Key: HL = Hyperlink to.
RED HL = General links (such as YouTube and earlier posts),
GREEN = Film Info (via IMDb),
Yellow = Info about... (e.g. director)
BLUE = Film Character's Info (via IMDb/Film's website)
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The planning which my group, and I did, helped the filming process much easier to do. We started off with an A4 piece of paper which we written down some very simple ideas for a plot for our preliminary task. We then started to think about which would be the best to film, and why it would be. This A4 piece of planning helped us to keep to our roots when filming and to make sure we didn't completely change our plot while filming. After we figured out what our preliminary task should be, we started to discuss the different camera angles we would use. After many suggestions about what camera angles to use and how they would be effective in our plot/story, we then started to talk about how our story boards should look like. The story boards we created where our backbone to fall upon when filming. This is because we had something to go by, and keep to. Although we changed a few things which weren't originally present on our story boards, we thought that the changes we made where a good thing.
The 180* Degree Rule
While filming, we had to be very careful about the 180degree rule. The 180degree rule is when 2 people (for example) are in the same scene and should always have the same left and right relationship to one another. If the camera crosses over an imaginary axis called "The Crossing Line", the opposite shot is called "The Revere Angle". This rule is very important and we had to consider it when filming our Preliminary Task. This is because if you brake this rule, your audience watching will feel confused as the characters or objects seem to appear in a different location. It is very important to keep to the 180degree rule so that your audience does not become confused. We successfully filmed our Preliminary Task without braking the 180degree rule as we thought about how and what camera angles would be used to prevent braking this important rule.
We used many different camera shots in our Preliminary Task. These included:
High Angle
Long Shot
Tilt Shot
Birds Eye View
Tracking Shot
Over the Shoulder
Close Up
Panning
We started our Preliminary Task film with a High Angle Tilt Shot which showed a long narrow hallway. This shot established the location so that the audience would understand where the scene takes place. The tilt angle wasn't originally in our story board. We agree that if we added the tilt it would add more variety to the mise-en-scene instead of using a slightly "dull" horizontal high angle shot. This shot would eventually pan while following the character in the scene. The second shot was a horizontal panning shot. This shot was used to give the audience a sense of the character to continue moving down the hallway but from a different location. After this shot, we cut to a tracking shot. We follow the character down the hallway until we get to the end. Myself then came up with a cleaver idea that "what would happen if someone comes round the corner, and we follow them instead?". We used this idea of mine, not to confuse the audience about what is happening, but instead try to add more variety and originality to our Preliminary Task. Now we follow our 2nd character. The 3rd shot was a Birds Eye View. This is to give the audience a sense of scale of the hallway and the location of the scene. The shots after our Birds Eye View where mainly Over The Shoulder and also a few Close Ups. These where used to make the conversation between the characters more fluent and interesting. It also adds an effect that the characters are nearly talking to the audience.
Our film was finally finished. We then had to capture it onto the computers and edit it. I learnt many things while taking part in filming and editing the film. When filming I learned that if we wanted our film to look professional we needed to have continuity with the costumes. Have continuity in our Preliminary Task, we needed to film some scenes twice as we didn't use the same clothes. I have learned that we need to plan what to wear next time when filming a media production. When editing, I learned how to use the school's editing software and how to capture the film onto the computer. After I became familiar with the software, editing was very simple to do.
In conclusion, I highly enjoyed creating our Preliminary Task and getting back into media production since high school. Working with people who I know (James Kent) and others who I've became friends with (Jessica Moy and Mandy Edmondson). I believe our production of the Preliminary Task was a great success due to our combined teamwork and effort.
This is our group's final edit for our Preliminary task. I edited the film in my own free time due to camera and computer problems in past lessons while at CNS (mentioned in previous posts). If this didn't occur we would of done 2 different edits by 2 group member's out of the 4, then compared and picked the best. The film got happily approved by the group members that this would be our final edit. It took about 90mins of my time to upload onto YouTube this weekend on the 22nd/Oct/2011.
Credits and Cast members - (In order of appearance):
Mandy Edmondson: Girl 1 (on phone)
Jessica Moy: Girl 2
Austen Nuttall (Me): Boy using Computer
James Kent: Cameraman
Today (10Th Oct 2011) we tried to capture and edit our film again. This time, successful!
We started to edit our film once capturing was complete. We found this rather difficult because we haven't used the software before. But once we got started we picked up speed eventually.
Capturing our film was finally finished at last, and we had nearly finished editing just before the lesson came to an end.
