Portfolio genre research

 GENRE

I’m trying to decide between drama and mystery/thriller for my portfolio project. Both genres are really interesting and would make my film more engaging. Drama would focus more on emotions and personal struggles, while mystery/thriller would make the audience curious and keep them on edge. I think either one could work well, so I did some research on both.

CHARACTERISTICS OF DRAMA

 

(Beautiful Boy - 2018)

Drama movies are all about emotions and real-life problems. They usually focus on relationships, family, or personal struggles. The way they are filmed is pretty simple, with a lot of close-up shots to show emotions and soft lighting to make things feel more personal. Drama movies usually take their time telling a story so the audience can really connect with the characters.

WHAT MAKES A DRAMA GOOD?

A drama movie needs strong characters and a good emotional story. If the audience doesn’t care about what’s happening, the movie won’t be interesting. Acting is super important because if the emotions don’t feel real, the whole thing falls apart. The dialogue also has to sound natural, or it can feel forced. A good drama makes people feel something, whether it’s happy, sad, or even frustrated.

(Manchester by the Sea - 2016)

This movie is a good example of drama done right. The story is really emotional, and the characters feel like real people. It doesn’t have crazy twists or action—it just focuses on how the characters deal with their problems, which makes it super powerful.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MYSTERY/THRILLER

(Gone Girl - 2014)

Mystery/thriller movies are all about keeping the audience guessing. They usually start with a big question or something weird happening, and then more clues come in as the story goes on. These movies use darker lighting and creepy music to make things feel more intense. The pacing is usually faster than drama because it needs to keep people hooked.

WHAT MAKES A MYSTERY/THRILLER GOOD?

A good mystery/thriller needs to keep the audience interested and not give everything away too fast. If people can guess the ending right away, it’s not fun to watch. These movies should have little hints that make sense later on but don’t reveal too much at once. Editing and music also help a lot—quick cuts and creepy sounds can make things feel more intense.

(Prisoners - 2013)

This movie is a great example of a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The story slowly reveals more and more clues, making you wonder what’s going to happen next. It also looks really dark and intense, which adds to the suspense.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Both of these genres are really cool, and I like that they can be mixed together. A drama can have mystery, and a thriller can have emotional moments. I’m still deciding which one to go with, but either way, I want my film to be interesting and make people feel something.

 

Works Cited

Franco Seguer. “Manchester by the Sea (2016) - Opening Credits [HD].” YouTube, 25 Feb. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrP1Tl8xuNo. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.

JoBlo Movie Clips. “GONE GIRL Opening Scene (2014) David Fincher.” YouTube, 28 Aug. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khzdkne_fPc. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.

Jos Vermeulen. “Prisoners (2013) Intro.” YouTube, 15 Nov. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_VJvwnlHVI. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.

mclovin456. “Timothée Chalamet Beautiful Boy Opening Scene.” YouTube, 30 June 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBt8RVLNo4w. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.

Transitioning to portfolio project!

 Today is the day I start developing my portfolio project!! Everything i've learned in class so far has led up to this so I feel that i'm ready, however i'm still nervous to begin.To transition into the project my class had a lesson on film openings.This really helped me better understand them and get a better understanding of what I need to do for the project.

 

One of the ways i’d like to start my opening scene is by establishing character. I think introducing a strong character right away makes the audience care about the story. Instead of just telling people about them, I can show who they are through things like their clothes, actions, and surroundings.

However, I also like establishing mystery because I was thinking of doing my opening scene with the mystery genre so I feel that it would tie well together. Also,  starting with mystery would make people ask questions and keep watching. By adding mystery, I can make the audience curious about what is going on without giving everything away too soon. This can be done with little details or even the way scenes are filmed.

Music video behind the scenes

 Part of my music marketing project was to create a music video, our song was Need You Now by Lady A. Our music video was storytelling and promotional. Here is the link to our behind the scenes video of the filming and editing process! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEcsLZHIKnM 

Music Marketing

 In my AICE Media class we started a music marketing project in groups of 4 where we create a new artist from the ground up based on a music genre and create a marketing campaign.

My group was assigned country music. Together we created a project schedule in order to get every part of the project done on time. We began by each researching a different artist from this genre, I researched Warren Zeiders. I researched his target audience, brand identity, digital and non-digital marketing and distribution strategies. I learned his target audience was people aged 18-35 and that he creates honest and relatable songs. He relies heavily on social media and tours/shows. Once we all researched artists we combined everything we learned to create our new artist. Then we began breaking up the project into parts so each person knows what to do. For our music video we chose the song “Need You Now” by Lady A. We want to make a promotional and storytelling video of a love story. We will have two members of our group in the music video while me and another member edit it together. 

Our artist is named Faye Harper. We liked how Warren Zeiders began his career on social media and we plan to take inspiration from this, this will give her a younger target audience similar to Warren Zeiders and Zach Bryan. We plan on creating a beauty collab with our artist since that is common with music artists and it will be a good marketing strategy.

Murder mystery research

 How is it murder mystery?

The genre of mystery can include many different types of films, but I will be focusing on murder mystery. Murder mystery movies are centered on a murder that gets investigated. This genre is quite popular among both genders and is targeted to people aged 16 and up. These movies are for people who like to solve mysteries or puzzles as the movies offer clues and keep the murderer a secret until the end.

Content

Red herrings are commonly used in murder mysteries. A red herring in these films is a character that is used to mislead or distract people from the true murderer. These allow for viewers to suspect someone else so that when the true murderer is revealed they are shocked.

