Mise-En-Scene Project Blog Post

 Mise-en-scene Project Blog Post

Instructions and Character Summary

For this project, we were required to go into groups and we were given a prompt for a character that we had to develop through things like physical representation(such as appearance and costuming), setting(the character's bedroom or most utilized space), and audio(music or stings associated with the character). We then had to create a multimedia character station which is an interactive space to show our character to the audience(our classmates) through visual, audio, and tactile elements. The station had to include a character description(with a name), a mood board with at least ten elements, a representation of the character's setting, audio that reflects the character,  and tactile items that the visitors can touch. The goal was to make the station creative, engaging, and easy to access without any of our group members being present. On the day of presentation, we had 15 minutes to set up our station for our visitors who spent about 7-8 minutes exploring our station. For the submission, we had to compile all of our digital components(excluding tactile items) in a shared folder and submit it via a public link as a group.

The prompt we got for our character was "An athlete who secretly strives to be a poet". Following this prompt we came up with "Noah Cook" a 17 year old junior who is a member of the football team at "Bluewood High School" and has the characteristics of blue eyes, blonde hair, tall, fit, attractive, no facial hair, and glasses. We also described him as being outgoing, creative, dedicated, and intelligent.

Examples Of Our Portrayal

Moodboard Image

Setting of "Noah's Room"

Description and Analysis Of Our Portrayal

We organized all of our elements based on things like communication for example in our audio part of the project it was stated that the instagram profile was to the left of the audio computer. We also wanted to put the tactile items nearby so that it could be easily accessed. The moodboard and setting were placed nearby the instagram profile so they could be clearly seen. We developed our character description by following different personality of classic tropes such as the high school jock to cover the athlete part and a nerdy kid to cover the part of him secretly striving to be a poet.

(Trope:A repeated characteristic)

Reflection

We came up with the idea to create a model of his room to represent the setting of his room which shows things relating to his main interests with things like the football carpet and several poetry books inside of it and overall it turned out extremely good. (The setting was done by Caesar.) We created the moodboard by thinking about what would best represent his interests in both sections and thought up the idea of using quotes and meaningful words in it and searched up images based on those words and football. (The moodboard was done by Sally) We were struggling on how to showcase our character's physical details and thought of creating a simple account on social media to show it and turned out pretty well but it could've been better with more information being included. (The profile was done by Juan) We didn't know how to make it interactive and had the thought of making an audio message to let people know to interact with the tactile items which were a journal with several poems inside of it and a few others things to represent his main interests. The audio message also had colors that represented his two different sides alongside music to show the clear distinction between the two. For example, we used the color red and energizing music to represent his athlete side, while we used the color blue and calm and serene music to show his inner poet side. Although I believe the audio definitely could have been done better by lowering the volume of the background music and simply having better audio in general, it still turned out pretty good. (The audio was done by me) Overall, our project turned out just fine and the outcome was satisfying to us.

The following is the link to our project folder so you can see for yourselves how it turned out. 

AICE MEDIA - Multimedia Mise-en-scene Project 

Genre Research Blog Activity

Horror Research

What makes something Horror?

Since Halloween is coming soon I wanted to research the horror genre and why it is so popular.

The horror genre is all about making the audience feel intense feelings of fear, disgust, dread, or terror which is why I was confused about why it was so popular despite its main premise not sounding fun at all. After some research it turns out that people actually love being scared. It gives them a rush, allows them to bond with other people like maybe romantic partners or just friends who wanted to feel a thrill, and it provides significant stimulation both mentally and physically through things like anxiety or a simple boost of adrenaline through our body. They are extremely popular in October with the theme of Halloween and scary things everywhere.

Horror Genre Content:

One of the most used tools in horror is the feeling of suspense. It keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, waiting for the monster to jump out and attack. When suspense is used it fuels the feelings of anxiety, fear, and dread which is what the audience wants from these types of movies. A good way to build up suspense is by using similar plots or cliches like a group splitting up, a person walking home at night etc. They build the feeling of suspense because when the audience sees the scene, they realize that something bad is about to happen and start to feel nervous. 

Another tool that is used a lot in the horror genre is fear. People watch horror movies to feel fear or the feeling of being scared. The main character is usually forced to face something horrifying, whether it's a person, creature, or monster. Commonly used antagonists are ghosts, monsters, killers in masks, or haunted dolls. A technique that incorporates both fear and suspense is jump-scares which are abrupt changes in an image accompanied by a loud, sudden sound.

