Music Marketing: Brainstorming

 Recently, my team and I were given a long project where we had to fully develop a plan and brand for a new musician, alongside a presentation and music video. Upon first receiving this project, deciding how to develop our brand was very difficult. The mission of establishing a fleshed out marketing plan on how to propel our artist to success was a daunting task. At first, our group had to listen to all of the song's given to us within a folder and decide which song our hypothetical artist would write. Deciding which song to focus on was difficult as we all had different tastes, we couldn't all settle on one favorite song. Our team eventually selected Colors, by Black Pumas yet the decision process was difficult.

Afterwards, we had to settle on the plan for the artist's brand. Each of us had tons of ideas to share, so in order to maximize efficiency, we each contributed our ideas on a google document. We first described how our artist looks and acts, and then we discussed his personality (we decided on him being very humble and lighthearted), and what types of social media he uses. Afterwards, one of my group members suggested that our musician had a background as a minor influencer on YouTube, and the rest of my team loved this idea. After this idea, our team ran with the idea, basing around our marketing plan on the idea that our musician already had a reliable fanbase from YouTube. The rest of the process was simple, as we all agreed to market our musician's (His name was now Renzo Apollo) brand using virtual techniques such as digital concerts or posts on YouTube.

(The document was 3 pages in total)

There is still much work to be done, as the music video still needs to be filmed and edited. The presentation has been coming along, yet it is not done yet. Although the following tasks will be difficult, as it's hard to coordinate a filming day as everyone in the group, I am certain we will get through it. My team and I will move forward to ensure this project will be the best it can be!

Representation in Puss In Boots 2: The Last Wish

 

Puss In Boots 2: The Last Wish represents themes of anxiety, mortality, and love

throughout its runtime. The premise of Puss In Boots 2 is that as a cat, the main

character (Puss) has utilized 8 of his 9 lives, yet he still acts carelessly and

parades around as a daredevil vigilante, taking on danger wherever he goes.

The conflict begins when Puss comes across a bounty hunter who is a wolf

that he can’t beat effortlessly, as the hunter even draws blood from him.

This causes Puss to feel fear, as for the first time in his life, he genuinely

might not be able to bounce back.

(The red background when Puss is cut sharply contrasts the cool colors of the bar this fight took

place in, emphasizing how monumental this blow is to Puss.)

Throughout the course of the movie, Puss is constantly chased by this bounty hunter, as they constantly

taunt and terrorize Puss, holding the fact that he’ll never stop hunting him over his head. This perfectly

contrasts mortality in the real world, as death is inevitable, and there is zero escaping it. As a character,

Puss has never had to deal with this problem due to his many lives, so death being portrayed as an

unstoppable wolf that follows Puss wherever he goes is an accurate representation of death.

The film later reveals that this wolf is the personification of death, confirming that Puss is quite literally

trying to escape his own demise.

 

The wolf taunts Puss throughout the movie with a reoccurring leitmotif in the form of a whistle to constantly remind Puss that "death" is coming for him.

The wolf or Death strikes fear into Puss, as he worries that this is a foe that he can’t defeat.

In the film, this is demonstrated when Puss’s hair stands up as a result of Death taunting him with his

whistle. Puss’s anxiety is put on full display when he has a panic attack, as he feels as though the legend

of “Puss in Boots” ensures that he shouldn’t feel afraid as Puss in Boots laughs in the face of death, yet

he is still afraid. In the panic attack scene, no words are said as Puss simply collapses at the trunk of a

tree and hyperventilates, until his friends calm him down. This representation shows how everyone can

succumb to fear and anxiety, even a character who is never supposed to feel fear, like Puss

(There is a droning heartbeat sound effect over this scene to further emphasize the situation Puss is in.)

Alongside his fear of death, Puss struggles to reconnect with his past lover, Kitty Softpaws, who he left

at the altar during their wedding. This was another act done out of fear, as Puss felt as though the

“legend” is always alone, and got scared of the future he and Kitty would have together. Not only

does this tie in with the main theme of fear, but it also represents love and forgiveness, as Puss

genuinely apologizes for the pain he caused Kitty, and they end up with a stronger relationship

at the end of the movie as a result of this. This parallels modern society, as people can make

mistakes out of fear yet still atone and become better as a result.

Comedy Database

 With how stressful the current world has gotten, it’s important to take a moment to laugh on occasion and the comedy genre is perfect for this.

By definition, comedy is a program with the intended purpose of making the audience laugh, yet comedy itself is subjective. One joke that could be hilarious to one party could be greatly offensive to another, and it is for this reason why comedy movies could be risky to produce. Their price can vary, as most movies don’t need to be expensive unless special effects are used as the main focus of the movie is comedy, not visuals.

Content:

Comedy movies can employ a number of techniques to make the audience laugh. One of the most prominent methods is physical humor. This boils down to having a character get hurt in comedic circumstances.

Example: In the movie Ted, the main character gets into a serious fight with his teddy bear which is alive. Although a protagonist getting hurt would normally raise tension, the absurdity of this scene is what gives it comedy.

Another element that every comedy movie contains is jokes. Although some jokes can be surface level, the average pun is not likely to evoke laughs from the audience, so cleverness must be combined into the delivery with these jokes. One liner jokes that can easily be inserted into the story work best, as they don’t harm the actual story and keep the audience entertained. Irony can also be used to create randomness and comedy, as it is frequently used in most jokes

Example: In this scene from Young Frankenstein, the doctor character exclaims “What knockers!” towards the large door knockers in front of him while being held up to a woman’s chest. The female character thanks the main character, creating irony and comedy as the doctor’s comment was clearly not directed towards her.

