Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

In the past, we were given an assignment to watch and analyze movies of a specific genre to enhance our own project. The first movie that we watched was Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. We chose fantasy for our genre, so we went through fantasy movies made after 2013(as per criteria). We found a few good movies that we narrowed down to four. We wanted movies that were high fantasy, as that is what we are going for in our own project. This movie was obviously magical, as it comes from the Harry Potter series.

Something that comes to mind when talking Harry Potter is their wands and spells, which prevailed throughout the movie. Through the use of lighting, sound effects and no doubt editing, the spells truly came to life. There were POV shots from the angle of people under a spell(with pink lights and tingling bells for the love spell), when they teleported their bodies morphed, and the fire was controlled and of different colors than normal(CGI). The people who performed these spells were dressed for the time period, and with their old fashioned clothes there was some magical flare added. The makeup wasn’t overboard, and the only way you could tell the difference between the two sides was the harsh lighting for the evil, soft lighting for the good.

Other things to mention was the camera angles and shots. When in flight, the camera zoomed around, and when on the ground, the camera looked slightly handheld during some intense moments to make the action more fluid, immersing you. When there wasn’t any action there would be close ups of Newt’s magical creatures, and when the villain shows up, sometimes the shot would start from the shoes and pan up to the face. In one scene there was a canted angle down a hallway which gave a strong feeling of uneasiness, showing the otherworldliness of it. Of course, in every scene there was always multiple angles to observe all the magic. Whether it be a shot-reverse-shot during conversation or the many angled of fleeing from a magical creature.

Speaking of magical creatures, there were a lot of them. They were CGI, and they weren’t the only things CGI. There was a table that had a magical pool in the middle of it, giving off a glow, showing characters. There were many demonstrations of floating water. Dumbledore covered the whole town in mist. There were house elves and their tools that moved by themselves. There was a feather floating and leading the characters. CGI really has come a long way, as it was well done. Of course, not all of it was CGI, like some of the technology looked like puppets. Puppets would be more manageable if we were going to consider doing something like that. And then there was the sound! Every creature and spell had its own sound, most likely made in a foley studio. Which is also something we might consider doing for our sound effects.

We took a lot of notes on what we could do, that we liked from the movies. From this one, the lighting and camera angles were something we saw we could do. Unfortunately, CGI seems a little far out of our league, so even though we liked it, is isn’t something we can apply. Another thing that we can’t use is the kind of establishing shots they take. The camera is high in the sky and swoops down, and we don’t have a drone or the time to do this, although it would be fun.

Choosing Our Project's Genre

Both fantasy and action genres overlap quite a bit with each other and a third genre: adventure. Despite this, we still chose to research both of them because of their small differences: character focused or plot oriented. After talking about our chosen pitch idea, we decided that fantasy would fit our needs well. The project is to make the first two minutes of a full film, and to lead the audience into wanting more. We didn't have any easily achievable ideas that would hook the audience quickly for the first 2 minutes that were in the action genre. So, when we thought about ideas for the fantasy genre, it was an instant win when we had more than 2 ideas with the genre. The way the genre clicks with the pitch is why we chose fantasy as our final projects genre.

Researching More Relevant Genres

The two genres we've decided to further research are Action and Fantasy. Both genres over lap quite a bit with a third genre: adventure. Originally, we wanted to research Adventure and Fantasy, but found that those two were, for our purposes, the same thing. With this in mind, we have decided to largely focus on the contrasting elements between the chosen genres. Such elements include color, lighting, angles, and types of shots.

Action films are all about capturing the movement of the actors. While they still use angles to convey the mood of each scene, the camera movements are tailored more towards action. Because of this, these films tend to be less plot oriented. There are multiple ways to focus on the action. The main technique is with camera shots. Establishing shots of where the action takes place sets the scene, and dramatic close ups during the fight create an intense effect. Point of view shots can get your viewers more immersed in the action, and swapping shots from POV to watching the action gives the action a sense of importance. These shots give a clear picture of whats happening with out being boring.