Another common aspect of the films are a central group of suspects. Often times there is a certain group of people seen throughout the whole film that gets investigated until one is revealed as the murderer.

Ex: In knives out (2019) there are 8 main suspects throughout the film.

Detectives are often seen in these films. After discovering a death, a character usually hires a detective to solve the mystery of who killed the victim.

Production techniques

Sounds are often used to add to the suspense and mystery of the film. Sudden silence or a buildup of music does this and it’s usually used on important scenes

Nonlinear storytelling is also used.  Many flashbacks are used to show a character remembering something important to the investigation. It’s also used to gradually reveal crucial details.

Marketing

Clever taglines are created to promote the movies. It  can provoke questions and intrigue, encouraging viewers to want to learn more about the story.

Ex. Clue (1985) uses the tagline “it’s not just a game anymore”

Also, in the movie posters bold fonts are used. They convey the mood of the film

Ex: Zodiac (2007) uses clean font and red which conveys feelings of danger, violence, and blood which adds intensity.

Murder mystery is a good example for a murder mystery film. On a yacht there is a murder and there are about 8-10 main suspects that are investigated throughout the movie. While no actual detective is hired the character Nick spitz is a police and he and his wife investigate the murder aboard the ship. Those 8-10 people were seen as suspects / red herrings distracting from the true murderer. Sound effects like silence add suspense and in some moments a pause or musical drop is used to emphasize humorous moments since this movie is a mystery/comedy. This movie however does follow a linear story, it follows the couple investigating the crime instead of jumping back and forth in time. The movie does have a tagline “First class problems, second class detectives.” This tagline creates intrigue while also including a comedic aspect. The font is bold and the R has a sort of knife look to it adding to the theme of murder.

The movie Knives out: Glass onion is also a classic murder mystery film. There is a group of 6  friends on a private island where each one is later seen as the suspect/ red herring. The detective Benoit Blanc is hired to investigate. Sound effects are used in the movie such as suspenseful music buildup whenever characters are uncovering secrets. This movie does follow non-linear storytelling. Flashbacks are used often as Benoit Blanc discovers new clues to show the characters relationships and motivations. The movie has the tagline “When a tech billionaire ends up dead, everyone is a suspect.” This creates a mysterious tone and hints to the plot. The font is bold and elegant creating a classic mystery feel.

 

More movies to consider:

Representation

 One of my favorite movies is Black Widow. The main characters are Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova, and they are sisters. The movie includes many ethnicities from Russian to Dutch since the widows are from all over the world and its more female led. Both the director and writer are women so there may be some writer's bias since they may want more representation for women which is why its female led, and some men are seen in a bad light such as Draykov being the evil head of the widows and Alexei being a bad father.

The film shows representation in many ways. In the beginning of the movie, it shows Natasha and Yelena as young girls playing outside together, the lighting and colors are warm, and this shows comfort and represents that it's a good memory.  It can remind people of their own memories as a child, and they can even relate with the sister bond. The two of them have a whistle call which adds to their sisterly bond, further representing sisterhood.

There is also representation in their makeup and costumes. Natasha’s makeup was natural allowing viewers to relate and connect with her. Yelena had a smokey eye which showed her expressing herself, making viewers feel comfortable doing the same. The suits they wore were practical. In past movies that the black widow was in, her suit was made tight to accentuate her curves however in this movie she wore a more functional and practical suit to shift the focus to her skills. Yelena also wore a vest throughout the movie that had many pockets further adding to this representation of empowerment in women rather than sexualization.

The movie does not include many stereotypes but one that can be seen is how Russians are evil. The leader of the widows is Draykov a Russian man, he is the main antagonist in the movie, and this can add to the stereotype that Russian are evil or bad. Othering is also seen in the movie as the black widows are brainwashed and trained assassins while the viewers are not.

Natasha and Yelena’s whistle call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RkEDesKU88

Childhood scene: 

Yelena’s costume: 

Sound project

 In class we started learning about sound, what it does and how it’s used. I learned that sound is actually way more complex and important than I initially thought. It adds dimension to scenes, adds emotional impacts, complements visuals, assists viewer perception, and makes visuals more realistic. We also learned about foley artists and stages. I learned that most sounds are filmed separately from unexpected items then edited in to the scene and many sounds are layered together just for one scene.

After learning about sound we started a sound project where we applied what we learned. We had to create a 1-2 minute audio recording that conveys the story of a scene and a minimum of four sounds had to be foleyed ourselves.

My partner and I first began by brainstorming what story we could do and we thought a sports would have lots of sounds to use and we came up with a basketball game. We created an outline where we listed each sound that we would normally hear in  a basketball game. Initially we wanted to have it start in the locker room then the players started to play the game and someone got injured but our brainstorm allowed us to see that it was too long so we shortened it to just the game and a player getting injured. The outline also helped us figure out what sounds were needed and when they would take place. 

We then collected our sounds mostly from youtube but also free sound.org and pixabay.com. We foleyed dialogue, a thump of the player falling, a high five, shoe squeaks, and the basketball being caught. We started editing after that using the software elevate.io. This part was very tedious and time consuming. I learned that it is really difficult to edit. I think we had a lot of good sounds and a good story but we could have edited better and layered a bit more.

Here is the link to our final project: RushBarros_soundscape_Per7

Here is the link to our foley creation process: RushBarros_foley_per7