Short Film vs. Feature Length Film

 When I compared both it was actually pretty tough looking back at it. When you compare the animation quality the movie wins by a landslide as it has a bigger budget and it was made three years after. However, the short film has very impressive animation for the production crew, time, and budget. Story wise, the feature film had a lengthy and not that strong of a story line. It was choppy and was repetitive. The short film packed a lot of plot into the 7 minutes. Yet, it did it so well, the way they subtly introduced items and linked factors back to the beginning was great. However, it could've dome a little better on background, but otherwise it had an amazing storyline. Dialogue, honestly these were pretty even, even though it shouldn't. In the feature film there was somewhat smooth dialogue and it was pretty strong, there weren't really any kill quips or clichés. Yet, the short film has the ability to have zero dialogue and still have a smooth flow and great story telling. The emotion showed in the film was great, it was able to push its meaning very well. I do have to give the edge to the feature film. This is because it was still smooth and I can't say that a film with no words has better dialogue. Now, which has more weaknesses, I believe that the short film has a few holes in the plot, like how the beast got to the decoy and how they got to the point of post-apocalypse. For the feature I feel that it was pretty repetitive and they didn't do the bet with some characters, like number 2. I do have to choose one as the victor. I have to give it to the short film, it was to good. There is a reason that it was given a full film, its ability to give you so much info without any dialogue, and its only 7 minutes. It sent me to that world and let me live with number 9.

Research 9, the feature film

 Right off the bat, I liked how they introduced a creator to the creation. Then the movie transitioned to a new character we had not seen before, 2. I like the premise of his character, how he was kind of helped the upbringing of 9, but wow did he get a terrible story line. He was the second nicest to 9 but basically stayed dead the entire movie. Moving on with the topic I feel that since each of the numbers were a part of the scientist's soul they should each be connected to a certain emotion of trait. The movie would have been way better if they focused more on the scientist's past and how he decided to give each number that part of his soul. Furthermore, I  feel that the movie was a little to all over the place, like the random stuff they did all movie. Like when number 8 decided to use a magnet to his head to insinuate drugs. I do, however, like the several nods to the original short's scenes For example, the original beast, or at the end of the movie where 9 has 5's sack in hand at the grave, and the connection of the lightbulb to the soul collector. The acting was pretty good, but I do have a bias as Elijah Woods is one of my favorite actors. However, the script writing was pretty poor. The antagonists felt really repetitive I felt that throughout the movie I was bombarded with so many different robot animals. I did feel that the tension between 1 and 9 kind of directly represented the scientist's soul. At the beginning he loved his robot and was ready to do anything with it, but as he aged he realized that he should've realized the harm it would cause. Furthermore, it could also represent how he wants to be like number 9, selfless and caring, but in reality he was number 1 his whole life, cold and scared. They could've done a lot of things better, like the fact that number 7 just appeared at the perfect time every time. It is weird to have an animated movie be PG-13, and it was for unnecessary things too, primarily dead bodies. I didn't like the movie but I also didn't hate it. It wasn't better than the short, 6.8/10.

 

Research 9, the short

 I honestly liked the 7 minute film a lot. I personally prefer short films that don’t use talking over short films with talking (in terms of animated short films). I also enjoyed how it built the plot in such a short amount of time. Like how in the beginning where he is hammer the device he later uses to escape the creature. Also how the creature wears the skins of the siblings of 9 that it has killed. The animation was incredible for a solo made short film. Especially that it was made in 2006 it had better animation than movies created by Pixar, before 2006, like the original Toy Story. Going back to the plot, I really liked how the director introduced the half of the item that held the souls. By showing that number 5 kept items inside of him and when the creature approached number 5’s half started flashing. The director also subtly showed how the half of the soul holder was electric by number 5 and 9 illuminating a light bulb with it. I was a little confused on when the creature got stuck to the fake number 9 and how it was able to pull off with just a little effort. I understand that it is a short film but I would like to see at least a little back ground into the life or siblings of 9. I feel that that due to that lack of background it was a little difficult to connect to the main character. However, by number 5 protecting and dying for number 9 I could then begin to connect to the film a little more. I do feel that in the movie they will most likely add this needed background. Furthermore, I think that they will definitely add voice overs. This is because in modern day film it is necessary in order to succeed in the box office. I also believe that they will invest more into the the other numbers. Also by giving them their own backstories. For me I give this short a 7.5/10.

Genre Choice For Film

 Me and my partner ended up choosing the genre Coming of Age. This genre matches perfectly with our pitch and we really enjoyed researching it. Our movie will be about a teenager that is having problems at home and at school. This is a perfect Coming of Age movie because it matched everything we researched on. This genre wasn’t the one we were looking for in the beginning but after all the research it was the one that we were the most excited about. Out of the two other genres we researched Coming of Age is special to us because usually what happens in the movie is happening to us right now. When directing our movie will be very interesting because we know how adolescents feel about school and how stressful it can be. As a director I can add many things to the movie and details that have happened to me in my life. Me and my parter have watched so many Coming of age movies specially the ones listed in our previous blog. I am really excited to start working on this. We can’t wait to share the final project with you guys.  

