Research 9 the Short

 "9" is an animated short made by Shane Acker for a UCLA animation workshop. The plot is shown to the viewer in a very unconventional manner, with no dialogue or narration to inform the viewer of the plot. Every plot detail in this movie is shown through a purely visual manner. The main character, 9, of which this movie is named after, has his name never specifically given. the only way we can figure out who the protagonist is is through the number on his back. this is true for the other character in this movie, 5. while this may seem simple, it is an effective piece of storytelling and says a lot with a little. within the first few minutes, our mentor character is struck down and the rising action is shown. the passage of time is shown with our hero 9 as the lightbulb given to him by 5 is now a staff, showing he is more experienced. this combined with the zoom out transition gives the viewer a good idea of how 9 is faring without a mentor. The main antagonist is given a bright green eye, contrasting him from the drab colors of the background. the setting is a post-apocalyptic earth. this is implied through human artifacts such as lamps and tin cans. The use of visual storytelling is the most compelling part of this short film. Instead of defeating the monster in a show of strength, the hero's journey concludes with 9 outsmarting the monster instead. this is the perfect end to our villain, as he has been shown to be unstoppable but the more experienced 9 is able to use the tools at his disposal to defeat his foe. overall, a great short.

Short Film vs. Feature Length Film

 In my opinion, the short film was better than the feature-length film. the short film does a number of things better than the movie. for one, the short film does not have any dialogue. while one may see this as a negative, I think it helps the setting. between the two movies, both have similar settings but I believe the short is much more vicious in the presentation. for example, 9 is living in the wild and collecting things to survive on his own, but in the feature-length film, there is a dangerous encounter in the beginning but 9 is then taken to a save haven among the dolls. I think this removes some of the danger that the word had that was implied by immediately giving 9 a resting point. he does leave shortly after, but I still think the damage has been done. I also prefer the character of 5 as a mentor figure rather than how he is presented in the film. in the short, the feeling of a mentor is given through the character's interactions when much is said with simple movements and 5 directing him how to take off a lightbulb. however, a newly born 9 is expected to direct a 5 that has obviously been alive for much longer (workshop, friends, etc.) and 5 is supposed to find solace when 9 tells him to do things. newly born 9. The short gives more of a connection to the viewer in 2 minutes that the movie does in 30. 5s sacrifice in the movie is supposed to be comparable to 2s, but I feel that 2s ignorance in taking the piece with him made me angry with him in his stupidity. all in all, I think the addition of dialogue in the film is a minor detriment but makes me prefer the short film much more.

Shane Acker, Director

Research 9: Feature Film

 The feature film adaptation of the short movie 9 is much more on the nose. The movie starts out with a narration. this narration is a a vague introduction to the word that is being presented to us. The plot is shown to the viewer in a very unconventional manner, with no dialogue or narration to inform the viewer of the plot. Every plot detail in this movie is shown through a purely visual manner. The main character, 9, of which this movie is named after, has his name never specifically given. the only way we can figure out who the protagonist is is through the number on his back. this is true for the other character in this movie, 5. while this may seem simple, it is an effective piece of storytelling and says a lot with a little. within the first few minutes, our mentor character is struck down and the rising action is shown. the passage of time is shown with our hero 9 as the lightbulb given to him by 5 is now a staff, showing he is more experienced. this combined with the zoom out transition gives the viewer a good idea of how 9 is faring without a mentor. The main antagonist is given a bright green eye, contrasting him from the drab colors of the background. the setting is a post-apocalyptic earth. this is implied through human artifacts such as lamps and tin cans. The use of visual storytelling is the most compelling part of this short film. Instead of defeating the monster in a show of strength, the hero's journey concludes with 9 outsmarting the monster instead. this is the perfect end to our villain, as he has been shown to be unstoppable but the more experienced 9 is able to use the tools at his disposal to defeat his foe. overall, a great short.

Horror

Drama

Thriller

Genre I Chose

  As a reminder, our pitch is a group of teenagers who hear a strange noise coming from under the house when they investigate suddenly they start to go missing one by one. We debated upon the three genres for a bit. We ended up deciding on horror. I think it fits the best. Also, it is the one I would like the best. The pace fit the best for the pitch. Horror is fast-paced. This will allow for a very cool action sequence. The action sequences are my favorite to edit. Another thing that I liked about the horror genre is the angles and movements. There is a lot of room for creativity. One of my favorite shots is the over the shoulder shot. It is optimized a lot in horror films. Due to the location we are filming, the common lighting being dim is perfect.  I think this is a great fit for this pitch. There is a lot of wiggle room which, I like. Some of my favorite movies are in the horror genre. I look forward to making this project with my group.

Genres I Would Like to Research

 In our previous blog, we decided on our pitch. The pitch we decided on is a group of teenagers hears a strange noise coming from under the house when they investigate suddenly they start to go missing one by one. There are three genres this pitch could go under; horror, drama, and thriller. For horror, we can focus more on scaring the audience. This would go well with this pitch because it would allow for cool camera angles and action shots. It is also a faster pace. I like to make faster-paced movies. Another option is drama. This would shift focus more on the relationship between characters. This would be something new for me and an interesting take on the pitch. It would also be a slower pace film in comparison to horror and thriller. Our final option is a thriller. Thriller is a great option because it gives viewers feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, and anticipation. The pitch should naturally give these feelings. Pace wise, it is in between the two previous genres. It is not as fast-paced as horror nor, as slow as drama.  It would also allow for a faster pace movie which I prefer making. The next three blogs will be a breakdown of each of the genres. This research will allow us to make a better decision on what genre will be best. I think they are all good options.