Blitz

Can I just say that my hands are still shaking whilst I type this. Did no one think to warn me about the end of the following video? Did you think my nerves could take it? Because they can't.





Besides the fact that my heart is now in my stomach, this was an absolutely brilliant film opening. I did not see the twist at the end coming and I really loved the panning of the room to allow us to soak up the scene and get a feel for what we were about to see.
I also really like the bit with the torch. There was no artificial lighting for the camera to be clear; the simplicity of the torch was perfect and gave it a really eery feel with the diagetic lighting. I should have taken that as the first sign that this was going to get very scary, very fast but no. I thought I could handle it.
I also noticed that throughout the whole video, light was a major element that they manipulated and played around with for effect. Obviously the torch being one, the other that I really liked was how they used lights to make shadows - when the adult-like silhouette came into the shot it created the effect that something scary was going to happen, and they definitely followed through!
But the best thing about this video was the end -not in a nasty way, just that when "B L I T Z." came up in typewriter font (very nice) and on the top left hand corner flashed a picture of the scary girl whilst the bottom right hand corner featured the scared man. Little bit of juxtaposition there. Very nice, very nice.
Just to add: REALLY not a fan of the scary little girl giggle at the end. That's what nightmares are made of.

However, all round fantastic opening to which I would have awarded 9/10...

The reason for not giving full: I don't like being scared.

Media family vlog (AWW)

And so, the vlog absolutely no one has been waiting for:




I just love how we look like a really cute family and how you can hear the Carol singers that were in the station, which is just lovely and Christmassy.

Again, Josh makes himself look like even more of a weirdo by being silent the whole time and then randomly informing us that "there's a cat there"... We promise he's lovely. (ish).

Solo Vlog

Got the flip this week (WHICH I WILL ACTUALLY CHARGE FOR OUR FILMING SESSION COUGH ATHENA COUGH) so I decided to vlog and update everyone. When I say everyone, I mean Miss Foster and possibly the examiner.

Note: If you hate the word "essentially", please don't even bother watching... I over-use it and for that I apologise.


Also, I got vlog-block half way through, so again, apologies.
(Vlog-block is where you go blank mid-vlog).

Vlog: STRANGER DANGER

Here is the vlog Athena, Josh and I did after our successful filming session.

Apologies for the giggles mid-vlog but there was an oriental man on the train laughing and waving at us the whole way through and his face just dropped as it pulled out of the station and he realised he had to leave us. Face = priceless. Wish we had gotten it on camera.
 Josh is lovely really, don't be alarmed by the weird hand movement and the weird position at the start... Or by my strange laugh...

Update!!

Miss Foster was getting a bit stressed with everyone so she asked us to do a blog to update her on how we're doing.


We all look a bit dazed so please excuse us.

Time Lapse!!

We edited some of the shots we got on Friday with Josh. We want lots more of these shots for our time lapse sequence. It's really short thus far but we're working on it.. Patience is a virtue.




Lucy, Athena and I all really like how choppy it is, it gives the whole clip a sinister feel which links with the film/plot. We shall be adding music later but remember that the idea is that when the clips change, the music changes. Exciting times.

(See if you can spot our subtle stranger!!)

(You won't win anything but just have a go.)

Deadlines and weird names for babies

I may or may not have just been sitting here for 3 minutes trying to find the "retweet" button so I could "retweet" Miss Foster's last post about deadlines and what not... Twitter is ruining my life but at least I can guarantee my parents that I would be calling my child Hashtag.

(OMG, did you see that in the news? Apologies for using the Sun, but the Guardian got a bit too serious for my liking. The Sun brightened up my day and informed me that there some people in this world who have absolutely no shame and will hold their head up high when they write "Like" or "Hashtag" on their poor child's birth certificate: The Sun's Article about baby Hashtag. And I am not going to lie, I laughed for approximately 2 minutes). 

This is all besides the point. What I wanted to post here before I got distracted was the IMPORTANT DATES FOR MY MEDIA DEADLINES. You'd think that would take precedent over the pointless things on my mind but you're wrong. 

