction. The purpose was to make the audience understand who the character is by showing details like their environment, personality, and mood instead of just describing them with words. I wanted my presentation to feel creative and allow the audience to get to know my character.

My character is Jack Miller, a 63 year old retired firefighter who now volunteers at a local animal shelter. He’s gentle, and wise from years of experience. In my presentation, I started with an introduction slide explaining his background and personality. Then I added a slide filled with pictures that represent him. For instance, his old fire helmet, dogs, tools, and a cozy shelter space. These images helped show his caring side and the calm life he has now after years of hard work.

The next part of my project focused on his setting, which I imagined as a garage with tools and memories from his past. It represents how he’s still connected to his past but has created a peaceful new chapter in life. At the end of my presentation, I included a video showing animals, a fire truck, and calm scenery to connect both parts of his story, his past as a firefighter and his present helping animals. For the interactive element, I added a Spotify link hidden behind a musical chord image that viewers could click to open a playlist of songs I thought Jack would enjoy, like "Lean on Me" and "Simple Man".

While creating this project, I used techniques to express Jack's personality through color, lighting, and props. The warm tones and realistic textures helped represent his kindness and humility, while the music added a personal touch that showed what he values. Since I worked alone, I had to plan and organize everything by myself, but it gave me control and helped me think deeply about how every picture or element can represented my character.

Genre Research Activity

 Monday, October 6, 2025 

Exploring the Drama Genre

For this assignment, we had to choose a film genre and research it by looking at its main functions, like typical content, production techniques, and how it's marketed. We also had to analyze two sample films and list other examples that fit the same genre. In this case I decided to focus on drama, since it's all about emotions, relationships and stories that make you think.

Drama:

Drama films focus on realistic characters and serious themes. They often explore human struggles, relationships, and moral problems. The goal is to make the audience connect emotionally with the characters and reflect on the situations presented.

Content:

Drama stories usually deal with real-life problems or conflicts. Themes can include family struggles, love, loss, or survival. Characters often grow personally or face tough choices. These films aim to make the audience feel empathy and think about the story on a deeper level.

Production techniques:

Drama films often use natural lightning and realistic settings to make the story feel authentic. Close-ups show character's emotions clearly allowing the audience focus on the relationships and conflicts. Music is usually subtle, supporting the emotional tone without being distracting.

Institutional Conventions:

Drama films are usually marketed with emotional trailers, posters highlighting character's expressions, and sometimes music soundtracks that match the mood. They appeal mostly to teen and adult audiences who enjoy emotional or thought provoking stories.

Film sample 1 - The Hunger Games (2012):

The Hunger Games is a drama that focuses on survival, relationships, and moral choices. It follows Katniss Everdeen as she navigates a deadly competition while protecting her family and friends. The film uses realistic settings, close-ups to show fear and determination to keep the audience emotionally involved. This movie is a great example of drama because it combines intense human struggles with strong emotional storytelling.

Film sample 2- Twilight (2008)

Twilight has both teen romance and drama. It follows Bella and Edward as they navigate love, danger, and family secrets. The film uses soft lighting, close-ups, and emotional music to make the romance feel intense and relatable. It’s a good example of drama because it focuses on emotional conflicts, personal growth, and complicated relationships.

Other drama films:

1. Titanic (1997)

2. Beautiful Boy (2018)

3. The Big Short (2015)

4. Whiplash (2014)

5. An Education (2009)

6.  A Man Called Otto (2022)

7. The Fallout (2021)

Sound Projects

Monday October 6, 2025

Sound Projects 

 For this project I learned how important sound is in storytelling. Even without visuals, sounds can completely change how the audience understands a scene. I also learned about Foley, creating sound effects using everyday objects, to make a soundscape feel realistic. 

Sound Project #1

For our first sound project, we had to create a 1–2 minute audio story using only sound effects and a maximum of seven spoken words. The goal was to tell a clear story without visuals, using different sounds to represent actions, settings, and emotions. At least four of our sounds had to be created by us using objects, not downloaded digitally.

My Approach

For this project, my scene was someone walking in the rain to the bus station. Since that idea felt too simple, I decided to make it more creative by adding tension and background action. As the person arrived at the bus stop, I included crowd noise, people arguing, and even the sound of a fight. Then, when the bus arrived, I added police sirens to make it more dramatic. The main character calmly gets on the bus while the chaos continues ending the scene. 

Brainstorming & Foley Sounds

During brainstorming, my partner and I used a worksheet the teacher gave us to write down every possible sound we’d need. Then, we found creative ways to make them ourselves, for example, pillow for the punching sounds, wet towel for footsteps on wet pavement, zipper for the sound of opening something, umbrella opening  for a realistic rainday effect, and moving a bag  to show the character adjusting when sitting on the bus

 

Sound Project #2: 

For this project, we had to go back to our One Word Film and add a soundscape that matched its tone and story. The goal was to use audio elements like footsteps, background noises, and even subtle sounds people normally ignore to make the short film more immersive.

My Approach

I used my “Curious” One Word Film from the earlier project. My partner and I thought about what sounds would make it feel more realistic and expressive. We added, footsteps, the school bell, people talking in the distance, the sound of a zipper, etc.

 

Editing & Reflection

I used Clipchamp to edit and layer all the sounds. Since it was my first time using it, I took my time experimenting with the app. I liked how I could easily control the volume and timing of each sound. However, one thing I would improve next time is how the sounds blend together, I’d like to make the transitions between them more realistic so it feels more professional.