The creative process for our music video project. We chose, Something From Nothing by Foo Fighters.
Music Marketing #1
Wednesday November 19, 2025
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For the first half of this project, each group was given a specific genre who then had to pick 2 artists/bands from any music production company. My group got the genre, rock, which is one I am very familiar with; when it came down to choosing our artists, we had a ton of freedom. We were not limited to a group of bands, we could pick out anyone that we wanted. I decided to go with the American independent record label, Fearless Records; where I selected the two bands I already indulge in outside of this project, Pierce the Veil and Motionless in White.
When it came to the research aspect, we had to get the information for 4 different columns; including brief history, target audience/ brand identity, digital marketing + distribution, and non-digital marketing + distribution. I found the research very fun, since I already loved the bands I chose, it was interesting learning facts about them that I didn't know before. I found a majority of my information on these said bands from sources such as metalverse.net, fearlessrecords.com, and concord.com. In addition, going through each of their history and time in the music industry was super fun to analyze; like uncovering old magazine issues, the meanings behind their album covers, and the nature in which they rose to fame.
I started by filling out the brief history section, so I could get an overview on each band; including first album releases, past bands/band names, and how they got discovered. This led to me finding out their own unique brand identity, for example Motionless in White are known for their gothic and horror-inspired aesthetic, while Pierce the Veil is a mix of post-hardcore and emo music style with their visual aesthetic incorporating retro and gothic elements. This ties into each of their target audiences, which for them both is came about in the 2000s and 2010 from the Vans Warped Tour during that time. Majority of their fans connect with their music from the emotional and heartfelt lyrics and the metal and hard core style.
As for each of their marketing and distribution techniques (digital and non-digital) they utilize a lot of the same things; for example having their music available on all major streaming platforms, use their website to market and sell merchandise, post music videos via YouTube, and offer exclusive physical records of their albums. These tactics not only make it easy for fans to stream and support their music, through Spotify or official apparel, but it also gives them exposure to have an influx of people discover them, which in return makes them more popular within the music scene.
The over all project + the research was one of my favorites within this class; I thoroughly enjoyed analyzing and exploring each band and the record company itself.
My research bellow ↓
Mise-en-scene blog post
Tuesday October 28, 2025
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Within this project, we had to get into groups of 4 and develop a character using visuals, audio, tactile, and descriptions. We were given the ability to do whatever it is we wanted with our character, and have creative freedom over each section of our station. We were able to create a character based on a one sentence paper; my group got character #9, which read: "A movie lover who enjoys social get-togethers with friends. They write a movie blog on which they post critiques of popular movies". We all knew instantly that we wanted have our character be someone who is creative and passionate for the arts (films, literature, photography). My group and I settled on the name Dahlia Willows. She is a young girl living in Half Moon Bay, California, who has a passion for film and wants to be a director/photographer after high school. We created her by bouncing ideas off of one another and developing her interests more into depth, but still keeping it centered on the paper we received. Full description below ↓
Description of Dahlia Willows
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Dahlia Willows is a 17-year-old girl who lives in the small town of Half Moon Bay, California.
She has brown hair with auburn undertones and with bangs, big dark brown eyes with long
eyelashes that accompany them, freckles, heterochromia with one dark brown eye and one
brown/hazel, and a silver nose ring with ring stacks of mixed metals. She always wears fall/
autumn type clothes with a lot of plaid/polka dot patterns, brown boots, pig pendant necklaces,
many jackets/cardigans, and does no-makeup makeup. She’s a movie lover and a very sociable
person. She loves listening to music as she works at a record/film store. Her favorite colors are
burnt orange, olive/forest green, brown, and a greyish navy blue (she can’t pick just one). She
loves to write movie reviews on Letterboxd, create blogs including these movie reviews, attend
concerts of local bands, read mystery novels, the book Perks of being a Wallflower more than the
movie (the only exception), and she writes poetry in her free time. She’s president of her film
club and she’s well-known throughout school as she attends almost all her school's functions.
When she’s older, she aspires to be a director or something that is involved in film.
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The visual and audio aspects were my favorite to create. My group and I worked together to piece together the visual movie for our character; we combined a bunch of clips from movies and music videos, including Beautiful Boy, Bones and All, Twilight, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Fleetwood Mac. In addition to this, I incorporated some videos I took while I stayed in Half Moon Bay over the summer; which added more onto her character. With the audio aspects, we all collaborated to create a playlist that further developed our ideas; in return, this helped us get an overall feel for how we were going to construct the mood board. By adding pictures from films and music artists, it all tied together to show a cohesive look for Dahlia.
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Overall, my experience with this project and my group went very well. I really enjoyed working with my group and collaborating with them to develop this character. It was easy to communicate and design each element with everyone within my group; everyone did their part to the fullest.
