VIVA LA PATRIAAAAAAA

 YOOOOO WHATS GOOOOODD it is so cold in my room right now hold on I'm gonna put on pj pants real quick before I turn into an ice cube

OK! PJ pants on!! I am now geared up and ready to write my 2nd research post of the week!! 

If you recall from the little schedule I made last post here, today I'm gonna be yapping all about ENA and ENA Dream BBQ, a kooky, abstract, web series and video game inspired by that very web series made by Peruvian creator Joel Guerra.

hold on gimme a sec peru was just mentioned :DDDDD I'm from there :DDD

VIVA LA PATRIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA CARAJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO VAMOS PERUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

ok im back hi 

It's ENA TIME!! LETS GOOOO

ENA (2020) AND ENA: Dream BBQ (2025)

PART 1: ENA (2020)

my peruvian queen

First, since I'm the yappiest yapper out there and love to talk on here more than anything, I'm gonna give to you all a basic introduction to the ENA franchise and my personal experience with it cuz duh! 

As a chronically online person, I first heard of ENA back in like 2020 when it first came out and made a KILLING on YouTube. I've heard a fair share of music used within the series on platforms like TikTok and especially YouTube during 2021. The main culprit on YouTube being animation memes. For those of you who are normal, on YT there's a whole subgenre of animation videos called "animation memes." These were crazy popular back in the early 2000's and 2010s but are still sorta relevant today. This is how they work: Grab popular song trending among internet or other animators, get og character or existing character, animate it dancing or bobbing its head or something and BAM you got yourself some banger content :D Right down below I'll embed one of my fav animation memes I uncovered during 2021 when ENA was still trending like crazy, utilizing the song "ENA REMIX" by Cotiles (pretend theres an accent on the o :D)

Spin Syudo (2021)

[their art style is SO cool]

Cotiles (2020)

Song the vid above pulled from :D

[i totally listened to this a normal amount when i first discovered it hahahahaheheheahha]

ENA- Temptation Stairway (2021)

Original audio!

Along with this animation meme, I also came across other silly animated ENA related memes, one of which using a very popular audio from the series remixed into a song just like the last one called

ok wait hold on im gonna play minecraft with my bestie westie isa brb gang

alrighty hi :D I'm just gonna restart that sentence back there so your brains don't get confuzzled

Along with this animation meme, I also came across other silly animated ENA related memes, one of which using a very popular audio from the series remixed into a song just like the last one called FNF- Salutations Sir! (FULL EDIT/REMIX) posted by YouTuber SILLYLASAGNA (in another life I would be silly lasagna). This audio, while also deriving from the web series, is actually also originally created for a Friday Night Funkin mod which is really hecking cool :D Check out all these really cool videos showing what the helly I just talked about :DD

Pacific_Watercress (2021)

[THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME]

SILLYLASAGNA (2022)

Song the vid above pulled from :D

ENA-Extinction Party (2020)

Original audio!

And so yeah! Even though I've never watched the entirety of the show myself, which I really should because I believe that's required out of all Peruvians, I heard of ENA and watched some ENA content outside the web series many, mannyy times. This just goes to show how POPULAR this show was back in the good old days of quarantine among weird internet kids who barely went outside and lacked the ability to interact with other humans normally even before COVID began.
Okay Emi. This is what I got so far from your yap. I know that ENA is Peruvian (YYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAY), made a killing in 2020-2021, and is a web series...but what the heck is it about and who the freak is the Picasso looking yellow and blue geometric mfka that keeps appearing on my screen? I am so glad you asked super awesome blog reader!!!! Here I am, this is me, Emi about to answer all your questions. 

I found a perfect definition from the ENA fandom wiki that I will put right down below me here cause I could not have explained it better myself

"ENA...is a Peruvian avant-garde animated comedy series, created by Joel Guerra and published on YouTube and Newgrounds. The series combines 2D and 3D animation and draws inspiration from many pieces of surrealist media and worldwide culture, particularly from Peru and Japan."

Yeah guys, this amazing Peruvian (GRHAHHAHAHAHAH) piece of fiction is pretty dang weird! It's quite kooky, just like the last two media texts I researched the other day. What it has in contrast to Beetlejuice and Dan Da Dan though is that it is DREAAAMMMMMYYYY. Yes, there is plot in every episode, and yes there are characters to follow, but it surely is NOT your typical "oh I'll sit down and zone out" type of show.

I'd say that if you wanted sit down and watch ENA then you would HAVE to pay attention because of how confusing it can be, and that is for sure what Joel G was going for. [He] wanted to create "characters with strange shapes in a very colorful world where nothing makes sense ("ENA (Series)," n.d.). This piece is very absurd, all the way down to its character design, hilariously strange dialogue, general aesthetic, and worldbuilding and it is definitely something I'd like to take away for our short film :D                                                                                                                                                                                                 ENA is SO unrealistic, the only "real" parts being in some of the character designs as ENA's costume was actually based off of Peruvian school girl uniforms (AGGAGAHAHFGAFAHFHAGAG LA PATRIAAAA VIVA PERUUU CARAJOOO AHHAHEFBAHEH). I think this is amazing to take from since our project is also very NOT realistic. Obviously, our piece isn't gonna be as abstract and UNREAL like ENA is but it isn't going to represent everyday normal life like mine or yours either. It won't show someone waking up to go to school or work and go through silly situations or adventures, NOPE! It will show someone waking up, wanting power, and going through batshit insane adventures and situations just to then be fooled by Satan himself. Yey :DDD 