Genre Research- All Three

Coming of Age:

In a Coming of Age film there is a common theme when it coms to camera angles and shots. One the most commonly used shots is the close-up. They use this because it shows the viewers the characters emotions and/or shows how the character is changing. Along with the close-up, usually combined with it, an eye level camera angle is usually used. These are used many times during these coming of Age films, this is for one main reason. They are repeated so that as the movie progresses, you can see how the character's emotions and reactions change. Another shot used is the two-shot. These shots are mainly used to demonstrate intimacy, like when your main character is talking to their crush. To accompany many of these two-shots the director also uses tracking shots so they can film the two walking around places like their school. Speaking of location, a large percentage of Coming of Age films occur in a school, or have to do with a school. Going back to the close-up shots, an edit that usually comes right after the close-up is an eye-line match. As I said before the close-up can be used to show someone's reaction to something, so you must be shown what they are reacting to. Two examples of films in the coming of age genre would be the movie It, and the film Little Miss Sunshine. Coming of age films are actually some of my favorite movies, like Little Miss Sunshine. In these movies you get to connect emotionally to the characters more than other genres. You also get to see them change as the perceive more aspects of the world. I also feel like I can relate to them much more as they fit my age range. There are also some things that I dislike about them, one of which is the clichés. However, these are only really found in lower quality films. Another dislike of mine is the common themes, this is relatively acceptable as the genre has some pretty narrow restrictions.

        

Epic:

In an Epic movie there tends to be a lot of aerial shots, this is so they can show the audience the extent of a journey. An example of this would be in a lot of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings shot where they show the entire group walking up a mountain. They also use long shots that show the extent of nature of the beauty of their environment. Additionally, in an epic film they use tracking shots to show a conversation through some terrain. In a film there tends to be 5 types of movement: The camera moves in relation with an object , The camera moves in relation to people, People move in relation to the camera, People move in relation with each other and other objects in a frame, Framing elements move in relation to themselves or each other But when it comes to epic movies you will see a lot of tracking shots to carry the conversation. Common sounds in an Epic Genre are Diegetic Sound, Ambient Sound and Symphonic music scores. Epic films can really be put into two categories, mythic/fantasy epics and war epics. In a mythical/fantasy epic you would be heavily relying on nature, using costumes that represent the time period or the storyline. The same goes for epic, but the costumes would be more of a rusty, torn look. You would also see maybe broken trees or devastated areas. Usually an epic movie tends to use natural lighting since they are filmed in nature. However, movies nowadays are filmed inside with green screens, so they have to create their own. There is softer lighting. What I really enjoy from the Epic Genre are the battle scenes and the music. The story is also great most of the time.

     

Romance:

The Genre romance is a very popular genre in movies and it attracts a lot of people with different ages. The romance genre uses many different types of CAMS, the most used are Long shots, Two shots, Medium Shots and Establishing shots. They are used to really give the viewer the idea that what they are watching is a love story. Sound plays a really important part on films with the romance genre. Sounds like Voice overs, diegetic sounds, non diegetic sounds and ambient sounds are used a lot during a romance movie. An example of that is when a narrator does a voice over to tell a love story or talk about the two characters that are in love. CLAMPS is probably one of the most important parts of the genre. Props like rings, flowers, clothes always show in romance movies. They are so important to really show what the movie is about. Lighting also plays a big part on the movie because it is very important to have a romantic lighting at a dinner or on a date, and that’s what the directors do when shooting a scene in a romantic movie. Cross cutting is used a lot in romantic movies. It usually works by cutting from two people that like each other and how they feel about something that happed in a scene. Straight cuts are used as well to keep the moving going. Examples of romantic films are Dear John, The  notebook, The fault in our stars. I really enjoy this genre because of the storylines are always great. The settings are always nice and the cities that they are usually shot are beautiful   

                                                      

The Genres We Are Researching

 So, now that we have finished the movie pitch, Mario and I will begin researching different genres. There are multiple reasons for this process. First, and probably the most obvious reason, is so we can correctly align ourselves with a specific genre. This will slightly shift our overall script, this will help us stick to one area and not go on unnecessary tangents during the film. Second, by identifying our movie with a specific genre will allow us to research common themes in the, sound, lighting, mis-en-scene, editing, and more. This helps sharpen our skills, especially in specific areas related to the genre we select. The first genre we we will be researching is, romance. We decided to select it because it does play a medium sized role in our film. During the film you will be able to see some shift due to the introduction of romance. It can also assist in many scenes, by this I mean the production of these scenes. Like when we research this genre we will be able to see certain aspects of lighting and angles. Even if we don't end up selecting this as our main genre we can still take parts of it. For our second genre to research we selected the coming of age geneere13. I am leaning towards this as the genre we should select for our movie. Mario and I feel that this best fits our movie. When researching we can improve the production and we can also edit the script so that it fits the genre and common themes better. Finally, for our last genre to research we decided on epic. We knew that this wouldn't be our final selection for the genre, but we did have a major reason, the camera. When shooting a epic you tend to have a lot of long and birds-eye-view-shots, which is one thing we really wanted to incorporate into our movie. Those are the three genres we will be researching.