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Mise-en-ecene project folder - everything we created
Genre research
Thursday October 16, 2025
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Psychological Horror deep dive
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How does it manipulate the audience's mind?
- With the Halloween season approaching, I thought it would be fitting to analyze one of my favorite sub-genres within horror, psychological horror.
This genre is included within the umbrella of horror. Unlike typical horror movies, psychological horror is made to build tension through mental and emotional manipulation rather than physical scares. It utilizes emotional states such as paranoia, dread, and confusion. Although the idea of having ones mental state be altered through film doesn't sound appealing, it draws a wide audience.
Content:
This sub-genre typically utilizes content such as the fear of the unknown, relatable fears, and distorted reality; while taking on intense themes like mental state of the character, intensity, and madness to bring attention to the impending dread rather than relying solely on gory elements.
A common theme within items of media within psychological horror is that it aims to disturb the audience through blurring reality; this makes the horror feel more impactful and personal to the audience viewing it. It is ment to make you uncomfortable and unsettled in your seat, but it draws you in enough to keep you watching.
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EX. The film Midsommar develops this horror through a slow burn orchestrated by a sinister pagan cult in Sweden; a couple and their friends travel there for a mid-summer festival. Within their time there, each of them get killed off with Dani being the last one left and accepts the cults brutal traditions.
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The main focal point is to have the scare factor come from internal fears. When people think of the horror genre as a whole, gore and jump scares tend to be what is seen the most within the media; however, in psychological horror, it's ment to distort ones mind and thinking process. It does this by incorporating real world topics/ scenarios that could be affecting the viewer outside of the media; this can include, trauma, obsession, isolation, delusions, and the fragility of sanity. The main goal is to create a lingering sense of dread and unease through the mind.
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EX. The film Black Swan portrays paranoia when Nina sees herself walk past her on the street. This hallucinated interaction was brought on by a major sense of stress and perfectionism within her dancing, and in return makes her spiral into a psychological breakdown.
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Production Techniques:
In psychological horror, filmmakers tend to use a combination of cinematography, sound design, editing, and production design to disorient/ disturb the viewer by blurring the line between reality and hallucination.
The sound design plays a huge part in this genre; since it isn't reliant on gore, the overall unsettling music and sometimes pure silence can enhance the building tension. The sheer absence of sound in general can cause the viewer to have a greater reaction to the scare. To add on, the utilization of atmospheric sounds and sound effects such as light music, eerie/ ambient noises, and violent sounds set a chilling backdrop for the scene, even when there isn't much action happening on screen. Scare cues are used often to really highlight a scare, by making quick and sudden musical changes.
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EX. The film Requiem for a Dream portrays hip-hop montages that show the characters gradual decline into addiction; you can get an understanding as to how bad it gets by the exaggerated effects and the growing chaos as it worsens. There is also an underlying beat of a pulse.
The use of low-key lighting is used all across the genre of horror; it provides a sense of building tension with the slow and long camera movements mixed with quick cuts. It is used to disorient the viewer to construct anticipation. Within these specific scenes, sound plays a very crucial part by adding eerie background elements, unsettling music, and utilizing silence to heighten the tension in the atmosphere.
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EX. The film Hereditary uses low-key lighting when Peter is unaware of a shadow figure in the corner of his room. He wakes to see that figure morph into his decapitated sister, Charlie.
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The film Hereditary (2018) follows the themes of supernatural beings that are tied to the Graham family; which results in them getting tormented by those same sinister forces after the death of their matriarch, a woman who is the head of a family/ tribe, Ellen (Pat Barnett Carr). Without their knowledge, Ellen was the leader of a demon-worshipping cult dedicated to the demon, Paimon. The whole film surrounds the idea of having Paimon's spirit transferred into the son, Peter (Alex Wolff), through a ritualistic possession. At the end of the film Peter falls victim to Paimon, as the transfer was successful. This film uses a lot of framing through doorways, windows, and hallways to create a sense of being watched or trapped, which translates to how the mother, Annie (Toni Collete), is feeling after the death of her daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro). In addition, the slow movements of the camera are used to mimic the characters gaze, which in return makes the atmosphere more tense and suspenseful; as well as, making the audience feel immersed into the story. The usage of low-key lighting, where the viewer can just barely see the background, builds apprehension in the unknown; like how Charlie can be seen in the corner of Peters room, without him knowing. The overall possession and demon like themes of the film really convey to the audience through the unsettling sounds and imagery used throughout the piece.
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Examples:
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Black Swan (2010)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Get Out (2017)
The Shining (1980)
I Saw the TV Glow (2024)
Sound Projects
Monday October 6, 2025
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About a week ago I was given an opportunity to further understand and design sound. It was presented in a form of a project where you were put into randomly selected groups of 2; where you had to design a soundscape from scratch. The main objective for this project was to make the listener be able to decipher what the scene was be only hearing the sounds; no visuals were allowed.