Now anytime I need inspiration for the absurdity of our film, you'll find me turning to my favorite yellow and blue Peruvian gal! ;D (HFDHUBAGFABFJHAUGDUKJ)

Alrighty now time for ENA: Dream BBQ!! VAMONOS AMIGOS! ES LA HORA DE LA PATRIA!! TODOS SOMOS PERUUUUUUUU CHAMACOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! VIVA LA PATRIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  

I am having so much fun right now

PART 2- ENA: Dream BBQ (2025)

Okay so unlike ENA, I haven't heard AS much about this video game. I saw like 2 seconds of the first trailer and a couple super awesome pieces of fanart but that'd be about it. AND THAT SUCKS!!! Cause dude this game looks SO freaking cool. Imagine ENA but like 10x cooler looking and awesome, that's how she looks like in Dream BBQ. Below I'll embed the trailer I saw a while ago so I could introduce the general vibe of this piece to you all :D

LOOK AT HERRRRRR

So an ENA video game! I bet you're wondering how that played out, and I did too! If you guessed correctly just now, YES it is super duper weird just like the web series :D This whole game follows ENA, with a coloration and personality new to the series, is tasked with finding, and killing, The Boss.

MarcoCardenas (2025)

Directed by Froggy, thanks to the route persuaded out of The Receptionist, and with confusion from Dratula, ENA proceeds through various doors to ultimately find the boss ("Dream BBQ," 2025).                                                                                                                                                                                                         If you are confused, oh trust me I am too. But again, this was Joel's ultimate objective, and it always has been! The difference here is, besides the plot, that the tone and general vibe/aesthetic is miles different from the OG ENA. This project, according to the ENA fandom wiki, has been "thought of even before the release of Temptation Stairway." What Joel wanted to approach with this one though, is a darker tone and story based off of the concept of nightmares. I love this guy :D

"Months ago even before uploading Temptation Stairway, I thought about the probability of doing an ENA project based on nightmares. This is the reason why DREAM BBQ looks different and uncanny in some aspects" -Joel G. ("Dream BBQ," 2025).

This wacky video game taking place in a very wacky, darker world than the ENA web series has been greatly regarded by both fans and critics, with 5 stars on Steam (Steam, 2026) and 98% positive reviews from Google users (Google, 2026). This huge success wasn't just because. It truly had a good reason!!! ENA: Dream BBQ..exudes such a high level of quality and love for games, the internet, and digital media as a whole (Pasta, 2025). 

Joel G's creations are always filled with so much passion and such a clear art direction while also implementing total appreciation for just about every art form, which I love with my whole entire heart :] I want our short film to feel no different.

 

It's really important to myself and the same likely goes with my team, to see audiences really noticing and admiring the absolute passion oosing out of our piece. This project is crazy important, not only for our grades, but also for ourselves and our creative ambitions/personalities :D! Another aspect of ENA: Dream BBQ that I took away and will refer back to when taking care of art direction for our short film would definitely be the color palette! I love the red, black, dark orange, spooky looking aesthetic thats going on in this video game and would adore to implement the same/similar colors to our film, as it's also gonna be dark and potentially nightmareish! :DD All, in all Dream BBQ is so freaking cool and I'll surely check it out one day before I die :D

It has been so awesome learning all about the ENA multiverse throughout this post, the proud Peruvian side of me is very happy! Joel G is such an amazing creator, I wanna be like him when I grow up :DDDD It is actually so amazing knowing that Peruvian media has made its mark out there on just about every platform, we made it big and it was all thanks to Joel G and his silly little abstract creation, ENA.  

Thank you all for reading through another one of my super awesome research posts for this week! :D I'll surely be back very soon for my third and final post and I am SO excited to yap all about it. I enjoy especially one of them an unhealthy amount! :DDD YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY GET HYPED YAYAYYAAYYAYAYAYAYAAYAYAYAYYYAYAYYAYAYYAYA

Alrighty bai bai! :D God bless Peru and make sure to always drink water!

CITES:

       ENA (Series). (n.d.). Ena Wiki. https://enajoelg.fandom.com/wiki/ENA_(Series)

                Spin Syudo. (2021, March 14). I’m Allergic To People - ENA Animation. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAm0GAiRDtk

                   Cótiles. (2021, February 22). Cótiles - ENA REMIX. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmmERgX0FgI&list=RDDmmERgX0FgI

                         Joel G. (2021, February 15). ENA - Temptation Stairway. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juBv2XWnwt8&list=RDjuBv2XWnwt8

                          Pacific_Watercress. (2021, September 9). Salutations Sir Animation Meme // ENA - FLASH WARNING ⚠️. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvd0B5qm0qA

                    sɪʟʟʏʟᴀsᴀɢɴᴀ. (2022, September 27). FNF - Salutations Sir! (FULL EDIT/REMIX) [Music Video] {Flashing lights Warning}. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trPV4GrNPiA