Fantasy films typically feature magical or supernatural phenomena either as physical creatures or through the plot. Generally, this genre takes inspiration from myth and folklore to become speculative fiction. The purpose for most of the camera angles and movements are to capture the vast epicness of the world the film is set in. Wide angles and crane shots are used to accomplish this. Additionally, they use forced perspective to reinforce the differences between our world the the film's. Music is also important for a fantasy film. Epic orchestral music keeps with the fantastical elements. Moreover, Foley sounds make the creatures in the film more believable. Costumes, makeup and lighting are all used to emphasize the physical differences the film has from real life. Costumes also can set the time period, like using medieval clothing and swords. Makeup like prosthesis are used to create abnormal differences in the characters, like sharper ears and larger eyebrows, making them more memorable. Lighting also can add to a character standing out. For example, they could glow in the sun light, or have darkness lingering behind them. This technique is also good for establishing a characters alignment with good and evil, which is a common theme in the genre.

Both genre's highlight different parts of film, action focuses on the character in relation with each other, while fantasy emphasizes the world using the characters. Fantasy also usually has an emphasis on plot, while usually the plots in action movies are less interesting. Both genres have aspects that would work for our final project, so our final choice must come down to what exactly were aiming for in our final project. Will it be fast-paced, or focused on the epic story the characters tell!

Genre Study Earlier in the Year

Earlier in the year, we did a project on a specific genre. The genre assigned to my group was dance, so we researched the common uses of sound, shots, angles, editing and more. We found out that dance films have music that is directly relevant to the actions on screen. We also discovered that diegetic sounds are often made less loud in the editing process to not take away from the music. One such film is West Side Story. In order to get the best shot of the dancers, specific cameras with certain distances from the dancers are used. One is lower to the ground, while one is higher as well as one being closer and one further to them as well. Things like camera angles, types of shots, music, and more are the things we plan to research for our chosen genre for our final project.

Choosing the Right Pitch!!!

We had three main pitch ideas for our final task. The first was about a character waking up in a forest, disoriented and wanting to leave but being unable to. The second is called the Chosen One, about how not all "Chosen ones" want to be chosen. Lastly, the third pitch is, "They made me forget, but now I remember. I'll have to try harder this time, 'cause now I'm back baby!". That one is about a villain regaining their memories. The one we decided to phase out was the first pitch. This was because the second pitch already contained some aspect of it, and because it was less build upon. Additionally, it just wasn't as entertaining as the other two. 

The first of the two pitch we narrowed it down to is Chosen One pitch. It can be interpreted as fantasy, which is very appealing to work with. This is because the costumes and script for the magical beings would be fun to create. Moreover, this pitch is also a lot for inspirational than the other two, which makes it easier to work with. However, the pitch isn't all perfect. While inspirational, it is vague and too many ideas can make it hard to choose just one. Slowing down to choose one idea of many takes to much time that we just don't have for this project. Next, while the costumes will be fun to make, getting fantasy clothing might be a little difficult, but not impossible. Actors, on the other hand, seems to be a mounting problem, with the time crunch. Conflicting schedules are something I've seen happen with other groups that forced them to rush on the editing process and I have no wish to let our own group fall victim to. These pros and cons balance out pretty well, with the pro of the idea being very fun slightly out weighing the cons.

Then there's the other pitch: the one about how the guy is, "back baby!" We have a sort of villain story here, where the main characters memories are suppressed by the hero of the story. In the two minutes we would show him sad, like somethings missing, them him reawakening his powers. Eventually, getting stopped buy the heroes. We also have another version where he didn't have his memories suppressed, and he tried to figure out his powers. The camera would be hand held by him in first person. While be doesn't have powers, we wouldn't add any special affects, just using the power of editing instead. In that aspect, it would be easy. However, in other aspects (like plot and keeping people interested), isn't so simple. While if we worked on it some more we could probably come up with something more, right now it isn't too appealing. We would probably incorporate some elements of this if we don't end up using it. Like using editing effecting in new and interesting ways.

In the end we decided on the Chosen One Pitch. Personally, I felt it was more interesting plot wise, and it seemed to be easier to work on with the rest of the group. I feel like we could include aspects of comedy without an unsatisfactory ending. This is simply to much to resist choosing it. Despite us not having many ideas for that pitch in particular, we can always incorporate ideas from previous pitches. Also, the inspiration from the idea will make it easy to come up with film ideas. We can also ask other people for ideas and watch movies for shot ideas! Over all, I'm happy with our pitch choice and I'm looking forward to putting together costumes! Filming will also be interesting, as we previously decided it should be in a forest.

