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Eli Block

The first shot is of Josh waking up to his mom’s voice. She yells “Josh wake up!” in a motherly way. The camera is zoomed in on Josh’s face as he wakes up and his eyes open the camera zooms out. It appears as if nothing is wrong in that moment but it is clear to the audience that his life is not as it once was. As the camera zooms out you can see Josh is covered in blankets, the room is dull, grey covers the walls. You can see that it is still dark outside. The movie is very playful and full of colors so the dark colors create an immediate difference. The slow camera movement builds suspense.

The second shot is of Josh walking to the bathroom. You can see him walking at the second floor of the house while his mom is cooking below. The suspense continues to build. There is non-diegetic music playing, it is very ominous sounding which helps build suspense. Along with the music you hear the creaking of the floor signifying a lot of weight is being put on it and the comforting sounds of Josh’s mom cooking.  The sounds are incredibly important in this shot as it gives a homey feeling while showing not everything is okay. The camera does not move and shows both floors of the house.

The third shot shows Josh looking at himself in the mirror. The shot is an over the shoulder shot and shows Josh looking at himself. He begins to freak out. The camera then pans to Josh’s room where his mom is folding clothes. To her everything seems fine while the audience knows what happened to Josh. The camera then pans again to Josh trying to figure out what happened to himself. He clears his eyes and shakes his head. There is diegetic sound of all the actions happening.

The fourth shot is the most suspenseful. You see Josh cautiously leave the bathroom however he is clearly unaware of his mom in his room. The camera is at eye level and follows Josh as he slowly moves closer and closer to his room. The floorboards creak with each step. Then Josh’s mom shouts “Josh are you okay?” Josh’s face quickly changes, he looks mortified. He responds “yes mom” as he runs back to the bathroom. He closes the door and begins hyperventilating behind the closed door. The camera continues to stay at eye level while following Josh’s face.

The fifth and final shot is of Josh frantically collecting his things. The camera movement follows Josh’s and as he begins to trip and fall while getting his things together the camera shakes with him. The non-diegetic sound gets louder and faster. The suspense builds and it seems like something big is going to happen. At this point the room is bright. There is a big difference from the first slow moving dull shot and the fast moving bright shot that is happening now. As Josh attempts to put on his clothes he realizes he fits none of what he owns. Yet again we here Josh’s mom ask to make sure he is okay and this time there is more fear in his voice when he responds.

Spike Lee is without a doubt one of the most well known black directors in film. His works commonly deal with issues of race, with the protagonist always being a person of color. The movie Shrek on the other hand is a comical film with the protagonist being an ogre, however when the film is thoroughly analyzed one can see slight factors that when amplified could make it a Spike Lee film, the main factor being that the main character is hated by a white town and attacked, for being physically different. For these reasons when tasked with re-visioning a film in the eyes of a new director, Shrek and Spike Lee seemed like automatic fits.

For the re-creation to be successful the focus on Shrek being “colored”(green) would have to be amplified in this case and those attacking him would be remain white as they are in the film. This is shown in the storyboard by Shrek being quite literally the only colored character. The arms and legs of those in the mob are all white and colorless. Since Spike Lee is also known for limiting the information the audience has about those that aren't the main character, in the storyboard the only face shown is that of Shrek. The mob attacking him is represented solely by their footsteps and weapons, as those are the only things that add importance to them in Shrek’s life. Furthermore there would be the use of diegetic and nondiegetic sounds to represent the two different moods in the storyboard. When the mob is on the screen there is no background music, instead the rumbling of their feet, weapons, and the combined shouts of their voices will create the sounds that represent them. Shrek on the other hand will have an upbeat song playing in the background during his time on the screen, to symbolise the peace and tranquillity he is experiencing. The camera will rarely be still, as common for Spike Lee films, with it shakingly following the mob via dolly while gentle and smoothly following Shrek in his house cooking and eating. All this will be occuring in New York since all Spike Lee films occur in urban settings. Shrek’s house will be located at the bottom of a tree in a park to further solidify he is an outcast from this white society. The storyboard ends with the weapons belonging to the mob moving closer onto Shrek slowly, since Spike Lee commonly uses background music even in slow parts of his film there will be a sad song letting the audience know that Shrek is now at the mercy of the mob. Originally this scene takes place in the beginning of the movie and in this case it will as well, this will allow it to set the mood for the film and show the racial tension in the setting of the film.