                            G, J. (2020b, September 16). ENA - Extinction Party. Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td7CBNu0914

                           ENA - Power of Potluck. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmXe-ZGr5RM

                                                                       Pasta, N. (2025, March 29). ENA: Dream BBQ Review: A Surreal Art Game Blending ’90s Nostalgia & Avant-Garde Design. Bitsnpixels.org; Bits N’ Pixels. https://bitsnpixels.org/p/ena-dream-bbq-surreal-art-game-review

                          Wiki, E. (2025). Dream BBQ. ENA Wiki; Fandom, Inc. https://enajoelg.fandom.com/wiki/Dream_BBQ

BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

 Okay so I recently just found out that for every blog post that we post this week (except for the last one i just posted you should check it out :D) we had to research not only one but TWO media texts within each!! GAH! Luckily, it's not that deep cause I already have a list of stuffs to research but I still should've read a little closer so I could come up with titles that'll fit each post more LMAOOO

I don't wanna change my titles though I think they're pretty boombayastic so uhh Cambridge lads! Tstok! Random viewer! Whoever you are! Here's how the next 3 posts are gonna be layed out! (excluding the very first post that I made for the week duhhhhh) (its the one below this one you should read it :D)

Post 1- Beetlejuice and Dan Da Dan

Post 2- ENA and ENA: Dream BBQ

Post 3- The Amazing Digital Circus and Parasite

Alrighty! Now that we have all that sorted out let's dive straight into today's first media text:

BEETLEJUICE (1988)!

As of present day, I have watched both Beetlejuice's! (except for the new movie that came out in like 2024 I don't have any intention of watching it lolz) I've seen the movie from 1988 and the musical adaptation! :D Twice! The first time was like a year ago in Miami or Fort Lauderdale (i forgor) with my family and the second time was just last week here at my school! Both were INSANELY good, the immersion, the costume design, the characters, the comedy, Beetlejuice himself, oh MAN all of it was AMAZING!! I am going to watch this musical more times than twice that is very for sure! As for the movie, I've only checked it out once with my family after watching the musical out of curiosity :D I don't quite remember that much but I do remember laughing a lot so HECK YEAH LETS GOOO

me cause I'm literally researching my fav pieces of media rn

Now that I look back on both viewings (or uh..thrice viewings?), I decided to choose specifically the movie cause it's freaking awesome and I don't quite remember it as much as the musical, so why not learn some more about it? :D I love learning things that actually appeal to me, so let's do it!!

okay wait brb cambridge i gotta go to lunch bai :DD

Konichiwa Mr/Mrs. Cambridge, Tstok, or random viewer!! I am back for like 10 minutes cause I brought myself some free time in English class! :D Time to talk to you all about Beetlejuice (1988)!

Directed by the one and only Tim Burton, the plot of this movie is quite literally the same as the musical (except for a couple things like Juno's relationship with Beetlejuice and how the Maitlands die hehehehahhahaheehehehe). It revolves around these two lovely people, Adam and Barbara Maitland who recently died due to a car crash and are left to haunt their own home for seemingly the rest of eternity. Soon after though, a new family, the Deetz, move into their house and start to stay there.
Driven to get their house back from these grimy alive humans, they recruit this creepy old half demon guy called Beetlejuice to scare them all away! The entirety of the film (I have to watch this again), contains a bunch of wacky antics which include giant sandworms, going to literal hell, meeting Mrs. Argentina, watching Mr. and Mrs. Maitland get their faces stretched out, and much, much more!

Looking back, I can confidently say that this film is super duper koo-koo and quite disturbing at the very same time. Beetlejuice himself was obviously the star of the show and surely added to the overall comedic/surreal effect of the film as he's just a hilariously scary, outrageous, silly, old guy looking to scare the shit out of everybody and their mama. However, in contrast to the musical adaptation, Beetlejuice doesn't really have such a major scene until about halfway through the film, but it was for good reason! Tim Burton did this because it adds some tension and more mystique between the audience and the creepy character. When [Beetlejuice] does come on screen, a lot of his personality and actions are for shock value (El-Mahmoud, 2023). As surprised as I was to learn this, I also really liked how Burton decided to do it just to create more tension and add to that supernatural and mysterious side of the production to make audiences shiver in their timbers while also having a grand ol' time watching a surreal, horrendous, rotting +probably100 year old man being a menace!

By the end of the film, Beetlejuice is then banished by Barbara Maitland to the Netherworld's waiting room and he just sits there still being good ol silly Beetlejuice while accompanying this witch doctor that shrinks his head after being annoyed by him. It's really cool and kinda scary :D

he's so me

Speaking of which, the main thing that really stood out to me in this film were the insanity of some of the special effects. The scenes that I remember the most clearly are the ones with the Maitland's getting their faces stretched out in very weird and uncanny ways. Just seeing these pictures again of the scenes creeps me the helly out even if there are comedic undertones to it BAHHAHA here look check out these images that are still living in my subconscious (probably some good reasons why my dreams are actually insane half the time)

Barbara and Adam Maitland (nightmare fuel version)

Throughout my research of this film, I was surprised to learn that not absolutely everything aligns entirely with the musical. Like sure, the plot of both are still relatively the same, but the original, while there are tons upon tons of comedic aspects, is arguably the scariest most disturbing version of all. Emi from a year ago was surely a little disturbed at one point during her viewing of this film, and the same goes with many other viewers around the world! It's one of those movies that stick with you, and definitely scared many as kids (El-Mahmoud, 2023).

