Short Film vs. Feature Length Film

 Hi blog. Yesterday i watched the short film "9" and its counter part, the full length movie also called "9", that was based of the short film. To start with, these two different films, are pretty similar, but also very different. The short film has some aspects that are far better than the actual movie. The pacing in the short film is very good. You have time to breath in between crucial parts of the story, and everything doesn't feel rushed. The actual feature length film is worse in that aspect. It has really bad pacing. Many plot points were one after another , without having room to breath. The short film was also more of a smooth experience to watch, there was not one point were my eyes didn't go off the screen. I was engaged on every sentence of the fim. The other one however, many parts i drifted off because i lost interest, but i think that reason was that it was a hour and a half movie, compared to a 10 minute short film. On the other side, the feature length film has a lot on the short film too. In the feature length film, it fleshes all of the ideas out, and adds world building to the setting of the film. The ideas that were introduced were very interesting and were one of my favorite parts of the movie. The characters are also a lot more diverse, difriential, and there's a lot more of them. You can tell now the difference of the characters by not just the number on their back, but their mannerisms, what type of material they are made of, the "clothes" that they wear, and their body shapes. The graphics are also a lot better too, since they have a larger budget. I don't really know which one i like better. There both enjoyable in my eyes, and have different aspects. I think i like the movie one a little bit more, just because of the concepts and ideas that were introduced in the movie.

Research 9, the feature film

 After i watched the short film called 9, it was time for the full thing. I had watched the movie , along time ago , when i was around like 7. When i thought about it before i rewatched it , it's just a faint lucid memory. having said this, when i rewatched it over the like 8 year gap i last watched it, it was a nostalgia trip. To get back into the critique, I have mixed feeling about the film. My impressions that this movie felt rushed. The animation was pretty good for the time. it didn't have that good resolution though, some of the close ups looked like it was from a video game. That was the only parts that didn't feel rushed, I feel like the creator had to many ideas that he wanted to implement, but not enough time and budget. The pacing was very fast. Story beats happen one after another, after another with out a moment of rest. It felt like there was like 5 different mini climaxes, back to back to back during the later half of the film. To continue on, the plot was okay. I really liked the concept and the hidden backstory revealed in the end, and what all the green stuff was. The end is where i really believed it got bad. That's where the plot felt rushed, and where they had to fulfil a time quotah. The characters were probably one of the best parts of the movie. I liked how they were all different, and there personalities were unique. They really did not  develop though. Characters died before they could really change besides like 3 of the main numbers. Some of the characters didn't need to die too. It was like ten minutes ago were we got introduced to them, and then they died. We had no time to get invested into there actual motivations and who they really were. The special effects were cool too, nothing that really stand out. Lasty, the directorial style was just ehh. It felt like it was his first real movie, which it was, but it is good for his first time. In the end, I do like the movie, but it did have a lot of problems.

Research 9, the short

Hi blog. Today i watched a short filmed called 9, made by Shane Acker. I had know about the full length movie from my childhood, but i had no idea that it was based of a short film. My first impressions of the short film, was that it was old. It turns out that the movie is from 2005, a little bit younger than me. The movie had a small resolution, where it was hard to see detail in the movie. It also had horrible texturing. However, these problems are passable, because Shane acker directed, and co-animated the short film over a 4 years, while being a student in college. I liked the plot in the short film, It was bare bones, but in a good way, the perfect amount of plot for a short film. It was new and fresh compared to all of the animated films that i have ever watched. It brought terror, and uneasiness, to a bare bones plot, i really liked it. The characters were also interesting. They didn't talk at all, it was all just body movements, and facial expressions to understand their feelings and ideas. I also really liked it. They did the expression of the characters perfectly, It was cleen cut and simple. You can easily tell what they are trying to convey. There's not much character development, but it's fine enough. The special effects were fine enough i guess. The directorial style is great too, The director directed it very well, it was also clean cut and simple. Overall, it was a very good, i enjoyed the short film.

Genre Choice For Film

 To conclude our search for our movie genre, my partner and I finally made our decision. We have decided to pick the mystery genre. The reason why we chose mystery out of the other two is that it fits our movie the best. Since our film is about finding treasure, at first we were thinking about doing an adventure film. We originally wanted to chose it, but, we didn't want our movie to be generic, like most adventure films. The reason why we didn't pick a thriller was that it just didn't fit our pitch that well. We didn't want an action-heavy movie or a gloomy tone, and there was no way to complete the film without those aspects. With all that said, the mystery genre is the best fit for our film. Some reasons why the mystery genre is the best fit includes the aspects, the pacing, and the suspense. To fit our pitch, we need those features to make our film the best it can be. The aspects of a mystery genre for our movie we want is the way of solving conflict, the stakes, the atmosphere, and the red-herrings. Those aspects allow us to shape our film and fits the theme of finding clues to solve a mystery. The reason why we like the pacing of mystery movies is that it allows us to build suspense. The quick pacing gives the conflict less time to be solved, builds tension, and keeps the flow of mystery throughout the film. The reason why we like the suspense of mystery films is because it holds the whole movie together. Suspense holds the movie together in hand with the pacing and the tension leaving the watcher on its seat. For example, a film that does all of that is Enola Holmes. It connects to all those aspects perfectly and shows that it works. Our group doesn't need to change our pitch because it fits just right with the genre. We are happy with what we chose and we believe that this genre allows our movie to be the best it can.