SO.

Final deadline for group films (edited with sound and titles): 

Friday 15th March 2013

Final deadline for blogs (with evaluations, prelims, films): 

Friday 10th May 2013

Exam day (good job I'm not superstitious) : 

Monday 13th May 2013. 

Fun, fun, fun.

Proof of filming!

On Friday, Athena and I took our extra , Josh, on a little trip to the underground and got some really cool shots. The 'subtle stranger' is really coming together.. Very pleased!!

Here's proof we actually filmed; more will be with you tomorrow:

Se7en

On Wednesday, we watched the film Se7en; with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.
I really liked the film as a whole, though I was disappointed with the ending..

This is the opening sequence:



As the film plot unravelled, we learnt that the strange things we see in the title sequence are related to the film. For example, in the credits, we see someone shaving the skin off of their fingertips. Towards the end, the audience is informed that the killer has been doing exactly that to prevent any fingerprints being found while he is murdering... Very effective method.. I guess.

Mac One Fun

Mini Film

I was away on Friday but my beloved team mates put together a little clip of the shots we liked when we filmed last Wednesday. They quickened up the shots of me on the train.. I'm not sure if I like it but we're pretty confident that we'll get the shots we love soon. All of the foot shots are brilliant, if I say so myself.

This is my favourite shot from filming session!

Minibus Vlog!

Due to YouTube being a fussy little thing, this vlog comes to you late.. We apologise.

Miss Foster so kindly gave us a lift up to Oakwood station where our filming journey began. After topping up our oysters we set off on the quest to film our shots for our 2 minute opening.

Exciting times.

Pitch Vlog!!!

The most anticipated vlog of the 21st century..............

As you can see, the vlog is a mid-shot to show that all of us are of equal importance in the quest of passing Media AS with flying colours.....
There is no 'I' in 'TEAM'!

Update!

Just a quick little update regarding our film idea! We pitched our plans to Miss Foster last Friday but forgot to film it.. Bearing in mind we're Media Students, this was really stupid!

But alas, we are fixing this and instead of straining your eyes trying to see our idea come to life, we're filming it tomorrow lunch time.

SO. Here's our written doodles we have been adding to for the past few weeks.
Good luck to you if you can read it, if not, stay tuned for the vlog!

Just to keep everyone in the loop; Lucy, Athena and I have decided to take the whole afternoon of tomorrow FOR MEDIA PURPOSES. Miss Foster has agreed and don't worry, we'll catch up with Mr a Saunder's work before Friday! 

The plan is to jump on the train at Oakwood and just surf the Piccadilly Line with our flip and shoot some of the shots we've been so eager to capture. Very exciting. 

(Your clue until the vlog tomorrow is that it is set on a train. OOOOHHHH!)

Esmerelda!

I know this is a music video but I really like it!
It's black and white (much to Miss Foster's appreciation) and it's so intriguing in the way that the whole video is backwards. The simplicity of it makes the video even more stunning.. But maybe I'm biased because I'm a huge Ben Howard fan!!

However, there is a couple of shots of Ben smoking; Miss Foster, tell him he isn't cool!!

Seriously though, this would be a really good inspiration for a film.. Hmm!


(We already have our film idea so this is irrelevant really).

Blue Valentine

I just watched 'Blue Valentine' with Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.
It was a really great, simple, low-budget film with no particular story line or ending, which somehow made it excellent. I really recommend it!

The first two minutes: 
The opening two minutes of Blue Valentine had really simple credits; a black background with white font. This reflects the simplicity of the film really well. There is no music in the background; only the faint sound of a child calling out. 
After the first minute, the black screen goes to long shot of a little girl, calling out - this time the word she is shouting is audible - 'Megan' (her dog). The girl is slightly to the left of the shot, whilst the right is just grass. This gives the impression that the girl is alone and isolated. 

All of the shots used were quite simple; as was the music and the font of the credits. It shows that we don't have to put a whole story line or great acting skills into our two minute films for it to be successful. To be honest, I don't even think we need a story. If we execute our editing and shooting well enough, the context of the film won't matter. This has relaxed me somewhat.