Like Beetlejuice (1988), I'd like to take the "HAHAHAHAHAH funny omg I'm actually kinda highkey lowkenuinely a little scared right now" approach with our short film :D It'd be so awesome and super duper intriguing and quite unforgettable if we make it all koo-koo-kookey while also spooking audiences with costume design, special effects, or what have you :]] More to come as time goes on, but I'd love to implement some aspects of Beetlejuice's absurdity into action! Annie Christopher is literally Beetlejuice if he was the actual devil :D

Anyway! That should be all of my research on Beetlejuice :] I definitely would love to give this movie another watch again as there are probably so many other cool scenes and details that I surely forgot about but for the time being, Thank you Beetlejuice for being super cool and awesome and inspiring a couple kids to make their shortfilm the weirdest and koo-koo-kookiest it could ever be! :D WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Okie dokie now time to move on to our 2nd media text of today's post! HOLD YOUR HORSES

DAN DA DAN (2024)!

Okay so I myself haven't actually watched the entirety of this show yet, maybe only like the first 4 episodes :D I've been way way wayyy more locked in on the manga instead, but after watching a couple eps of the anime right after coming out of reading a few manga issues, I could confidently say that both versions, kinda like what I just talked about with Beetlejuice, are very similar. Both Dan Da Dans are VERY similar though, really the only difference being with the dialogue and all that, but it really isn't that much :D With all that being said..                                                                                                                                                                DAN DA DAN IS SO FUCKING AWESOME YO                                                                                                                             Getting through the first ep/issue was a lil hard due to some uh..some 18+, Her-esque scenes that made myself and many others in the fandom a tad bit uncomfortable but it didn't last for so long like how other animes do it, so I survived just fine :D BUT THE REST, ONCE YOU GET PAST THOSE PARTS, IS SOSSO COOL. That's one thing about this anime that really stood out to me by the way, not only how 18+ it can get at times, but HOW WEIRD IT IS. If you're already wondering what the plot is all about, it literally revolves around a guy (Okarun) getting his nuts stolen by evil ghosts and in order to get them back, he has to team up with a friend (Momo) and fight said evil ghosts :D! Weird right :D! I love it! :D 

Okay wait hold on I need to tell you something like right now before I explode. I'm currently in media class right now and today we were critiquing a whole bunch of trailers that we made for the distribution project a bit ago :D I worked with my super awesome peers, Zach, Nico, Robbie, and Samara, and acted as the writer for all of our critiques. Dude when I tell you, I am a HUMAN COMPUTER. LIKE GENUINELY. WHY ELSE DO I YAP SO DANG MUCH IN THIS BLOG??? HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED?? I BET YOU HAVEN'T. I never really acknowledged that fact but today Zach did, and right after I finished writing everything, he coined the term "Emi slop" to describe the way I do things (in a good way). 

Now I must say

  THIS IS THE GREATEST TERM OF ALL TIME EVERYBODY ALL MY PROJECTS ARE FROM NOW ON REQUIRED TO BE UNDER THE GENRE OF EMI SLOP

Forgive how I went so off track back there, but I thought it was super important to introduce to you all the term "Emi Slop" and just say that if I created and directed an anime I would SO make something similar to Dan Da Dan. LIKE SO SIMILAR. I probably wouldn't make it revolve around a guy getting his junk stolen but it would still be so fucking weird. So amazing. So Emi Slop. 

Throughout my research of this piece, I really just want to touch on and learn all about what makes it so weird and why it works for so many people who consider themselves lovers of this amazing work of fiction (myself included if you couldn't tell yet). As for what specific version of it would I like to research?? I mean genuinely, they are highkey carbon copies of each other with only SOMMMEEE difference so I personally think it doesn't matter, but I think I'm gonna go with the show here :D BUT THEN AGAIN IT DOESNT REALLY MATTER THEY ARE STILL THE SAME AND EQUALLY STRANGE so pretty please don't mind if I get most knowledge of Dan Da Dan based off the manga and not from actually watching the entirety of the show itself. OKAY MOVING ON

Genuinely, what I think sets the tone so well for the Dan Da Dan anime is absolutely the intro of season one. The visuals, the music, the general vibe? HOLY SHITTTTTT I swear the first time I watched it I stayed in an absolute trance and I actively listen to the song used in it TO THIS DAY even though I discovered it like a month ago shhhh shut up

LOOK AT THIS PEAKKKKKKKKKKK

The song itself was made by Japanese hip-hop group, Creepy Nuts, and the visuals were animated by animation studio, Science Saru. Everything about the intro really factored into the general immersion of the entire piece, fueling the anime's popularity and making it a fan favorite among Netflix audiences :D I know this is an animated intro with music and super professional looking stuff, but the vibe and pure weirdness it constantly radiates throughout is truly something to behold and to be inspired by. Our film is going to be a bit darker in terms of art direction and color palette but I also would really like to open by immediately establishing and communicating to audiences "HEY!! WHAT YOU'RE WATCHING??? YEAH! YEAH!! IT'S ABOUT TO BE REALLY FUCKING WEIRD!!!!! HOLD YOUR HORSES! STRAP IN! UR NOT READY!!!!!!!!