My partner and I began brainstorming of places/events that were packed full of sounds. We eventually landed on doing a medieval jousting; which has a plethora of sounds we could utilize. After we landed on our idea, we made an outline of what primary and secondary sounds; some included the clanking of the armor, the crowd cheering, and even the faint music of the festival going on around it. We than started looking for sound effects online, and using websites like pixabay and free sound. Furthermore, we created our own sounds using foley, a technique used to create sounds from unconventional objects. For example, I made horse gallops from my fists hitting a carpet. With those sound effects that we gathered, we imported them into a joined clipchamp project and worked together to plan where each effects would go. The overall process and editing of the project was my favorite, we got to really experiment and add tons of layers to further enhance our soundscape; with little details like the horses breathing or the metal of the saddle. If I had a chance to do it over I would have chosen to make the general length of the project longer, however, I am really happy with how it turned out in the end.
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The following week we got the chance to revisit our last project, the editing project. Previously we had to create visuals that told a story without relying on sound. Now we have to edit in the sound after the fact and make it fit as close as possible to the preexisting visuals. We have to add sounds that would not only be common in whatever scenario we chose to do, but we also have to add the sounds that usually go unnoticed by most people.
In addition, This week we had to revisit the editing project. With that one, we were only allowed to create visuals, but now er have to add on the sound to those said visuals. Unlike the first sound project, I had to match the sounds up with the video clips. My previous partner and I made a outline of what sounds we wanted to use, background ones and primary ones. I again utilized pixabay as the source for my sounds, as well as creating foley for footsteps and paper rustling. With this project, my partner and I have to edit the video on our own, so I utilized clipchamp like in the previous sound project. The overall editing and placement of the sounds was a bit harder then before because of the perfect cuts you have to make for each sound. We were also encouraged to add sounds that most people wouldn't notice, so our job was to make it as realistic as possible to our situation. With this project I think I did well, however, for the future I would want to make the cuts more precise and add more depth within my soundscape.
OWF project
Monday September 22, 2025
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For the One World Film project, we were instructed to get into groups of two and create a silent short film based on a word we were given. My partner Lina and I received the word "Relieved". We both instantly thought of doing a story surrounding tests and the nervousness and rush that comes along with forgetting there is one.
Throughout the film I had to portray a frantic student who has to cram in study time over a test she forgot about. We both collaborated on the brainstorming and storyboard sheets that were provided. We first started on the brainstorming sheet by writing down what general shots we wanted for the scenes, almost like a rough draft. The sketched out scenes on the storyboard helped us visualize the shot and angle we wanted for each of the scenes; the drawings translated easily into the actual camera work.
To really piece the footage together, I used iMovie; since I was already pretty familiar with it due to previous projects. We made sure to make the cuts and transitions as seamless as possible. I think the overall shots that we got were good; however, in the future I am going to try to keep the exposure the same throughout the short film.
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Camera Shots Quiz
Thursday August 28, 2025
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Camera Shots Quiz
-For this assignment we were given a nontraditional approach to a typical quiz. We had to create a project using the shots/angles we learned during class. In addition, we had to group up in pairs of two and create a story with two or more inanimate objects. We had to come up with and shoot our story in no more and no less than 15 shots.
Me and my partner, Lina, came up with the story of a super hero hello kitty which came from the keychain I had on my makeup bag and two evil scissors, in which hello kitty had to fight the scissors and save the sticky note. We used a wide range of shots when doing this project. For example, we used a long shot with a high angle at the end of the fight scene. We approached this assignment wanting to do something fun and creative, so we took a typical hero and bad guy story and gave it unique characters. We chose to use four inanimate objects (a hello kitty keychain, a pair of blue scissors, a pair of black scissors, and a sticky note) to create our project instead of using typical items like pens or pencils.
I think I did a good job choosing and utilizing each shot and I think what I picked translated the story better to the audience. What I could improve is the way the shots were taken, by making the images more clearer and bringing more attention to the characters, like putting a blank background so you could see and focus on the characters in frame. As well as, the shots I took of extreme close ups/close ups, I would have wanted them to be more sharp and clear.
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Welcome to my blog!
Hi, my name is Raina! I am starting this blog to document my Aice media projects and activities.
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Thursday August 28, 2025 ---------------------------- Camera Shots Quiz -For this assignment we were given a nontraditional approach to a t... -
Thursday October 16, 2025 ------------------------------------------ Psychological Horror deep dive ⊹⊱≼≽⊰⊹⊱≼≽⊰⊹⊱≼≽⊰ ⊹⊱≼≽⊰⊹⊱≼≽⊰⊹⊱...