Representation of Hispanics

In my project I would to like to represent Hispanics in the United States. In media Latino immigrants have had the stereotypes of being criminals, drug dealers and not contributing to society. Many times, when watching different films or tv shows the “bad guy” or the maid is Hispanics and tends to have a strong Hispanic accent. I don’t believe this representation is fair as I am Hispanic and if not all most people, I know that are Hispanic are professionals and have never committed a crime or done drugs before. Although yes, some Hispanics in this country are drug dealers and criminals but media does exaggerate this. Studies showed that 50% of Latin immigrants were represented in an unlawful act and 38% were depicted as incarcerated.

          One film that represents Hispanics in this way is “Colombiana” directed by Oliver Megaton. In the film a Colombian girl, Cataleya, witnessed drug lords kill her parents before her eyes. Then when she grows up, she becomes hitman for her uncle, she engages in violent murders and hopes to one day get revenge on the mobster responsible for her parents for her parents’ death. In this film it also gives a false representation of what Colombians are in the united states. Cataleya is in Chicago and killing all these people as it was nothing and this makes people think that all Colombians are like this. This film also gives him the perception that in Colombia people are getting killed left and right which isn’t true. I don’t like this representation of Colombians as they truly aren’t all like this and this makes people believe otherwise.

          Another representation of Hispanics is in the series “Family Guy” the maid the Griffin residence, Consuela. First off Consuela in the film always seems to mad or in a bad mood. Whenever she picks up the phone she always just says no, no, and no and she never delivers messages to anyone. She also seems to not be able to speak English as she calls everyone mister even women and speaks with a very strong accent. Moreover, when she asked to clean something in the house she responds “I no can clean” showing she has broken English. Although she is very funny on the show, she represents Hispanics as selfish, unproductive and not able to speak English. This is very few Hispanics that come to this country as they normally come here to work hard and chase their dreams.

          In my project when I’m representing the Hispanic community in the United States, I would retain very few characteristics form how they are represented in media at the moment. A few of the few things I would maybe retain is the accent and the culture they have. I would use their accent so it gets better throughout and how that wont stop her from chasing her dreams and I would never leave her culture behind as that is what makes her special and unique and she is proud of this. What I would emphasis is her past how she came from nothing, she grew up in poor neighborhoods although there was evil around her, she never fell into that. She worked to reach the American dream tirelessly. She works hard and long hours, but she always kept her eyes on the prize. After lots of hard work she makes it she becomes a professional and got a job, she finds the perfect man and starts her own family. I would challenge how even though there was evil around her most of us don’t fall for that and I would show the obstacles she had to overcome. Most of all I would emphasis how she made it on her own, a man didn’t get her there, with her hard work and dedication she is now living the American dream.

Horror Genre Research

1.    Horror is a genre of speculative fiction which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle its readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.

2.    All horror movies have a different plot but that all contain similar content. For example, most horror films are known to have more dark and dull colors. Most horror films are dark because this produced more fear as in the dark there is the unknown. It also normally the setting is in places that will cause fear such as graveyards, old houses, basements, overgrown forests, as evil can hide in these places. Moreover, horror movies contain suspense, creating anticipation that something bad will happen but the audience doesn’t know when it will occur or what will occur. There also are characters with disfigurement of faces and bodies and snakes, spiders, and rats as theses things produce fear and emotion in people. Lastly all horror movies contain spooky music as this intensifies feelings of suspense and shock.

3.    All horror films used common production techniques to produce this fear in the audience. One of the most common seen in in production techniques is underexposed meaning leave more areas of the frame in the shadows to create a more mysterious feeling as they can’t see everything. Another technique horror film use haze or fog because it adds mystery and set a unique mysterious mood the scene. Using the red gel in certain scenes in a horror film can be used make the audience unnerved and make them more intense. An angle used often in horror films is the Dutch tilt as it creates an unsetting feeling in the audience and they also try to find new unique angles to create the same effect.

4.    After watching several trailers for horror movies, I found many use similar ways of marketing these films. The trailers try leave a slight confusion as this tends to hook potential viewers to go watch the movie. Also, they always try to build up mystery by not revealing the entire plot and leaving somethings unsaid. Many trailers try to only show a few characters or only give the audience a glimpse which again used to create more suspense. Sometimes they even leave character faceless by not letting the face of the monster to be seen. Another factor that might get people to go watch the movie is add a testimonial and/or a recommendation by someone the audience would trust.