Spike Lee is without a doubt one of the most well known black directors in film. His works commonly deal with issues of race, with the protagonist always being a person of color. The movie Shrek on the other hand is a comical film with the protagonist being an ogre, however when the film is thoroughly analyzed one can see slight factors that when amplified could make it a Spike Lee film, the main factor being that the main character is hated by a white town and attacked, for being physically different. For these reasons when tasked with re-visioning a film in the eyes of a new director, Shrek and Spike Lee seemed like automatic fits.

For the re-creation to be successful the focus on Shrek being “colored”(green) would have to be amplified in this case and those attacking him would be remain white as they are in the film. This is shown in the storyboard by Shrek being quite literally the only colored character. The arms and legs of those in the mob are all white and colorless. Since Spike Lee is also known for limiting the information the audience has about those that aren't the main character, in the storyboard the only face shown is that of Shrek. The mob attacking him is represented solely by their footsteps and weapons, as those are the only things that add importance to them in Shrek’s life. Furthermore there would be the use of diegetic and nondiegetic sounds to represent the two different moods in the storyboard. When the mob is on the screen there is no background music, instead the rumbling of their feet, weapons, and the combined shouts of their voices will create the sounds that represent them. Shrek on the other hand will have an upbeat song playing in the background during his time on the screen, to symbolise the peace and tranquillity he is experiencing. The camera will rarely be still, as common for Spike Lee films, with it shakingly following the mob via dolly while gentle and smoothly following Shrek in his house cooking and eating. All this will be occuring in New York since all Spike Lee films occur in urban settings. Shrek’s house will be located at the bottom of a tree in a park to further solidify he is an outcast from this white society. The storyboard ends with the weapons belonging to the mob moving closer onto Shrek slowly, since Spike Lee commonly uses background music even in slow parts of his film there will be a sad song letting the audience know that Shrek is now at the mercy of the mob. Originally this scene takes place in the beginning of the movie and in this case it will as well, this will allow it to set the mood for the film and show the racial tension in the setting of the film.

We started with one of our favorite romantic comedies, Bridesmaids, and decided to change the genre to the style of Wes Anderson’s directing. The scene we chose was during one of the main character’s bridal shower where they begin by sitting and watching Lillian open her presents. From here, the scene escalates because her best friend, Annie, can no longer hold in her anger about Helen, another bridesmaid, trying to steal Lillian from her. This scene is done well by the setting, props, facial expressions, tone, and pace. Wes Anderson has a very different style of comedy, so there were many areas we were able to change.

Firstly, we researched Anderson’s style which involves scenes that are filmed using a wide shot and they are also always symmetrical which plays to his aesthetics. Our redone scenes were from a distance to make it more of a wide shot, and we kept the people centered and mostly symmetrical while filming at eye level, another tool he uses. Anderson is also known for higher saturated scenes, so we used backgrounds that were bright and high in color. In one section, we have a bright blue background to demonstrate how Anderson uses such bright, pastel coloring. We also filmed in front of windows to get a natural and bright lighting, again similar to his directing style.

I have invested this past year in learning and writing about a controversial topic in America. I chose to explore transphobia.  If you are unaware of what that is, it is “intense dislike of or prejudice against transsexual or transgender people.” In my first essay Transphobia in America I wrote about the percentages of mistreatment and unequal treatment against transgender individuals. In my second essay Change Is Still Needed I interviewed two people, a transgender male and a doctor at CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) who educated transgender people on safe sex. I then explored the murder rate of transgender people.

Since my last article there hasn’t been any activism for transgender persons rights, but that doesn’t mean the fight is over. Although there has been no activism, there has been more deaths since my last essay (March 18th 2018). Only days later on March 26th 2018, Amia Tyrae Berryman was shot to death at the Shades Motel in Baton Rouge, LA at the age of 28. Sasha wall, 29 years old, was found shot to death in her vehicle in Chesterfield County, S.C on April 1st. Carla Patricia Flores, 18 years old, found strangled to death in her home in Dallas, Texas on May 9th. ALL transgender women of COLOR. The rate that transgender women are murdered is one of the highest in the country. Nino Fortson, 36 years old, transgender man found shot to death in Atlanta May 13th. These are just a few reported cases. Many are not even recorded.

