Mise-en-Scene

Our Multimedia Mise-en-scène project involved creating an interactive character station to welcome audiences to a fictional person through images, noises, and items. Our goal was to create a character with physical, digital, and audio properties that worked together to tell their story. This included developing a place that disclosed the way in which the character exists, developing a mood board that described their personality, and including sound and touch items so that the experience became real. We also had to be mindful of the way in which all these contributed towards building meaning, showing how mise-en-scène could be used to determine the way in which an audience sees a character.

Our protagonist was a single bank clerk who lived alone but had a lively and social existence in any case. He loves to take his dog out for a walk to the park, go for gym sessions, and watch new TV shows. Even though he lives alone, he often hosts his friends and family members for parties, which proves that he likes the presence of others. We wished him to be authentic, someone whom you could potentially know, and to show how his life had autonomy as well as social interaction.

To create this character, our team developed a multimedia setup that was focused on immersion as well as interactivity. We built a virtual representation of his phone, where visitors could initiate applications like his photos and playlists to get acquainted with him. We also designed a dating app simulation in which people could choose lines of dialogue and talk to the character so they would get to know his personality. Furthermore, we designed a virtual tour of his bedroom with a mood board, and we made real objects available, such as gym equipment, dog toys, and wall decorations, concerning his interests. Everything in the station was put in order. Tourists started by watching the material items, went to enter his bedroom, rummaged through his phone, and ended up engaging him directly on the dating site.

In developing this character, we were interested in how identity is constructed in media through what creators have revealed. We applied selection and construction to conceptualize the manner in which audiences would perceive him, starting from the general notion of a young professional managing the demands of work and life. This rendered him relatable yet realistic in a practical sense. We steered clear of stereotyping and didn't want to make him seem exaggerated or unrealistic. Instead, we wanted his story to sound genuine. We worked well together as a team, dividing the work into digital and physical components, which made the final station easily come together. Finally, our project showed how mise-en-scène can be used to create a complete and believable character through space, sound, and detail.

Multimedia Mise-en-scene - Robert Williams

Genre Research Blog Activity

Genre Study: Slasher Horror

Content:

Slashers were really the genre of the 80s popular with most of the youth at the time, which made up a big portion of movie revenue at the time, for their explicit nature and portrayal of such gruesome scenarios that were uncommon at the time. The typical slasher film is centered around a killer who stalks and slaughters a cluster of people in gruesome and gory ways. The story is usually about a group of young victims, an isolated location such as a summer camp or secluded suburban neighborhood, and a struggle to live. One common cliche is the "final girl," the last person standing who must fight the killer at the end. Revenge, trauma, and ethics are common themes. There is suspense created through pacing, the killer's point of view, and that of being watched.

The psychological aspects of fear and guilt are predominant in slasher films, and the degeneration of the characters due to the intensification of brutality is interestingly covered. The genre traditionally uses symbolic death as an indication of physical or moral ineptitude, so that survival becomes a test of character. The coupling of physical horror and psychic suspense Allows the audience to face their own fears in the safety of fictionalization. Slashers have evolved to the point now when they afford social commentary lmaking comments on topics like technology and politics recognizing their outreach to the public and wanting to incite change.

Production Techniques:

Slahers were really the genre of the 80s popular with most of the youth at the time, which made up a big portion of movie revenue at the time, for their explicit nature and portrayal of such gruesome scenarios that were uncommon at the time. The typical slasher film is centered around a killer who stalks and slaughters a cluster of people in gruesome and gory ways. The story is usually about a group of young victims, an isolated location such as a summer camp or secluded suburban neighborhood, and a struggle to live. One common cliche is the "final girl," the last person standing who must fight the killer at the end. Revenge, trauma, and ethics are common themes. There is suspense created through pacing, the killer's point of view, and that of being watched.

The psychological aspects of fear and guilt are predominant in slasher films, and the degeneration of the characters due to the intensification of brutality is interestingly covered. The genre traditionally uses symbolic death as an indication of physical or moral ineptitude, so that survival becomes a test of character. The coupling of physical horror and psychic suspense Allows the audience to face their own fears in the safety of fictionalization. Slashers have evolved to the point now when they afford social commentary lmaking comments on topics like technology and politics recognizing their outreach to the public and wanting to incite change.