Jokes aside, even though I am the living embodiment of silliness so never mind I'll never put my jokes aside, this anime is truly so bizzare. It's not only just a comedy, but a romance, coming of age, supernatural, thriller, drama, horror, action mix of a masterpiece. Every single thing and every single thought that has been conjured up at one point in time is likely included and or mentioned in Dan Da Dan. It has EVERYTHING. What it has most of all though is absolute weirdness, which I'm pretty sure we have established already :D But aside from the intro and the insane mix of genres, what else makes Dan Da Dan so weird and why do we, the audience, eat it up? 

This show, from first glance, is all about fighting supernatural creatures like ghosts and aliens for a specific motive (balls) (BAAHHAHAHAHAH she said balls everybody laugh). 

However, alongside fighting very strange looking beings that are out to get your nuts, this anime also has a focus on not only the romantic tension between main characters Momo Ayase and Okarun but also the topic of sex and facing its pressures and expectations from it at a young age. (OOOOOO SHE SAID THE S WORDD OOOOO EVERYBODY LAUGHHH)

But yeah! :D I'd definitely say that this anime is perfectly profound while having intense weirdness on top to still keep audiences hooked and intrigued in what it has to offer with the topics I just mentioned before that dog busted in again and stated that I made a statement. ONE more time dude and I SWEAR

Anyway :D Similar to how we're trying to approach our film, Dan Da Dan's weirdness has meaning and heart behind it. The piece often represents sex and how discomforting the topic can be for a teenager, being the reason behind some of the 18+ish scenes with the female lead. Nothing ever truly heinous happens, but you still feel genuinely disturbed, discomforted, a lil scared, while also feeling that discomfort from Momo herself.

 

Sex at this age is scary; it carries with it intense but different pressures for every gender. Dan Da Dan's plot is weird and fraught with danger, but so are relationships as a teenager (Cannon, 2024). As I mentioned before, the relationship (friends but clearly like each other typa thang going on) between Okarun and Momo is a main plot point of the entire series and is always built upon no matter how scary or disgusting the freaky, insane, diabolical supernatural being they are fighting that episode is. They begin as rivals of some sort, become friends, and then start to develop feelings for each other, and it's a super confusing time for the both of them. Not only do they have to deal with freaky deeky aliens and spirits, they also have to deal with each other, their feelings, and how to navigate them. It all comes back to these two kids, trying to figure out their relationship with each other at an age where they have no baseline for normal. (Cannon, 2024) (again) (thank you random anime journalist for your lovely review) (I didn't even know your job was real until today)

If I were an anime, I would be this one :D I seriously love Dan Da Dan with my whole entire heart and truly resonate and feel just kinda sorta seen by its meaningful weirdness. Yes, I am an adolescent trying to figure out her life without a sustainable concept of what it means to be grown up in today's society. Yes, the world seems so big and large and new to me still even though I'm almost legally an adult. Yes, my feelings are hard to navigate, especially when it comes to love. Yes, sex is scary to me. And YES, I am unapologetically weird because that's just who I am. I love being authentic and I love just being me. It's fun :] 

AND SO THATS WHAT I REALLY WANNA DO! WITH THIS SHORT FILM! I touched on this a bit in the first post I made for this project last week, but I'm gonna say it again :D I truly want our product to just be a raw reflection of each one of our kooky personalities, Joaquin, Andrew and I. I think we all have an idea of what it means to be the "weird kid" and personally I think it's just something so beautiful. To be one of a kind :D A limited edition if you will :D

 I sit in the far back of Tstok's class, but every time I end up zoning out, my eyes always go to one decoration she has on the other side of her room. It's a canvas looking thing that says something along the lines of, "I'm not weird, I'm a limited edition" and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Even on the bad days, it always manages to cheer me up and make me go "Yeah!! YEAH! My kookiness is truly one of a kind! I should appreciate myself more :D!"

But yeah, with everything being said, I want this short film to be a limited edition. Something so special, something so US!!! It would be lovely to make it have the spookiness and disturbingness of Beetlejuice along with the meaningful, unapologetic weirdness of Dan Da Dan. We are going to have so much fun with this thing and I can't wait to garner much more inspiration from the couple next media texts I'm about to research and yap all about to you guys  :] As for now though! I must go eat :D I forgot to eat my sandwich for lunch earlier today at school so I must eat it now before I can eat this super yummy ass looking meal my mom prepped for me at the buffet in Whole Foods. Life is truly so awesome right now!!

Hasta la vista friends, remember to never be normal!!