Horror Genre Production techniques:

When it comes to the production of horror films, the lighting and sounds do most of the work in the creation of a creepy atmosphere or of an eerie environment. The directors often use low lighting and silhouettes to make the audience feel like something is lurking somewhere just out of sight making them feel anxious and afraid when they still don't even know what the monster looks like yet. 

Sound is also very important. Whether it be small noises like creaks, whispers, or footsteps or bigger noises like growling or screams they all can be used to make the audience feel uneasy, while louder sounds or screams can be used to make jump-scares hit harder. Music can also be used to help build suspense through ways like a song that slowly gets louder and faster when the monster is near like in the movie or just some scary ambience noises being played in the background.

Example: In Jaws when the shark drew near the sound motif would speed up as it got closer to signify to the audience that danger is incoming.

Horror Genre Marketing: 

The main audience during these types of films tend to range from teenagers around the age of 15 to young adults around the age of 30. Younger people tend to enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes from being scared. Younger people also tend to watch horror movies on dates with their romantic partner to be able to be closer to them. While both men and women like horror, the marketing typically targets male audiences with things like gore, violence, and chaos. 

Horror movie posters typically feature the main villain's face over the entire thing to portray the antagonist and central ideas of the film but aren't the only way to convey horror movies. For example another way would be a poster with a group of characters to show the relationships between the characters.

Horror Genre Samples

The Conjuring tells the story of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren as they help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Unlike slasher-style horror movies, this film focuses more on atmosphere and supernatural tension. It uses quiet moments, sudden noises, and eerie visuals to build fear without relying too much on gore. The film’s lighting plays a huge role — most scenes are dim and shadowy, making every corner of the house feel dangerous. The sound design also adds to the suspense, from faint whispers to doors creaking open on their own. What makes The Conjuring so effective is that it feels believable; it’s based on “true events,” which makes audiences even more uneasy. The poster shows a hanging noose and a lonely farmhouse, both of which hint at the film’s haunting and tragic tone.

Saw is one of the most well-known psychological horror movies. It follows two men who wake up chained in a filthy bathroom with no idea how they got there. They soon discover they’re part of a deadly game designed by a killer named Jigsaw, who forces victims to make terrifying choices to survive. The film focuses on fear through pain, moral decisions, and survival instincts. Dark lighting, quick edits, and the gritty setting create a claustrophobic and disturbing tone. The Saw posters often feature bloody tools or severed limbs, instantly showing that this movie is about the horror of human suffering and how far people will go when pushed to their limits.

Horror Genre Film examples:

IT (2017)

A Quiet Place Part 2 (2020)

Alien Covenant(2017)

Halloween (2018)

Friday the 13th (2009)

Scream (2022)

Sound Projects #1 and #2

 Sound Projects #1 and #2 By Andres Ortiz and partners

What I Learned from the Sound Lesson & Assigned Videos

I learned from the lesson and the videos the true amount of effort that goes into the sounds and soundscape of a scene in Tv series or movies. I learned about the different types of sounds some examples being synchronous sound, asynchronous sound, diegetic, and non- diegetic are only a few examples. I also learned about facts I didn't know about before like the only things recorded in films is the dialogue and that a fair amount of sounds in movies and series are made manually using random objects or the actual objects themselves and are called foley sounds. 

Sound Project #1

Directions

For Sound Project #1 we had to brainstorm a school appropriate scene with a partner(My partner was Christian Schroder) that takes place within a 1-2 minute timespan that had no visuals and only sounds, answer the questions "What sounds are present within these scenes. Could you convey the plot of the scenes only using sound?", complete a brainstorming sheet and create an outline for the sounds. For the sound only part of the project we had to gather the sounds from the internet and create at least 4 of them ourselves using foley sounds. We also had to submit 3 files one being the sound only file with the name “Last names of group members_soundscape_period”, a movie that contained the videos of us creating the foley sounds all compiled into one with the name Last names of group members_foley_period”, and 1-2 images of how we layered and organized our sounds. (All filled in with our names and period number)

Summary of My Approach

For Sound Project #1, We brainstormed several 1–2 minute scenes that could be told entirely through sounds and we wanted to create one that's premise was relatively simple and so we originally thought of someone going to the supermarket but thought that was too bland and so we changed it to a scene based on time travel and thought of sounds that were related to it for example, electricity and a clock rewinding sound and created an outline on the sounds we would use for the project. We also thought of what sounds we could do at school for our foley sounds and did at school and the ones we couldn't do at school we simply did at home. Then we each downloaded and uploaded the sounds required for the different scenes and edited them into a story that made sense. Once we finished editing we gathered the required files for submissions and changed their names so we could submit them.

