Filming

Last week me, my group and Miss Foster all came to and understanding that the narrative of our film opening was not working. A spoof was very tricky to pull off and limited us to the amount of camera shots we could use. We have now decided to scrap our spoof idea and start completely from the beginning. We have thought of a few ideas, but nothing concrete yet. We are just trying to think of a good narrative that will also allow us to use a variety of shots and camera angles.

This is England

This is England, This is England 86 and This is England 88 are all written and directed by Shane Meadows. I admire the fact that Shane used the same actors to play the character in the movie and both TV series. This really makes the show look more like reality. I have never seen the movie, however Miss Foster has asked us to watch This is England 88 as it is on the television at the moment. I have heard a lot about the use of camera angles and shots that really make you feel as if your there and that the storyline is real. I am quite excited to watch This is England 88 and will be looking out for any shots I can use in my film opening.

Quentin Tarantino

Recently I have realized that I do not know much about the American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor Quentin Tarantino. The fact that he has so many different jobs shows alone that he has achieved so much and is very good at what he does. Some of the films he directed are Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill, Death Proof and Inglorious Basterds. At the age of 48 he has already directed many major films and has become extremely successful. As I am not to familiar with his work I am going to take some time to watch a few movies he has directed.

Se7en

Yesterday in media we watched the movie Se7en which is directed by David Fincher. Although this film has a brilliant narrative I was trying to focus more on camera shots and angles, which was extremely hard and this film really draws you in and engages you with the storyline. I did manage to pick out quite a few shots I think me and my group will use in our film opening. I noticed many close ups, extreme close ups, two shots, over the shoulder shots and extreme long shots which can all be used in my film opening. I noticed many aerial shots were used to set the scene which were brilliant, however I think this will be quite difficult to do for our film opening. I found this film great and although it was extremely scary the quality of shots were excellent and has reminded me of shots that I can use in my film opening.

Let the right one in

In media last week we watched the move Let the right one in, directed by Tomas Alfredson. Although the narrative was in swedish I found myself very engaged with the movie and thought the quality of shots were excellent. This movie was brilliantly directed and I like the use of parallel editing and focus pull. My favourite scene was of Oskar and Eli each staring out of their separate windows. To me that was a brilliant shot. I have noted the different types of shots and am looking forward to using them in my film opening.

Filming

Recently we have been having a bit of trouble with our filming. At first we thought we we doing fine, then realised our camera setting was not compatible with the macs in school so we could not upload our footage. At first we were all a bit angry that we would have to film again but now realise it was for the best as the second time round things went much smoother and we knew what we were doing.

This is a video that we came across when searching for ideas for our horror spoof film opening. We found this hilarious and it ties in well with our theme. This have given us a few ideas for filming and we think it is a good spoof.

This is a vlog that Miss Foster took of our group discussing what we will be doing for our film opening. We have had many ideas, but have decided on a horror spoof. We have storyboarded ideas and now cannot wait to start filming next week.

My collage of representation of gender in the media

Vlog

This is a vlog of me and Sanan reviewing what we have done this week in media and what ideas we have had for our film opening.

Glossary of terms for representation of age

Glossary of terms for the representation of age.

Positive	Youth	Old Age
	Hardworking	Caring
	Smart/ Adventurous	Funny
	Fun/Interesting	Polite/Traditional
	Open minded	Wise/Knowledgeable
	Energetic	Noble
	Able-Bodied / Strong	High standard of morals
	Sociable/ Active	Volatile/Authoritive
	Long Future ahead	Financially Stable
	Innocent	Emotionally Stable
Negative	Troublemakers	Grumpy
	Lazy/ Disrespectful	Arrogant
	Rude/Ignorant	Conceited
	Sex, Drugs and Violence/Alcohol	Forgetful/Ditzy
	Sexulised	Boring/Slow
	Volatile	High Standard of morals
	Smoking	Narrow Minded
	Selfish	Winging/complaining
	Teen Pregnancies/Asbos	Vulnerable/ Fragile
	Vulnerable/Naïve	Immotive
	Immature	DEpendent

Film opening ideas

      These are our 3 treatments in a 25 word pitch

       

     1. Scary thriller about friends who go camping but are met by an unexpected surprise; were they never told not to going into the woods alone?

     2.   Teen movie showing the unfortunate difficulties that life may bring, no one said growing up would be easy, as Sally finds out the hard way.

     3.    Everyone wants the perfect life and perfect family like Mollie Jackson, but behind closed doors is where the truth comes out and the heartache starts...

What we've learnt so far

here is a short video i recorded earlier that explains everything we've been learning in media since September.

My favourite TV drama promo

After hearing about this promo I decided to watch it and I think it is amazing. It is my favourite TV promo at the moment, and I wanted everyone to be able to see it. Enjoy!

Editing

Fade -  This is a transition to or from nothing from colour to black.In my scene there is a slow fade out which is a peaceful ending and the finish is shot is an Aerial shot

Editing

Unfortunately I could not but this clip, but the part I wanted was the limo driving off the bridge.
Slow motion is used here to make a fast action visible. Although it is only shown for a split second you can see that the crash has been slowed down to make it more visible and for dramatic effect.

Editing

Cutting - This clip shows a good use of shot reverse shot. This is when scenes are first shown from on characters point of view, then the others, then back to the first characters

Shot Angles

High Angle Shot - makes a character/object seem smaller and less significant

Low angle shots -  create a sense of confusion and powerlessness to the audience. The added height of the object/character may make it inspire fear and insecurity in the viewer, who is psychologically dominated by the figure on the screen

Camera Shots

Two Shot -  This is used to create a spatial relationship between two characters. Facial expressions, reactions and body language are all conveyed in this shot so that the audience is aware of relationships between characters.

Camera Shot

Aerial Shot  - This is a variation of a crane shot, which is usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning f a TV drama to show the setting and movement. The beginning of this video shows an Aerial Shot being used.

Camera Shots

Establishing Shot (ES) - This is usually a long shot or a extreme long shot used to set the scene at the beginning of a film/TV drama. Usually shows the setting

Camera Shots

Close up (CU) - This shows very little background. Close ups usually concentrate on a face or detail in the mise en scene. CU shots magnify the object to emphasise its importance.

Our Prelim!!!

                            
This is our prelim, I am so proud of my group and really happy with the final result. Although I am a little bit embarassed of my chin!!!

Camera Shots

Medium Shot (MS) - This shows a human figure from the knees or waist up. This is most commonly used in TV dramas to show enough of the character to see facial expressions and body

Our Prelim

In class yesterday we did our prelims, though it took us a lot of takes to master filming it was great fun and we got to do a lot of camera angles on the flip cam. I can't wait to get our flip cams this week and now I can't wait to make our film openings!!!

Match On Action

Match on action means that when something happens in a scene then when there is a cut the same piece of action must be going on. This is an example of continuity editing and is very important in helping the audience continually understand exactly what is happening.

ECS AS and A2 Media Studies Course Booklet

ECS as and A2 Media Studies Course Booklet

This is my media studies course booklet which I will be using a lot throught this year to help me with my media studies

In our last lesson we looked at some film openings from previous AS media students. We looked at hurtwood houses film openings and this one was my favourite.
They used good camera angles and I liked the shots of the man typing on the keyboard.
There were a few errors which I now know not to do in my groups film opening, but overall I liked the look of this film was my favourite

Blogging from my phone

Just seeing if I can blog from my phone

Hello everyone... first post for AS media!!