Since there has been no activism fighting or educating anyone about the transgender people, I decided to go out and do it myself. Tuesday, March 6th I was on a panel in the Mutter Museum hosted by CHOP. I was accompanied by my mother and four other transgender males. We answered questions to feed their curiosity and to educate. Here is the panel I was on, fast forward to 1:11:00 if you want to see the panel part. I answered questions about my life and my visits at the hospital. I decided to go about my activism this way because I am offered to do things like this all the time, of course I accept. So I figured I can use these opportunities to educate.

Throughout my year of doing this project I learned more about myself and community. My community is at danger and nothing has been done about it. No acknowledgment from law enforcement, no help just “thoughts” and “prayers.” Those are nice, but they don’t help the people in need. I learned more about myself than ever, I need to start being more open minded and exploring topics that I usually don’t. It is up to my generation and I to right the wrongs everyone has made.

For the film conversion benchmark, we were tasked with remodeling a scene of a movie into a different genre or through the style of a different auteur. The purpose of this being to test our knowledge of cinematic and theatrical elements, and how they play a crucial role in deciding the kind of film that is created. My partner Siani and I focused on the 2012 blockbuster Hunger Games. The film centers on a young woman, Katniss, in postmodern North America, as she participates in an annual event entitled “The Hunger Games” which calls for teenagers to fight to the death until only one survives.

Written as a dystopian novel, and produced as a science fiction and fantasy film, we aimed to take the core aspects of danger and the will to survive and adjusted them into a new setting. With the usage of cinematic and theatrical elements, we adapted the film into a western. The scene we focused on, common titled, “Career Pack chase Katniss” shows the main character Katniss being hunted down by a group of fellow participants in the games. In order to make transform this scene into that of a western, we needed to employ and highlight the various techniques that are commonly found in westerns, techniques that would give the scene the smooth yet intense style of westerns.

Beginning with the cinematic elements, framing is one that played a critical role in capturing feeling. Often in western films, employs close ups to capture the emotion and facial expression of the character as well as to highlight important aspects. Similarly we used many close up shots on our characters faces along with their weapons to show the importance of feeling in the person and of their object, in this case their guns which were very much so apart of them. Long shots, which are used to show the character entire body, usually from a distance, were employed in instances where multiple characters were in the scene so that the audience could see everything that was happening in the scene. Medium shots, which shot from the waist up, were used in many of the scenes to show the characters while also keeping some of the background in view of the reader. Two angles were used in our storyboard. High angles, which are when a character is filmed from above, was implemented during scenes where the Career Pack chased Katniss, to emphasize the danger that she was in. The second being eye level, so that the audience could look at Katniss directly and see the emotion that she is trying to relay. In most western movements, dolly/tracking is used. This is to show the movement in the scene. We used this form of camera movement and included a few slow shots to build up tension as the scene goes along.

In the form of editing, we used two types, eyeline match and cut. A cut edit is when two shots are pieced together to make the illusion of an instantaneous shot. This was evident in scenes of action/confrontation where dialogue, bullets, and the overall action was taken place from different areas of the set. Eyeline match is a technique used to allow the audience to see what the characters are seeing. We used this, during dialogue between the characters to make them reader feel they are in the scene.

When it comes to sound, many westerns are absent of outside music, instead opting for diegetic sound which is sound that originates in the scenes of the movie. In westerns these are often things like the wind, footsteps, bullet sounds, cactus rolling etc. We used diegetic sound to emphasize the sound of the weapons and to catch things that would match the environment. Lastly, rounding out the cinematic features is lighting. In terms of lighting, we aimed to remain true to the time that a western would have taken place. This means natural light in the outside scenes, and dimmer in the indoors.