Today I had 2 hours free after our lesson for editing, so I decided to stay behind to finish editing and to add some titles to our Preliminary Task film, and before I knew it, editing was also finished
Now all we have to do is export the film and then upload it onto YouTube so that we can enable it onto my blog, and also my group member's blogs.
For the past few lessons the whole Media Studies group have been trying to capture our film onto a computer so we can start editing. However, some problems arose with capturing the film onto a P.C. as this is due to the fact that the other group broke a few cameras. This made work difficult to complete as there was only about 2 or 3 working cameras left for the whole of our Media Studies Group.
On top of this, many of the batteries started to run low and then finally ran out of power. Now the whole class only had 1 camera to work with. I suggested to Miss/our Teacher that at Lunch times before the lesson started which this occurred that someone, or even herself should charge the camera's batteries so they are ready to use and wouldn't then course any inconvenience. I hope this will be considered for future lessons as I am a bit disappointed that myself, my group, and most of the class suffered with this problem for nearly 2 hours without any alliterative work to do until the last half an hour or so.
On the bright side, once capturing is complete (which shouldn't take that long once we can get everything working) we can start to edit. Hopefully this will be in Tomorrow's lesson. If not, it shouldn't take that long to do. Once these problems have been overcome we will be on our way to editing our film for the Preliminary Task.
Today was pretty successful. We got all the filming done...again....due to the fact that Jess came in today with a different set of clothes. This means that if we used the footage we filmed last lesson and used it with this lessons film then Jess would of suddenly changed outfits half way throughout the film.
This has taught me that when filming, the actors need to wear the same clothing/outfits otherwise when we start filming, they could look a lot different to when we filmed last. We overcame this because today as we knew what, where, and how we would film our shots. We took in mind that the filming we did last time could be a "practice run through".
I think today's lesson went very well. We filmed all our shots however I believe that when it came to our conversation I believe that the filming could of taken less time as James wasn't that happy with what we filmed, so many outtakes arised.
Below are some camera shots/ angles which I will tend to use when it comes to my future productions in this Media Course. These angles/shots are very common in the media world.
High Angle
Low Angle
Over The Shoulder Shot
Tilt Shot
Long Shot
Medium Close Up
Close Up
Extreme Close Up
Bird's Eye View/Shot
"Worm's" Eye View/Shot
Point Of View
Panning Shot
Tracking Shot
Here are some stills which shows what each look like:
High Angle:
Low Angle:
Tilt Shot:
Long Shot:
Medium Close Up:
Extreme Close Up:
Bird's Eye View/Shot:
Point Of View (reflection shows 'point-of-view' effect):
"Worm's" Eye View/Shot:
Panning Shot
Following shots include:
Actor: Yannis
Relationship: School friend and work mate.
My GCSE Grades:
English C
English Literature D
Mathematics C
Art & Design C
Religious Studies C
Science C
Additional Science C
I.C.T. Pass (C)
Geography B
Media Studies B
Hobbies I enjoy:
Playing the piano. I can play many songs but the ones which people will recognize are:
Set Fire To The Rain, Turning Tables, Hometown Glory, Rolling In The Deep - Adele
Paparazzi - Lady Gaga
You Found Me - The Fray
Clocks - Coldplay
You Need Me I Dont Need You, Lego House - Ed Sheeran
Kids - MGMT
You're Beautiful - James Blunt
And many, many, many more!
(Below is a video below showing me playing my own interpretation of "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga on piano)
I can also play many theme tunes aswell. These include soundtracks from Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings aswell as many more. Below is the video of me playing "The White City of Gondor" from Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The most printed media I read has to be about the latest news on new upcoming movies such as The Hobbit, The Avengers, Kill Bill 3 (rumored) and also The Dark Knight Rises. I enjoy reading about what’s going on and when they will be released as movies. However, this is not really printed media I read. I like to read this information on the Internet as it is quicker, cheaper and also you can find out many opinions from other people.
I highly enjoy my music, as I can play the piano. I like to listen to musicians such as Adele who have that natural voice recording voice. I also like to listen to the following: Frank Turner, MGMT, Go Radio and also anything which has a good rhythm/beet to it. My music taste is rather “all over the place”.
I have a high opinion on illegally downloading content from websites and other programs via the internet for music. I believe that if a group, singer or a bang is “unpopular” or should I say, “Unknown to the world” then I believe that it is only right to pay for their songs and music. However, with big bands, singers and groups it is acceptable to a certain stage. What I mean by this is that if a musician has millions of hits and views/downloads for their songs then one or two illegal downloads is ok, but at some point the person who is doing this must pay for at least one thing as the popular musician has already made millions (money).