5.    The film “insidious” directed by James Wan is a good film that embodies the genre of horror. Throughout the entire film, trailer, and cover is all dark colors. They used a lot of shadows and dark backgrounds in the film to create mystery and suspense. For example, there is a scene when a little boy is walking around with a small lantern and this only lights up his face but nothing around him. This doesn’t allow the audience to see what is happening behind or around him which creates fear. Also, in the trailer that came out for this film the plot wasn’t explained at all and seemed very confusing which got more people to go watch the movie. Moreover, they also use very selective choice of background music as hit helps scare the audience especially with all the jump scares. Lastly in the trailer and most part of the scene the “ghost” or “demon” was left faceless as you could never see him.

6.    The film “It” directed by Andy Muschietti is another horror film that embodies the horror genre very well. First off, the setting is exactly where a horror film is expected it takes place in the sewer and an old run down house. This also always for the dark colors and very dim lights as both places aren’t eliminated very well. Moreover, one of the main colors of the film is red as the “monster” is a clown and red is a prominent color. This color is significant as it makes scenes more intense. This film also uses very specific music to create more fear in the audience. And it also follows the darkness throughout the film and use of shadows.

7.    More horror films: The Conjuring, Annabelle: Creation, The Shining, The Exorcist, The Witch, The Nightmare on Elm Street, and Sinister.

Comedy Genre Research

• Comedy
• Comedy is a type of genre in film used to make the audience laugh or amuse them. Usually the main character is an ordinary person who faces conflicts from misunderstandings and ends with a happy ending. The funny aspect deviates from a normal everyday action or thought  in a funny matter or exaggerated. Some elements found in comedy include mistaken identity, coincidence, surprise, exaggeration, names, irony, puns and violence. There are several different types of comedy such as slapstick, fish out of water, parody, black comedy, gross out, and romantic comedies.
• There are many different production techniques used repeatedly in comedy's to make the genre clear and also adds to the humor. One technique used often is what may be called “the push in” which is when the camera actually moves closer and closer. This can mean a lot of things like highlight what you are seeing, literally gives the audience a better view of what is happening, and create a more intimate environment. As the push in gets closer and it lets the audience know its a comedy movie. The “pull out” effect is also used and has the complete opposite effect letting the viewer know what they we’re seeing wasn’t the whole picture. Another technique used is the “wait for it…”  this is when the camera is typically sitting still to let the joke transpire or a sudden change. We see this when the camera lingering, the character moves offscreen but the audience knows he went the wrong way or he comes back to interact with that scene again. Moreover many directors like to use a comparison shot where two similar or identical shots are presented in different points of views, at the same time. This direct comparison makes it funny or a comedy. To do this it takes a lot of planning but one director that does it well is Edgar Wright. Similarly another technique used is called the camera bump where the camera interacts with the subject for a joke. The camera is moved or shifted because something in that scene occurred that made it do that.
• One of the main ways and most popular strategy for marketing comedy films is in the trailers and posters they always make sure to put the funniest parts of the film or series. Like this they get the attention of the audience as they are already laughing without even watching the film, making them believe that if they go watch the film they will laugh even more.
• "White Chicks" is an American comedy film even though it was released in 2004 it is still very popular 14 years later. In this comedy is a good example how comedies exaggerate things. In the film two FBI agents have to go undercover and act like they are 2 regular white girls as bait for a kidnapper. When they have to act like these white girls they completely exaggerate society’s view on what a white girl is. There is a certain way that society believes that they act but they take this and completely exaggerate by emphasizing it. They speak in exaggerated tone, and they stuff their bra and butt are just a few examples of things they did this. Then the comedy aspect comes in when the men aren't able to do many things the majority of women can do and need to play it off in public. Throughout the film it also uses several of the production techniques mentioned previously.
• Another popular comedy is "Scary Movie 2". This movie could call into many sub genres of comedy has it is a horror comedy and also a parody. The movie is a parody of several films such as “The Haunting”, “The Exorcist”, “Amityville Horror”, “Poltergeist”, “The Challenge”, “Hollow Man”, and “The Legend of Hell House”. This film also call into the genre of comedy due to all the exaggerations found throughout the movie. The movie makes fun of the content of the other films by using similar content but making it look silly. But most importantly this film makes the audience laugh throughout the entire film while at the same time not losing completely the scary aspect of it.
• A few extra examples of comedy films are: Force Majeure (2014), Bad Santa(2003), We Hot American summer (2001), Anchorman: the legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), High fidelity (2000), Bridesmaids (2011), Step brothers (2008), Mean Girls (2004)

Introducing Myself

Good afternoon, my name is Isabella Restrepo and I’m a senior at Cypress Bay high school. In one the classes I’m taking at the moment, AICE Media studies where we study all different types of media, how they are used and their effects. We have been assigned to do a blog post about our favorite genre. So my following post will be about comedy as it is my favorite film genre. I will be explaining what comedy consists of, how it’s made, how it’s marketed, analysis of certain films and give a few extra examples of other comedies. This post will be posted soon, thank you for your time.