                                                                               CITES:

 El-Mahmoud, S. (2023, July 27). It’s Showtime: I Saw The Beetlejuice Musical, And I Actually Think It’s Better Than The Movie. Cinemablend. https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/its-showtime-saw-beetlejuice-musical-better-movie

to, C. (2024). Beetlejuice (movie). Beetlejuice Wiki; Fandom, Inc. https://beetlejuice.fandom.com/wiki/Beetlejuice_(movie)

                     Netflix Anime. “DAN DA DAN OP | Otonoke by Creepy Nuts | Netflix Anime.” YouTube, 5 Oct. 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1dnxXrpN-o&list=RDA1dnxXrpN-o. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.

                Cannon, Trent. “Dan Da Dan Is Weird, Profoundly Inappropriate, and the Perfect Anime This Season.” Popverse, Nov. 2024, www.thepopverse.com/tv-popverse-jump-dan-da-dan-dandadan-is-the-perfect-weird-anime-crunchyroll-netflix-jump.

da resaerch >:D

 holy shit actually getting the drive and the will to begin writing this post was absolutely back-cracking,  bone breaking, or, if you're a good friend of mine, Mongolian butt tickling.

Literally how I'm feeling right now :DDDDDDDD
(this was a ft call with my best friend from like forever ago)

HELLO EVERYONE! It is I, Emi Valdivia, back again for week 2!! YUP! ALREADY WEEK 2! MOVING FAST BABAYYYYYYYYY LETS GOOOOOOOO YAYAYAYAYYA WOOHOOO WOHOOOOO TRUMPET NOISES WAHOO YAYAYYAY PARTY HARDY!!!!!

i have a love-hate relationship with the planning stage

It's like so ahhh!! :D and so ah. D: at the very same time yk what I'm saying, like you get to research and learn about cool new things for your cool new film but part of you just wants to NOT do it and just get straight to the cool and awesome and super amazing stuff like filming the devil and a girl named Otto going absolutely batshit insane while carrying out his orders !!!!!!!

But alas, despite how tedious it may be, planning is VERY important everybody!!! I've been through this typa project once before in the past and know exactly how it goes :D The better your planning the better your final product andd the worse your planning the more dog doo doo your product will be! :D So with all that in mind, I am locking in on the research part of the planning stage!

DA RESAERCH: ANOTHER VERY INSTANT DECISION

As I said in a previous post, when my team and I first sat down we immediately thought of doing a short film to appropriately mesh all of our insane brains together AND along with that instantaneous decision we decided to make it...A COMEDY!!! WAHOOOO!!! However, this isn't just your typical Dumb and Dumber comedy film, oh no, no, no! This lovely piece of fiction that we are striving to create has devils, spanish hats, batshit insanity, mur-durr (perchance), and pure absurdity all around! I wouldn't consider it JUST a comedy, but a dark comedy! 

evil comedy be like

im dark

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

So what makes a comedy and what makes said comedy dark :D

DA RESAERCH: WTF IS A COMEDY AND WHY DID IT TURN EVIL

I explored a bit of comedy during the very beginning stages of the AS project last year and I still have a bit of what I learned burned into my brain that I will now recite to all you Cambridge lads so you can give me an A+++++

SO! A comedy is a genre that majorly focuses on entertaining the audience by providing humor either through witty punch lines or physical comedy (often called slapstick humor). These films very often have to be written very well in order to deliver their pizzaz effectively to audiences looking to get a good laugh in during a Monday night after a miserable day at work :D They also very typically have bright, happy-go-lucky-looking mise-en scene along with a happy ending. To make this job easier, a ton of comedy films rarely integrate complex plots or themes into their narratives since the main focus is mostly in the writing and all the pizzaz that comes from that hopefully clever writing!

One very good example of your good 'ol, good 'ol classic HAHAHHA I LAUGHED comedy has got to be one of the greatest films in all of human history, Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) :D The entire production is literally just about a guy skipping school with his girlfriend and best friend and it is such a fun watch.

Ferris Bueller (1986)

I myself have watched this film about 2 times and I enjoyed each time very much! In Ferris Bueller, it is also very clear that nothing very complex or insane was inserted into the simple story, as the main focus was definitely on just making audiences laugh through good writing and great characters! Ferris especially was a very fun protagonist to follow and he surely made everyone I know personally who watched it root for him :DD

Everybody including you, yes you Mr/Mrs. Cambridge examiner, go watch Ferris Bueller RIGHT NOW it is actually so peak here look at this super awesome poster right to your right and video right down below (BAHAHHA) this is totally not me shoving it in your face and begging you to watch it what ur insane

Bueller?... Bueller?.... Bueller???...

Now, if you take everything I just told you and make it a little bit more tragic, and a teeny tiny bit more complex, then you'll very much have yourself a dark comedy! :D 

okay wait I need to go to bed I'll see u tmrw cambridge goodnight

Haiii Cambridge I'm backkkk :D I slept really really awesome last night I freaking love junior privilege I went sleeping from 10pm alll the way to like 7:15 so refreshing 

OKAY BACK TO IT!