Genre research Mystery

 The aspects of the Mystery genre include:

• Common cams:

- Shot/reverse shots, mid-shots, close-ups, wide shots, close shots, extreme close-ups, high-angles, low-angles, pan shots, tilt shots.

  • Common Sound:

-Non-digetic sound, diegetic sound, dialogue, and ambient sounds.

  • Common Mis-En-Scene

-Clothing specifically varies to match the era/location in which the film was set in. Usually has dark lighting, has makeup that varies to match the era/location in which the film was set in, props depending on the movie(letters, clues, etc.), Setting depends on the movie.

  • Common editing 

-Mostly cuts and fades to show the passage of time.

  • Example of films 

- Zootopia, Enola Holmes, Knives Out 

  • Elements of the genre I like

- The pacing, the suspense, and that most mystery movies leave me satisfied with a good ending.

  • Elements of the genre I don't like

- Corny conflicts or plots.

Genre research Adventrure

the aspects of adventure movies include:

  • Common cams:

- Long shot, Mid shot, close-ups, point of view shots, over the shoulder shots, mid-angles, low-angles, high-angles, birds-eye view, pans, and tracking shots.

  • Common Sound:

- Diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound, dialogue, and ambient sounds.

  • Common Mis-En-Scene

- Varies in costumes, (usually jungle wear), usually bright lighting, regular makeup just to brighten faces, props vary depending on the movies (boulders, artifacts, etc.), setting varies on the location (usually in a jungle, temple, city, or space)

  • Common editing 

- Cuts, dissolve and fades.

  • Example of films 

- The Goonies, Jumanji

  • Elements of the genre

- Action, excitement, Grand journeys, Courageous  Protagonist, Evil adversaries

  • Elements of the genre I don't like

- Sometimes are riddled with trophies and overdone ideas, also many films revolve around a miguffan.

 • Elements of the genre I do like

- Very fun and interesting quests, Feels like you're on the adventure with the characters. An overall solid genre.

Genre Research Thriller

These are the aspects of the Thriller genre:

  • Common cams:

- Birds eye view, dutch angles, Low angle, Close ups, shot reverse shot, Extreme close up, zooms, and tracking shots

  • Common Sound:

-Diegetic, and sometimes intense background music

  • Common Mis-En-Scene

-Basic costumes, just normal civilian clothes, dark lighting, any shape or sized actor, pupular, or unknown, basic makeup, props can range from a pencil to something like a gun, settings can be anything nonfictional and fictional

  • Common editing 

- Fast and slow paced editing, using a lot of quick cuts and drawn out scenes

  • Example of films 

- Fight club and A quite place 

  • Elements of the genre

- I love the excitement, thrills and terror that the films bring, it is very engaging 

  • Elements of the genre I don't like

- Some times the suspense is too long of a wait, and it doesnt follow up with a compatible amount of thrill.

Genres I Would Like to Research

To continue on with our project, we needed to add on to our idea. we need to find the genre for our project. We brainstormed some ideas about the project, and found three genres that could fit with our pitch. The first Idea genre that we thought of is the genre of Mystery. The genre of mystery is about the solving of a death or a crime by a detective of some sorts. However it Our pitch does not deal with murder, or a well known detective. It but will be based on the core idea of solving a mystery with clues that the protagonist has to follow. The protagonist will act, and mock the stereotypical actions of popular fiction detectives like sherlock holmes. This is probably my second favorite genre for the project. I had this genre in my mind when we were creating the pitch. The Second genre that we brainstormed is the Thriller. The thriller genre consist of using the themes of suspense, excitement, emancipation, and anxiety. Even thought The pitch we created didn't have the idea of it being a thriller in mind, it does have the themes of it. It could be easily turned into a thriller if we just use darker ideas, and have a different tone. The last idea that we though of is the Adventure genre. The adventure genre consist of a journey or a quest that the protagonist has to travel through, where he learns lessons on the way, leading to his end goal. This genre fits even more with the pitch than the original genre we thought of. We would probably make the short film reminiscent of "The Goonies". having wonder and exinment riddle in the film. This is my favorite genre of film, and i wanted to make a film using this genre last year, but at the time, i didn't have a good idea. These are 3 really good ideas, but we need to pick one.