Brainstorming Process

We started out thinking that a simple video of someone going to supermarket was sufficient enough to submit for the assignment but quickly found out that it wasn't enough so we changed the idea to something cooler but more complex and thought of time travel and decided to go with that

How the Outline Helped Us

Creating an outline helped us structure the project logically. We broke the story into scenes and listed the specific sounds we'd use for each part. This made it clear on what sounds we had to gather for the project whether through online sources or ones we made ourselves. The outline also acted like a sort of script, guiding us as we layered the sounds during editing.

Editing Resources Used

For the editing program we used ClipChamp which is a program that is on clever and in Office365 , we used the foley sounds we created and recorded ourselves, and the various websites we downloaded a majority of the sounds from.

What Went Well

I think we did a good job layering multiple sounds to make the time travel portion seem "realistic". Our timing matched the imagined action well, and we successfully used our foley sounds and tied it into the video.

What I’d Improve Next Time

I would like to improve the communication and planning between me and my partner. We had made plans during B Day lunch to meet up and record our foley sounds but we didn't find each other and the internet was bad so we couldn't contact each other which I why next time I will make sure to clarify with my partners where we are meeting up and what are we doing.

Here is the link to my Sound Project #1 Submission 

https://browardcountyschools-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/r/personal/0614124428_my_browardschools_com/Documents/Videos/Clipchamp/OrtizSchroder_soundscape_per2/Exports/OrtizSchroder_soundscape_per2.m4a?csf=1&web=1&e=1cPuh2

Sound Project #2: One Word Film (OWF)

Directions

For Sound project #2 we had to review our previous project for OWF(One Word Film) with the partner we did the OWF project with(Kai Norling) and think about the questions "What sounds would normally be present in the context of your film? Which sounds would occur at the same time? How should the sounds be layered (levels, timing, etc.)?" etc. etc. We also had to create an outline for the sounds just like we did for Sound Project #1 and submit a copy of the outline, we also essentially had to work together to add sounds into the film ourselves whether through foley sounds or sounds downloaded off the internet and edit the OWF film and sounds separately. Finally we had to make sure we submitted the project with the name saved as "OWFSound_yourlastname" with our information.

Summary of My Approach

We first rewatched and reviewed our previous film and made an outline of what sounds would normally be there and which sounds we needed for each scene. Then, we went out and recorded a bunch of the sounds using foley sounds to match the video such as the walking or skipping and we also added in a few sounds that weren't there in the beginning such as the bell ringing. We then compiled a list of the sounds and shared it to each other so we could use the same sounds but we then edited the video separately and sent it to each other for the other's opinion and we would fix any error the other person saw.

Brainstorming Process

We started by watching the video and thinking about the various different section of that we would need for example, sounds that would represent the word "optimistic" , which sounds would normally be there in the scene, which sounds we could make ourselves and which ones we could get online are the main ones. After we created or downloaded the sounds we had the idea of creating a document on OneDrive and sharing the sounds through there.

Outline Organization

Like the first project, we created a detailed sound outline. We divided it by scenes, noting which sounds would appear and when. This kept the editing process organized and ensured that the soundscape matched the pacing of the video.

Editing Resources Used

I again used ClipChamp and used the foley sounds I recorded with Kai and a few of the sounds we downloaded off the internet to make the video.

What Went Well

I believe our timing and cooperation was extremely good since we spent a lot of time creating the foley sounds and matching the timing of the scenes and clips with the sounds.

What I’d Improve Next Time

I'd like to improve my experience with ClipChamp because during my editing process of the project I was suffering a lot of visual glitches on my screen which made it very difficult for me to even do simple tasks like adjusting the volume.

Here is the link for my Sound Project #2 Submission

https://browardcountyschools-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/0614124428_my_browardschools_com/Erf6d-AtzNBKmdRfpmBDzHYBw37Hvv0RyEd4oDTPiDS95Q?e=lxGqqH 

(Mrs. Stoklosa the reason why some of the text is blacked out is because when I entered into view mode on my post there was the text being whited out and so my workaround was changing the text background for the affected text if you follow the link it will appear normal so here is the photo of how it looked before I blackened the text)