(I couldn't find the first 2 minutes of the film, but here's the trailer!)

Flip Vlog

This is our blog after Friday's shooting with our shiny new equipment!

Filming!

This is a shot of the dolly shot we fashioned out of a trolley. Lots of laughs and a surprisingly good outcome. Will definitely be using this again if need be!

Practice Filming

After getting our equipment on Friday, Lucy, Athena and I went out into the big wide world (Enfield Town) to film some shots. Using the flip, we got an over the shoulder shot, some close-ups, tracking shots and zooming shots, as well as some others. We fashioned a dolly shot from a trolley, which we are very proud of.
Seeing as we didn't have a lesson today, we decided to edit yesterday (Tuesday) to meet the deadline of Friday. Lots of fun editing again, and Athena proposed that we use Intro by Alt-J as the soundtrack. Lucy and I loved it as soon as we heard it and we messed around and got it to fit with the film, which was something we hadn't done before - we had put music at the end of our prelim but for this one, we wanted the beats to fit what was happening.
Despite Miss Foster asking us to put the whole film in black and white, we did edit a few into sepia because we thought it looked a bit nicer. Our argument is "We're experimenting!!!!". But most of it is in black and white, which looks "sophisticated", as Miss Foster so adamantly believes - I think I'm a bit more impartial to sepia but have a look for yourselves:

The new iPod advert

I saw the new iPod advert today and it really intrigued me as to how they do it - looks so clever!

'Batman Begins'

I couldn't find the clip Mr Saunders showed us in class yesterday, but it was on the opening scene of 'Batman Begins', where Bruce Wayne (Batman, in case you didn't know) and Rachel (his lady-friend) are children, playing in the garden of Wayne Manor. 

Mise-en-scene in 'Batman Begins'.
We all got asked to comment on different elements of Mise-en-scene and apply it to 'Batman Begins'. I wrote about lighting; what it presents and how it is effective. So, here we go!


       At the very start of the clip we were shown, the 'DC Comics' logo was shown in a really grey and dull lighting. This could foreshadow that the film is going to be quite dark; not following the usual superhero* conventions of hero defeating the bad guy. This sets the tone of the film, and without realizing why, the audience are already hooked; anxious to see how the film unfolds.
      Lighting is used to create tension. In the opening seconds, the scene in the greenhouse where Rachel and Bruce are is diagetic lighting which gives the scene a sense of normality. The effect of this is that the audience do not suspect that anything bad will happen.It also suggests an innocence about the children; as well as their age. However, this quickly changes when the boy, Bruce, falls into the well. It is underground, so naturally there is minimal light. The limited lighting suggests a loss of hope for Bruce, creating tension for the audience. Rachel then runs to the house for help. The house is shown in a higher key light than the well, which can signify hope. However, the sky behind the house is dark which could foreshadow that something bad is going to happen. These juxtaposing ideas create tension for the audience. 
      Towards the end of the clip, Bruce Wayne is shown as a grown man. Half of his face is in the darkness while the other half is visible due to the diagetic light. This effect is really impressive because it shows that Bruce has a past that still haunts him.


*if you believe Batman is a superhero that is... The definition of superhero is "A benevolent fictional character with superhuman powers" - Bruce Wayne doesn't have superhuman powers, he has a wallet. That is all.


(I tried to vlog but was let down by my technical equipment - apologies)

Editing Vlog!

Another little vlog for you all, but this time it is about the editing process of our Prelim. Enjoy!

It's finally here!

After the stress of writing a script and whether or not OFSTED were going to be in on our filming, our much awaited Preliminary video is here! *applaud*



The fact that this will forever be on YouTube deeply saddens me, but these are the sacrifices Media Students must make.

Prelim Vlog!

This is a bit late, but we'll blame that on technical difficulties..
Prelim Vlog.. Enjoy!

Perks of Being a Wallflower

I went to see the Perks of Being a Wallflower on Saturday!
With it being my favourite book of all time, I was actually nervous to see it. I think its because it was the first book I read that didn't end how I expected it to. I just didn't know how it would transcend onto the big screen and I didn't want it to be ruined.