Alright so, what makes a dark comedy? A lot of you would probably think the same thing, "Oh! It's a comedy but kinda morbid and a lil tragic and kinda disturbing!" And yep, super awesome blog reader, if that sentence was similar to your thought process, then you are definitely spot on! To expand upon the definition more, according to IMDb, "the dark comedy subgenre, also known as black comedy, combines humor with elements of tragedy, morbidity, or darker themes. [This genre] often explores serious or taboo subjects, such as death, crime, dysfunction, and societal issues, while infusing these topics with humor to create an unusual and often thought-provoking contrast. The humor in dark comedies is typically edgy, satirical, and often unsettling, challenging traditional comedic norms." Dark comedy is essentially the type of comedy that'll leave you THINKING, thinking for a good while! I've seen a couple of films from this genre and I could definitely say that they are not your typical happy go lucky hahahahhah comedy. I mean, of course they have made me laugh, like a LOT, but at the same time there are always scenes tackling themes so profound that it leaves me just sitting there on my couch with my mouth wide open and my brain heavy with thoughts

A good example of a film that falls under the dark comedy genre and had the "holy shit that's deep" effect on me and probably many others, is Jojo Rabbit (2019)! I watched this movie a couple years back in 8th grade English class as during that time we were touching on the topics of WWll and the Holocaust. I had a great time throughout my viewing, so many scenes especially the ones where Jojo is talking with imagination Hitler were pretty funny.

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

I know talking to an imaginary evil dictator can be a bit dark, but I'd say it's surely the whole point of the film. Jojo was being influenced by Nazi Germany and that was represented very well through his commitment to the army and constantly having an imaginary Hitler on his shoulder guiding him. I'm only really scraping the surface here while talking about this film, but there are definitely so many more profound scenes, even darker than the implications of Jojo talking to imaginary friend Hitler, that are still burned into my brain and make me think a whole lot about the WWll time period and its effects on German society.

If you haven't watched Jojo Rabbit, do yourself a favor and check it out :D It's a fun and pretty heavy watch that I'm sure you'll enjoy, [insert name of whoever's reading this right now]. I might actually rewatch it myself since I think we haven't finished the entirety of the film back in the 8th grade..but I could be wrong, it was quite a long time ago. Either way, I'll definitely give it another viewing in the future :DDDDD

Jojo talking to imaginary Hitler ^^

Alrighty! My research here is done for now :D After looking into both a comedy and dark comedy, I've taken away some inspiration for what we can implement from these movies into our own production!

DA RESAERCH >:D: SOME TAKEAWAYS FOR OUR OWN SUPER AWESOME FILM!

Within our film, we would like to be hilarious and goofy while also tackling/critiquing serious subjects such as religion and power. So literally the perfect combination of Ferris Bueller and Jojo Rabbit! 

Otto is a happy, quite whimsical main character (as for now, her personality could change) that is sent out to do some seemingly silly tasks for a mysterious man who's totally not the devil called Annie Christopher who wants to spread around his new religion. We still have yet to flesh out the entire story, but I'd like the rising action of the narrative to just be Otto completing her ridiculous tasks for Christopher like handing out fliers, making altars, and spreading his religion and portray it in a funny, silly goofy way, since obviously Otto is new to this type of stuff and will come off as clueless and clumsy while carrying out Christopher's bidding. 

Throughout this entire portion of the story, I'd also like Christopher to talk to Otto in a way, maybe through just a voiceover of Joaquin (who's playing Annie Christopher duh who else). 

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

This will be similar to how Jojo talks to imaginary Hitler. Even though it isn't the real Hitler he's talking to, it still comes off as dark and disturbing at times since Hitler was literally a tyrannical dictator that destroyed Germany in so many more ways than one, and an imaginary version of himself is shown to be essentially controlling and guiding a child to serve Nazi Germany. The difference here though is that Otto is talking to the actual devil, and he isn't imaginary or anything, he's a real guy manipulating her more and more as   the story goes on which arguably makes it even more dark. We're seeing Otto communicating with an evil, disguised, supernatural being as she is blindly carrying out his tasks to receive power, which comes off as goofy ahahhahahahh at first but will get more and more out of control and dangerous as it goes on :DD

In the end of our film, we would also like to portray Otto's insane journey of following the devil to receive power as ultimately worthless. This will be a critique of religion/power in a way, which will be more developed by our main writer Joaquin, but in basic terms, the entirety of our film is just saying "using religion as a means of exerting power is kinda silly and dumb lmao lmao lmao lolll" which will also successfully follow the dark comedy convention of including/commenting on serious topics and themes that affect the real world everryyy singllee day! Wahoo!!

So yeah, those are all my main takeaways! Thank you Ferris and Jojo for giving inspiration! :DD 

 I genuinely cannot wait until we have every single part of the story fleshed out and I think I'm going to really have fun not only acting in this film but making/developing the characters as well, that was surely one of my favorite parts from last year :]] Be prepared for ten quatrillion drawings of Otto and Annie Christopher coming at you in future blog posts!! And be prepared for even more research on some crazy ahh, goofy ahh pieces of media! I am SO excited to research some of these and yap all about it to you guys, IT'S GONNA BE SO FUN I LOVE EVERYTHING THAT I'M ABOUT TO RESEARCH A HEALTHY AMOUNT AHAHAHHAHAHAH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHHAAHAHAHAH AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH

oki cya later I must go now :D

CITATIONS:

Dark Comedy - IMDb. (2024b). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/interest/in0000035/

Movieclips. (2011). Bueller? - Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1/3) Movie CLIP (1986) HD. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6f1MKpLGM

MovieTime. (2020, February 4). Jojo Rabbit / Opening Scene (Heil Me, Man). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQGx6i7tAfA

MovieTime. (

Me when I spend time to think about time

 guys have I ever mentioned just how excited I am to get this thang going

CAMBRIDGE I AM EXCITED. 