Marketing:

Slasher films are marketed with suspense and horror value. The murderer's mask, weapon, or shadow is used on posters and trailers, and taglines warn viewers of what they will experience. Most slasher films come out near Halloween. or during Friday in the summer, when horror film viewership is largest. Teenagers and young adults who enjoy being scared with friends are the target audience. Studios often turn to nostalgia, horror myths, and social media virals to attract eyeballs to new releases and sequels.

In addition to traditional marketing, modern slasher films generate noteriety through interactive experiences such as escape rooms, teaser websites, and social media competitions that place the fans in the movie ahead of release. Legendary villains such as Michael Myers, Ghostface, and Freddy Krueger are being leveraged cross-promotions and merchandises to make the audience aware of them generation by generation. Streaming platforms have also played a direct role in the promotion of new slashers, with algorithms and recommendations connecting viewers of old-school horror films with new releases. This keeps the genre current and always in front of younger audiences and accomidates as fads go in and out constantly to keep up with the current trend.

Samples:

Halloween helped to cement the modern slasher subgenere, and it told the story of the masked killer Michael Myers who escapes from a mental hospital and returns to his hometown to kill babysitters on Halloween night. The film introduced many major traits of the slasher genre, including a "Final girl", and the use of POV shots of the killer, and a suburban setting. The haunting piano score and dim lighting give the film a sense of uneasiness and brooding mystery. With little financing, John Carpenter had created one of the most monumental horror films ever made which influenced this genre not just some years after but permanently.

The slasher genre was resurrected for a new generation with Scream. The film concerns Sidney Prescott, a high school girl who has become the target of a masked killer who calls himself Ghostface. What was different about this film was its self-awareness, as the characters were aware of horror film conventions and yet still fell prey to them. This film was the beginning of meta commentary on not only the horror film genre, but other forms of media and real world problems, which only continued with the sequals that came after as well as the genre itself. Wes Craven mixes humor, suspense, and violence, while still keeping the story smart and fun, thus creating Scream as an example of how slasher films could evolve and remain relevant more than two decades after their creation.

Genre Examples

Friday The 13th (1980)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Black Christmas (1974)

Child's Play (1988)

Sound Projects

        Recently, in class, we had to complete two different projects involving the use of sound to create a story as well as convey a tone. Thanks to these projects, I have learned many skills in sound design that will come in handy in the future, such as sound layering, how to create soundscapes, and how to even create sound effects of my own through the use of fokey techniques. The directions for both were fairly simple, in project #1, we were asked to create an outline of a 1-2 minute story that could believably occur in that time frame through only the use of sound and no video, and then compile sounds from online, as well as 4 Foley-created sounds to convey what was written in the outline. Then, for project #2, we were asked to use the video story with no sound that we had created for our OWF project, and once again gather sound effects to recreate the soundscape of the actions that occurred in the video

        For project #1 me my partner and I took an approach of creating a soundscape of something that was not traditional but also familiar to us both, so we decided to create a story involving the game Minecraft. The outline really helped as we were mostly just spitballing ideas while brainstorming, and it wasn't until we organized these thoughts that the story started flowing more easily in our heads. To edit, we used the editing software ClipChamp, and while I believe we did a fairly good job of creating soundscapes, I felt as though the ending was somewhat rushed and could have used more substance. For our second project, my partner and I decided to revisit our OWF project to get a feel for the sounds and ambiance of the day we filmed and proceeded from there. We organized the sounds from section to section, chopping up the video into parts, which really helped take the load off and gave us time to really engage with every sound. We again used ClipChamp to compile the sounds together, and while we did a good job of capturing the day that we filmed, I felt as though some sounds were missing that would really make the scene feel natural and immersive to the audience.

Link to project #1: https://browardcountyschools-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/g/personal/0620021719_my_browardschools_com/EZPL2zILU2NBliQDzwLxpSIBUGpkE0pUMGSpu9w2vTkjFg?nav=eyJyZWZlcnJhbEluZm8iOnsicmVmZXJyYWxBcHAiOiJTdHJlYW1XZWJBcHAiLCJyZWZlcnJhbFZpZXciOiJTaGFyZURpYWxvZy1MaW5rIiwicmVmZXJyYWxBcHBQbGF0Zm9ybSI6IldlYiIsInJlZmVycmFsTW9kZSI6InZpZXcifX0%3D&e=OXsfUy

Link to project #2: https://browardcountyschools-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/g/personal/0620021719_my_browardschools_com/Ebp5LZaWaWZFqX5XyXWvEpMBKVIb1Estb_XTPjN3GCd2Sg?e=DZb3DZ 

Editing Timeline for project #1