While cinematic elements are important to a movie’s conception, theatrical elements are just as necessary. First off, one of the most important aspects of a film is the set. This is where the movie takes place and ultimately provides a backing to the film. The particular scene in was taken from the arena, which showed a forest of sorts. Western’s usually take place on the American Frontier, so we made that the new set for our scene.

Like set, costumes also play an important role in distinguishing a film as a western. You will often find things such as cowboy hats, boots, vest, loosely based clothing in warm or earth tones. Instead of the modern clothes as seen in the movie, our characters wore cowboy hats and boots to make it clear they are in a western. In the Hunger Games, weapons such as arrows and knives were the main props utilized throughout the movie. To make it fit the time period, we traded in the arrows for guns, as big portion of westerns are the epic shootout scenes. Acting choices can set the tone of a movie, as it is the characters that the audience is following. We wanted to keep the same tone for the modified clip from the original as it the choices made emphasize the desire of fighting to stay alive. Overall, a lot of things go into creating any specific type of movie. These are the ways in which we were able to transform the Hunger Games into a traditional western movie.

For our final film project, Kara and I decided to take on a classic, “The Wiz”, and create a horrific rendition of the original plot through a storyboard trailer. To do this, we had to incorporate things that are mainly seen in movies under the horror genre. This meant finding parts of the movie that had a lot of bottom angles, eerie non-diegetic sound and scenes that either foreshadowed or included the main characters encountering danger. This was a challenge considering the original nature of the movie, but knew that there were still sustainable parts that would be effective when put together. The majority of the movie uses high key lighting, colorful setting and upbeat non-diegetic sound. We were able to take the scenes that embodied darkness with the menacing costumes, emphasizing the horror in Dorothy and her friends’ faces while connecting it to the harrowing causes. Camera angles and techniques that are commonly used in horror movies include the birds eye/high angle shot, which makes the subject seem small and vulnerable, Close ups to display the emotion and capture detail, tracking shots during chases, a handheld camera shot and point of view shot to give insight to what the character is experiencing. We found a lot of these techniques in the scenes we chose, even before doing more research on what was commonly used in the genre. Depending on the character, There will be more of one technique used than the other. For main characters such as Dorothy and Evilene, there were many close-up and eye level shots, or establishing shots when they would change setting.

A major thing that we focused on in terms of zoom was the scenes of wear the lion is hanging, scarecrow is being attacked, and Dorothy is in the hurricane. When zoomed in on these scenes, it gives suspense and excites the crowd on what might happen next. This was included with darker lighting to exaggerate the whole idea of it being a horror film since darker lighting represents fear and suspense. The costumes do not change, only because we are directly using scenes from the movie, and it would serve no purpose to have the characters in different costumes otherwise the audience wouldn’t be able to identify the characters. We chose to use the main characters who were featured throughout the scenes to alter what is actually happening. The majority of the scenes are bad things happening to each of the characters and pulling just those images make it look scary when you just highlight the bad parts. The flashbacks are used through long shots that give the audience a feel of the surrounding and sound throughout each of the scenes. Lastly, the title was made with blood dripping off of it to illustrate the fact that it’s a horror movie. We didn’t really want to alter the title, because the scenes that are drawn actually happened. So instead we had blood drip off the letters to give a darker feel.

For our project, we decided to recreate scenes from the movie “Moonlight” using the film and style techniques of director, Wes Anderson. Anderson is an indie movie director who’s most well known movies include “Isle of Dogs”, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Moonrise Kingdom”. Throughout all of his movies, Anderson’s directing style stands out very vibrantly in tone and acting. Some recurring cinematographic elements of Anderson’s style include tracking shots, zoom, profile shots, symmetrical framing, overhead shots and whip pans. Some of Anderson’s theatrical elements include warm and cool color palettes, non-diegetic plinking harpsichord music, one or more childish adult characters, smoking, characters explaining elaborate plans, action, violence, stylish attire, foreigners, a vintage/ old timey aesthetic, shots of writing, and an assortment of recurring actors and actresses. We chose to incorporate Anderson’s style to “Moonlight” because we loved the concept of revamping a dark toned movie into something more vibrant and lighthearted. To accomplish this goal, we chose some scenes from “Moonlight” that we thought had potential to be reiterated through Anderson’s directing style. We then looked at Then we drew these scenes and placed them in a storyboard panel. We also were deliberate in our camera angles and essentially eliminate dimensions to give our scenes a very “flat look”.