"Hi excited, I'm Cambridge!", I'm sure you just thought about that, examiner. In that case, HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHA you are SO funny HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAiamsotiredandconstantlycountingdownthedaysuntilsummer

I hope you're having a good day, examiner! Or whoever's reading this right now :DD I had a pretty dang awesome day! I blogged a ton, watched a movie called Solo Mio with my fam at the theater (LITERALLY THE BEST ROMANCE I'VE SEEN YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW), and ate some bomb ass tacos :D

Speaking of bomb ass tacos, it's time I show to you all first the blogging schedule to get a good idea of what we're supposed to put on here every week and the super epic amazing awesome schedule I crafted for my group :] This is a very accurate representation of the next two months of our lives!

how we be moving lately

THE BLOGGING SCHEDULE CRAFTED BY THE ONE AND ONLY STOKOLOCHACHA:

Week One (2/17-2/22)

two postings

-posting #1 should introduce your project choice for A level

-posting #2 should be a project schedule/timeline (what you wish to accomplish each week)

Week Two (2/23-3/1)

four postings

-one post on chosen genre research

-three posts researching real media texts of the same genre (discuss at least two media texts within each post)


Week Three (3/2-3/8)

four postings

-one post should focus researching social media pages for content similar to your project/genre choices

-two postings should reflect research or planning (outlines, layout drawings, storyboards, shooting schedules, etc)

-one post should summarize the group meeting

Week Four (3/9-3/15)

three postings

-each postings should reflect detailed planning (outlines, layout drawings, storyboards, shooting schedules, etc.) and/or production processes


Week Five (3/16-3/22) – this is Spring break – plan accordingly

three postings

-two postings should reflect production process, reflection on key moments, changes to project (why), etc.

-one posting should reflect research on print components similar to your project choice/genre


Week Six(3/23-3/29)

three postings

-posting should reflect production process, reflection on key moments, changes to project (why), etc.

-begin researching/planning for Critical Reflection


Week Seven (3/30-4/5)

three postings

-posting should reflect production process, reflection on key moments, changes to project (why), etc.

-Researching/planning for Critical Reflection


Week Eight (4/6-4/10)

three postings

-one post reflecting final, reflective comments

-one post must be a link to or embedded A level project (all components) with short textual reflection/introduction

-one post must be the Critical Reflection for A level project

THE SUPA AWESOME PORTFOLIO PROJECT SCHEDULE CRAFTED BY EMI VALDIVIA!

Week One: 

-Choose package and genre

-Plan schedule for the next couple weeks

-Assign roles to group members

-Begin developing plot for film

Week Two:

-Research genre

-Research real media texts of same genre

-Develop characters

-Begin script

-Develop filming and editing schedule

Week Three:

-Create shot-list

-Begin storyboard

-Research social media pages similar to genre

-Begin planning for social media component

-Begin production

Week Four:

-Continue production for film portion

-Document production for blog

-Post to social media

-Begin print component

Week Five (spring break!!):

-Continue production for film portion if needed

-Begin editing

-Continue social media postings

-Continue print component

Week Six:

-Continue and lock in on post production for film portion

-Finalize social media

-Finalize print component

Week Seven:

-Finalize the film portion! Wahoo!

-Research for Critical Reflection

-Begin Critical Reflection

-Finalize print and social media components if needed

Week Eight:

-Lock in on Critical Reflection

-Reflect Reflect Reflect Reflect!

-Submit all portions of project to blog

-YAY!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phew okay I'm back!! :D Just now I decided to make some edits to weeks 2 and 3

since my group and I are moving pretty fast and would like to get this project off the ground pretty soon :]

Why is my text nearly going off the page what the freakbob

ok we're just gonna deal with it

So yeah! When talking to my group I feel the absolute ambition oozing out of all of them (myself included)

But in order to really bring out and execute that ambition well we're gonna have to lock in with this schedule

and follow it accordingly so nothing falls behind! Procrastination? I DO NOT KNOW HER!! WE DO NOT

KNOW HER!!!

We want to have plenty of time to film and plenty of time around the end the project (weeks 6-8) to handle post prod

and the other components of the package (print and social media) so we don't feel like our butts are on fire by

week 9! Knowing myself and my group, we should be fine :] We will get this film out to you all and we will

make it the absolute best it can be :D! Thank you blog and project schedule for existing and being our guides

for the next 60-ish days of our lives!

Alrighty everybody, I gotta start heading down to eat some breakfast! Or..should I say brunch cause I woke up

kinda sorta like 40 mins ago? (it's currently 11:37am :D) I think I'll call it brunch :D OKAY IM SO HUNGRY

GOTTA GO BOOYAH BOOYAH BOOYAHH!

Sayonara amigos, have an amazing rest of your Sunday :]