In terms of actual story elements, comedy movies typically have drama as a sub genre, and are light hearted. There are stakes to pressure the characters to keep on going, yet the movie itself doesn’t take itself that seriously as the focus is on comedy, not the actual plot. The character’s should exaggerate whenever a situation arises to further accentuate the comedy of the scene, and most actions should be amplified to make the most room for comedy opportunities.

Production Techniques

Comedy movies are almost always fast paced unless they’re attempting to have an emotional moment, as it’s important to get on to the next “funny” part of the movie. The last thing comedy producers want is for the audience’s attention span to run dry, so they make sure to use snappy editing and quick transitions to maintain pacing. The actual camera or microphone can be used as a joke too, as directors will use every tool at their disposal to maintain a sense of comedy throughout the entire film.

Example: The Kentucky Fried Movie (an incredibly vulgar production, this is solely for demonstrative purposes) has a scene where a character directly reaches for a microphone on set, creating a sense of randomness and comedy.

Marketing

Comedy movies can have different audiences, but they are primarily directed towards 15-30 year olds, particularly younger males as they tend to respond more positively to sarcasm. The posters for these movies will typically have the main characters smiling or doing an absurd act to show that the movie is meant to be comedic.

Example: In the Scary Movie poster, the main villain who is mocking Ghostface, the antagonist from Scream, has a smiling mask on and is enjoying popcorn. This is different from Ghostface from Scream, who was a cold blooded killer, creating a sense of comedy.

Samples:

The film Ted (2012) is a movie about a friendless 8-year- old John Benett who wishes on a shooting star that his teddy bear comes to life, which it does. This childlike wonder is parallel with Ted remaining alive into John’s adult life, where Ted gets into comedic situations like filling John’s apartment with prostitutes, with one defecating on the floor. This absurdness sets the tone for the movie, as John and Ted fight each other for constantly getting the other into terrible situations. Although the main focus is on John and Ted’s eccentric situations, the story also focuses on John as a character as he struggles to propose to his girlfriend and deal with Ted constantly bringing him down. The poster itself is simple, featuring John and Ted sitting on the couch while having a drink. This sets up the light hearted yet comedic tone of the movie. The slapstick comedy and ridiculous story help make Ted fit inside the comedy genre.

Project X (2012) follows three senior students who are typically regarded as “losers” in their school attempt to throw a party to become popular at their school. The movie opens with the main character, Thomas, ranting about all of the things he wants for his party, immediately preparing the audience for the comedic tone of the movie. The movie quickly turns absurd as the main characters steal a garden gnome from T-Rick, a prominent drug dealer, to serve as their party’s mascot. This leads to a series of comedic events as their party quickly escalates out of control, leading the protagonists to get into comedic situations, with the climax of the movie featuring T-Rick coming to the party with a flamethrower in an attempt to get his garden gnome back. The poster features the 3 protagonists with their party in the background, demonstrating how crazy this movie will be.

Comedy Movies to View

Airplane, 1980

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, 1997

Dumb and Dumber, 1994

GhostBusters, 1984

Groundhog Day, 1993

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, 2004

Soundscape Project

For this project, I had to use only sounds to convey a story in 1-2 minutes. The purpose of this project was to demonstrate my ability to masterfully layer numerous sounds to tell a plot, and we were required to make numerous foley sounds of our own to include in these projects as well.

Here is the link to my outline of the project

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BR6NW3DWutvvYfEVdsL6LSLyvnwY24vRC9lrCsizj8I/edit?usp=sharing

At first, my idea was to create a soundscape about cooking, yet the issue with this idea is that cooking is typically one step after another, which doesn't offer a lot of opportunities for layering sound. My idea then transformed to take place inside of a restaurant, and for a fire to occur in the soundscape. Both of these changes would offer a lot more space for layering, and were a massive help down the line.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0s6azmwVgm4 (Here are the foley sounds)

The actual creative process was relatively simple. The making of the foley sounds was easy, as all of the sounds needed were easily made in the average kitchen, like an egg cracking or running water. The soundscape came relatively naturally as we wanted to produce what one would genuinely hear in a kitchen, down to the quiet AC noises. There were a few issues with using the editing software as I am still relatively new to it, but the making of the project was enjoyable and fun.

Click here to listen to the project! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4q3e7ndFKU

Camera Shots Project

 Camera Shots Project

For this activity, my partner and I were tasked to create a story consisting of an assortment of only 15 still shots.

    My partner and I decided to come up with a short story regarding a water bottle being abandoned by its owner and attempting to get back to it. The actual making of the project was relatively simple, as individually planning out each and every shot was much more difficult. The overall creative process was complex, as we both wanted to create a semi-detailed story, yet that's quite difficult to do without scenes or music.

    Overall, I think we both accomplished what we wanted to set out to do by demonstrating a lonely water bottle attempting to get back to its owner. My only real regrets were that I wish that we would have edited the close ups of the water bottle's face to set them in gray scale to further emphasize the idea that the water bottle is upset due to its loneliness. In addition to that, I also would have liked to include a better extreme close up shot, as I feel as though the shot could have had more potential instead of just demonstrating a character squinting.

Use this to view the project: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Qe-cEewBr5Bt8-zUduTWLNE9OA7-PtSw/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=114596991948546445826&rtpof=true&sd=true

Why I made this Blog

 Hi, I'm Luis Diaz Vasquez. I'm making this blog to document all my projects created throughout Aice Media Studies. I hope you enjoy watching my progress!