But sweet baby Jesus, it was actually perfect. SO well done! It was like seeing my child go out into the world for the first time. Not too sure whether it's just a rose-tinted glasses thing but it really was a spectacular adaptation. Stephen Chbosky should feel very proud. (Soppy Alice).

Moving on to the media side of things...
(I may give things away here, so if you haven't read the book or seen the film; A - shame on you and B - look away now).

When Charlie was experiencing drugs, the audience saw the world from his perspective. I'm not too sure what the technique is called but it was like people were moving really slowly, and you could see their silhouettes. Really disorientating, but very effective.

Also, at the end of the film, Charlie had a breakdown. The audience saw a series of very quick flashbacks of Charlie's childhood which was really effective, because personally, it made me feel quite dizzy. I'm assuming that was the aim because my cousin felt the same. Also, because Charlie was a 15/16 year old boy going through the struggles of High School, he can be related to, so all that he goes through and the emotions he feels, is, I'm guessing, supposed to be accessible to teenagers.

Lots of close-ups are used on Charlie's (beautiful) face as he is the main character. Also, if you read the book or see the film, you'll quickly learn that he is a very emotional boy. He is a 'wallflower' - he takes everything in whilst sitting on the sidelines. These close-ups allowed the audience to see these emotions, making me cry loads.

In the fight scene in the cafeteria, the audience don't actually see all of it because Charlie blocks it out of his memory. The screen flashes black a few times and when vision has been regained, the scene we see is Patrick, Brad and Brad's friends all on the floor whilst Charlie looks at his battered knuckles, suggesting he hit them all to save Patrick. (I read the book so I knew what happened HA HA).Throughout the film after that, the flashbacks of the scene arise when Charlie is emotionally unstable again. As he remembers, the audience gets to see what really happened.


In conclusion it is SUCH A FANTASTIC BOOK/FILM! I recommend both!



Enjoy!

Moderator's Report - Summer 2012

Moderator's Report - Summer 2012
Below is the full moderator's report for our centre from Summer 2012 coursework unit:

"Thank you for your prompt submission of the centre’s entries for this series. The work was securely packaged, the central hub for the blogs was appreciated and the candidates’ blogs were easy to navigate, despite the additional examination related posts.The centre’s comments were clear and referred to the appropriate level and mark descriptors. Marking was in-line with what is considered to be the agreed national standard for this unit.In research and planning, there was a range of evidence in place for both the groups and the individuals.There was a clear ‘journey’ of progression from the brief to the evaluation across the sample, mainly due to the frequent blog posts. It was clear that the final moving image constructions were result of the detailed research and planning. Video-logs were strong across the sample and candidates posted regularly. It was felt that key concepts, like audience, could have been documented in more detail and the candidates should relate planning to their potential construction whenever possible. It is especially important to link all stages of planning and research when a group changes ‘concept’ midway through the process.
The video work made use of forms and conventions which made them clearly readable as openings to films within their chosen genre. Use of sound and the post-production titles were particularly strong from this centre. Editing was generally well considered to create meaning for the viewer. The centre correctly identified the professional film to some of the examples and how framing was successful in creating a cinematic feel. This led to the majority of the candidates falling well inside the Level 4 criteria.
In the evaluation element, all candidates responded to the seven stipulated questions showing an understanding of the key concepts, outcomes and the process of construction. A wide range of technologies was successfully employed. The mixture of video commentaries was explored here in detail. It may have been helpful for the centre to identify the different individual candidates in the group commentaries for the moderation process. Some candidates included outtakes of the evaluations, which although entertaining, was unnecessary for the moderating process.
Overall, it is clear that the candidates are well supported and that they responded positively to this. The centre has fully embraced the spirit of the specification. The video work made use of forms and conventions which made them clearly readable as openings to films within their chosen genre. Use of sound and the post-production titles were particularly strong from this centre. Editing was generally well considered to create meaning for the viewer. The centre correctly identified the professional film to some of the examples and how framing was successful in creating a cinematic feel. This led to the majority of the candidates falling well inside the Level 4 criteria.In the evaluation element, all candidates responded to the seven stipulated questions showing an understanding of the key concepts, outcomes and the process of construction. A wide range of technologies was successfully employed. The mixture of video commentaries was explored here in detail. It may have been helpful for the centre to identify the different individual candidates in the group commentaries for the moderation process. Some candidates included outtakes of the evaluations, which although entertaining, was unnecessary for the moderating process.Overall, it is clear that the candidates are well supported and that they responded positively to this. The centre has fully embraced the spirit of the specification. 