These cinematography decisions echo Wes Anderson’s emphasis on aesthetic rather than the actual plot. Since Moonlight deals with a lot of important and heavy topics, changing the scenes to make it seem as if they are right out of a coloring book definitely in some ways dilutes the message. The overall design of his shots, including bright color palettes and fixed camera angles helps readers to disassociate from the societal context and instead pay close attention to the story unfolding between the main characters and everything that surrounds their situation. For instance, during the Grand Budapest, the audience was oftentimes too distracted by the bright colors and whimsical characters to remember a war being the backdrop. Even though the storyline was nothing spectacular or ground breaking, the attention to detail truly compensated for a somewhat lackluster plot. At the time of the creation of the  Grand Budapest, Wes Anderson utilized the advent of the anamorphic lenses to capture wide scenes within a single camera frame.

With Moonlight, we decided to use Wes Anderson’s style of directing to take the audience’s attention away from the harsh backdrop that is Chyron’s neighborhood, school, and home life, and instead focus the attention on the better parts of Chyron’s coming of age story. Through color and framing, we used our storyboard to communicate just that. In each panel, we drew pictures that involved vibrant colors and our desired camera angles. We drew a lot of wide/ medium shots, zoom, and made the backdrops pop with warm and cool colors. In terms of positioning characters, such as Kevin, Juan, or Chyron, we drew them face to face to highlight whatever intimacy they may have. Through these changes, we hope to help audiences remember the better and pure parts of “Moonlight” rather than just the harsh backdrop of Chyron’s life.

For my Q4 benchmark I decided to recreate a movie trailer for the big studios who have agreed to give me a shot. I decided to recreate the movie 2012 into a horror movie. The main reason why I chose this movie is because I thought it would be interesting seeing what the end of the world movie could be with a horror twist. I feel like this different perspective around it will give the movie trailer a new element around it as well. I thought that this would be an interning concept for this benchmark. I found different scenes from the movie and I used the software iMovie on my computer. I needed to find five scenes from the movie 2012 that I thought would fit best in a horror movie trailer. I also needed to find sound effects, I could use to add more suspense. I used the music and the cut ins and cut outs to my advantage. From this experience I was able to turn the movie 2012 into a great movie trailer.     

My main intention for this project was to design a suspenseful trailer that made people have more questions than answers. I know Giknis is going to be upset with me because she doesn't want follow-up questions but that was the point of my movie trailer. I wanted the audience to be left with more questions than answers. I made sure I included suspenseful music while working with iMovie. I also wanted the title sequence to start with a phone call because I feel like that's how most horror movies start. For examples I was watching the movie Scream before working on my benchmark to brainstorm some good ideas and I feel like the phone call aspect of the opening scene added more suspense because you don't know who the girl is talking to on the phone. I also decided to add the actually scene from the movie trailer 2012 to my trailer remake because I feel like it gives the trailer more character.

We started with one of our favorite romantic comedies, Bridesmaids, and decided to change the genre to the style of Wes Anderson’s directing. The scene we chose was during one of the main character’s bridal shower where they begin by sitting and watching Lillian open her presents. From here, the scene escalates because her best friend, Annie, can no longer hold in her anger about Helen, another bridesmaid, trying to steal Lillian from her. This scene is done well by the setting, props, facial expressions, tone, and pace. Wes Anderson has a very different style of comedy, so there were many areas we were able to change.

Firstly, we researched Anderson’s style which involves scenes that are filmed using a wide shot and they are also always symmetrical which plays to his aesthetics. Our redone scenes were from a distance to make it more of a wide shot, and we kept the people centered and mostly symmetrical while filming at eye level, another tool he uses. Anderson is also known for higher saturated scenes, so we used backgrounds that were bright and high in color. In one section, we have a bright blue background to demonstrate how Anderson uses such bright, pastel coloring. We also filmed in front of windows to get a natural and bright lighting, again similar to his directing style.