Starting the final task

Through the previous two projects, the commercial and the music video, I feel like I have improved a lot. I now know what to expect from the planning, filming and editing processes and how to prepare for the inevitable problems we will encounter. I am working with the same group as the previous projects, Joshua and Breanna. We discussed getting into different groups, but in the end we decided to stick together. This is because we know what to expect with one another, even if we don't always get along. Before we started planning, we talked to each other to try and improve our teamwork, which will hopefully have an affect on the quality of our work. Lastly, we decided to shuffle our jobs around when filming. For the first two projects, Joshua and I were actors, while Breanna was the camera woman. This time, Breanna will be the main actress, I will film and Josh will play a larger part in the editing process.

For this project I have several things I want to change. Firstly, I think having different versions of the same shot was very useful from the last project, so we should do the same thing. Next, we need a better story board. On the last projects we didn't have a clear storyboard and so we didn't stick to it. This made us lose points on our final grading, which is something to be avoided this time. Additionally, we should defiantly use a tripod to film instead of a mono-pod which made it hard to get stable footage when editing. Of course, the stabilization footage helped minimize the shaking footage, but it wasn't perfect and should only be used in extreme cases. Of course, we always need to take more than one shot of everything. During the music video's filming process we rushed on some shots and only took one. This ended, predictably, with that one shot being blurry.

Our first pitch is simple and straight forward. He never wanted to go back, and he thought he got out, but in reality he never left. While easy to follow, my main issue with it is that there isn't much to in the plot department that we've worked on, unlike our other pitches. Our second pitch is a bit more interesting. Step One: Find the Chosen One. Step Two: Make Them Fix Our Problems. Step Three: ... Find Another Chosen One. While formatted strangely, it gives way to many ideas.

Our final pitch is more modern. They made me forget, I guess I'll have to be more subtle next time. I'm back baby! This pitch is about a villain reawakening their powers. We feel like we could use more interesting filming techniques with it, like maybe from the first person!!

Editing the Music Video

When editing the commercial, we encountered many problems. Thus, we never had the chance to use Pinnical studios. For this music video, we decided to use our own editing software, thankfully we don't have to rely on IMovie for this project. We are using Final Cut Pro, to edit our music video. So far, it seems to be going smoothly. The only problem I have encountered isn't technical. It is the fact that the program is on a teammate's desktop, so it can not be brought to school. To work around this fact, we have decided to work in class, and that teammate can then change the video as we have talked about. On the first day of editing in class, the weekend after we filmed, a draft version of the footage had been compiled! That day we watch the video over and over to compile as many notes about the draft as we could. 10

Some things we would comment on was the timing of the transitions from shot to shot. We needed to find the perfect balance between keeping it on beat, and having the right section of the shot selected. This proved one of the most difficult things to fix, in my opinion, due to the fact that once you change something at the beginning of the video, things may shift around, becoming unaligned. Another problem I found was with the footage. Some shots turned out shaky or slightly blury, and there wasn't enough retakes to make up for it. This we have had to work with, a solution we came up with was to take different part of already used footage and put a filter on it. This reuse of footage was fine, as we were making a parallel between the shots. Luckily, Final Cut Pro had a solution to the shakiness, it had a stabilizer that kept the footage relativity still while still keeping the quality of the shots. Unfortunately, like all things, the stabilization has problems. In our last class, a method of counteracting the distortion of the stabilization was brought to light. The teammate used this method to fix the stabilization problem. 10

Other problems were also discovered or continued to persist. The persisting problem seemed to be what part of each shot was chosen for the music video. Sometimes the part was too still, making it look drained of life and uninteresting. Other times the action in the shot didn't quite line up with the beat or lyrics. In the last class, the main note was to try as many things as possible for the music video. This includes filters, cropping, and everything in between. We plan on getting together over the weekend and work on the project together. This will be easier than making notes for one person to use. Over all, I'm expecting a better product than the commercial was. Partly because of the new editing software, but also because of our experience. I don't think it will be perfect, as some of our shots are messed up, but it would have been at least a good experience!