It was a pleasure to moderate such a well organsied centre. Thank you."


The examiner's report from last year. 
Very lovely stuff. Let's hope this year's AS can live up to last years!!
(We definitely will.) 
(We'll be even better.) 
(Totally not biased...)

Prelim stress: The Sequel

As if I wasn't already nervous/absolutely bricking it for our prelims tomorrow, I got told that OFSTED are coming in to observe tomorrow... Lets hope I don't fluff up my lines or get stage fright. (I'm definitely going to fluff up my lines AND get stage fright now...)

 Example of my face tomorrow..

Prelim stress

Why, oh why, did I volunteer to write out the script for our prelims?

I thought it would be easy with our idea (you shall see tomorrow what this is) but I was sadly mistaken.

It took me all of half an hour to write two little scripts for Athena and Lucy to choose from; both being shocking. 

I'm literally waiting for them to come back to me and tell me they're 'having to let me go' because they're so bad... But let's hope they don't....

Thought Boo's face was relevant...

Russell Howard's Good News

I went to see the filming of Russell Howard's Good News yesterday! It was lots of fun and Russell said he liked my laugh! (It went silent and I cackled, which he obviously heard). Quite embarrassing but a claim to fame I think..

Anyway, I got to see all of the big cameras and microphones used on the set and it really interested me. Seeing all the production team working and enjoying what they do was a real eye opener; it made me consider looking at TV Production as well as, or maybe even instead of Radio Production, which was my initial career choice.

We had to re-do a couple of jokes and sketches because of lighting and sound, which confused us all because we thought it sounded fine.. But it really intrigued me about how they do all of the technical stuff; hopefully I can get a basic idea from this Media course or if not, I know Brighton University have a great TV/Radio Production course. A lot of things were filmed out of order so the Tech team have a lot of editing to do, which I am quite interested in. I'll get a taste of the editing that we will have to do for our coursework with Miss Foster for out film openings, which is exciting.

As you can see above the audience was loads of technical objects of some sort. 
Somehow I don't think our group film openings will have the technology on this scale..!

Favourite Line

I really love the line 'Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get.' said by Tom Hanks' character Forrest Gump in the film of the same title. The simplicity gives the scene a mellow feeling, despite the powerful message. Throughtout the whole scene, the camera is zooming in on Tom Hanks, just before he has a flash back. The extreme close-up is used to focus on the character while he remembers a memory.

Writing about this and watching this clip has made me want to watch Forrest Gump again, so that's how I'll be spending my Saturday night.. Brilliant.

John Lewis advert

I keep seeing the John Lewis 'Never Knowingly Undersold' advert on the television and I absolutely love it.
From an inexperienced media student, I'm really eager to learn how the split screen is done - and how it is made to look so effortless.The music is brilliant as well - a new artist like Paloma Faith singing an old song really fits with the theme of the advert; new and old.
Also, as a sucker for anything romantic, I really like the portrayal of the love story between the two characters who are in different time periods. The subliminal message that the things that are important never change is lovely.

Who knew it was possible to like an advert so much?

My new bible..

ECS as and A2 Media Studies Course Booklet
 This is the course booklet which will now be very much a part of my life, how fantastic.
It has all I need to get that A at AS level, so if all goes well I can thank this digital bible of mine.

My first post! Aaaahhh!

This is a video from Miss Foster's blog we were asked to watch. It is a fantastic video on camera angles and movement which will help us throughout the course. Wasn't too keen on the Coldplay backing track though!