The music industry doesn’t have an influence on the way I dress, but maybe on the ways other people do. This is because they want to look like their idol or the latest pop star as some kind of escape from the world, you dress the same so that you can look like them, be like them, act like them. Musicians could also release their own fashion range too. This supports young people being able to wear clothes made by a certain artist or group.
There are other types of media I like such as video games. I own a PlayStation 3 (PS3). Some of my favourite games on PS3 are Star Wars the Force Unleashed series, uncharted series and lastly the Assassin’s Creed series. My all time favourite have to be Assassin’s Creed series which is based off some real events and people and also fictional, but my favourite is Assassin’s creed Brotherhood which is a game containing events which take place right after Assassin’s Creed 2 (this game is like version 2.3 in the story starting the series at game 1, and then going up to probably game 3) In this game you are a character called Desmond. He is around the age of 26, and is a “test subject”. However, this is not the only character you play as. Desmond is a family member of an Assassin called Ezio De Auditore. To do this Desmond must use a machine called The Animus. In this machine he can “re-live” as Ezio and view his memory’s as they have the same DNA. In the story of Assassin’s Creed series Ezio is fighting the Templars of the age but in the modern day world, Desmond is fighting the modern day Templars by using the memory’s of Ezio to find out history’s greatest secrets. In other words, the whole story of Assassin’s Creed is rather confusing. The only way to take in and understand it is to play the game in my opinion, but what I’ve said above should sum it up nicely.
Here's a trailer showing the upcoming Assassin's Creed Revelations:
Video games such as the Assassin’s Creed series can have a negative effect on people’s behaviour such as never going outside because they want to get to the next level, or maybe that if it’s a violent game then it leads fans of the game to create “weapon lookalikes” and show them off to people, some in which can be deadly if used wrongly, especially with all the new technologies we have today to make such things.
New technologies have changed the way we view and even use media in our world today. I believe that these new technologies such as The Internet and Mobile Phones/and other handheld tech. have all changed the way we view media. The Internet lets us view almost anything we want and in any way we want. On The Internet you can view videos on YouTube about the latest report, and you can also add them to your "favorites box" such as I do with comedy and interesting videos on my YouTube called "erestor629" for easy access. http://www.youtube.com/user/erestor629?feature=mhee
You can even read blogs about what’s happening in the world today to increase our understanding. Combining this with portable technologies it means that we can use and consume media almost anywhere with an Internet connection. The Internet isn’t the only way we can view media now. We have T.V. DVD’s, Blue Ray and other media devises which we can view content on.
The Internet isn’t the only way I like to view media; I also like to watch T.V. such as BBC 1 which holds many of my favourite T.V. shows. These include Miranda, Outnumbered, Doctor Who and Torchwood. I like this channel as the BBC doesn’t have any adverts during the shows they host on air. It can get very annoying when your watching a film shall we say on Film 4 and an advert appearing in the middle of the story.
My most favourite genre of television has to be either Comedy or Drama. This is because Comedy has a huge range from panel shows to stand up shows. I highly like these as they take very serious matters and make them understandably funny to take in and to catch up on the latest news. However, I also like Drama. Drama shows such as Spooks has to be my favourite show. It has everything which a brilliant T.V. show needs: Cliff-hangers, Story dramatically changes, Tension and many more twists.
The T.V programs I find the most memorable have to be for starters “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” This show I have to call has to be the bases of these new panel shows such as “Mock the Week”, “Nevermind the Buzzcocks” and also “Have I Got News for You”. The show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” stars 4 comedians in total and a panel host. In most episodes 2 of the comedians are “the regulars” and the other 2 are guests. I like this format.
Here is some clips from episodes of "Whose Line Is It Anyways?" to give you a teaser to what it's like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sztkEfoXxsM&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKSyilX6k0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a55kjGzYem4&feature=related
If you'd like to watch "Whose Line Is It Anyway" on T.V. then it is on the channel:
"5 USA" on weekends at 12am.
Another show I find memorable has to be Doctor Who. Doctor Who has a different story each episode leading to a big massive season final near Xmas. It has a very unique style. The Doctor can regenerate 12 times which means that he can change his appearance before he dies. This means that many different actors can play The Doctor which gives this Character so much to play with when writing stories and scripts for the show as each Doctor is never the same but holds small characteristics to the past Doctors. On top of this, he has many different companions to travel on his adventures with. With each new Doctor, he says goodbye to his past self and companion and says hello to the new him and a new companion. This could mean that Doctor Who can go on forever as its format is one of a kind.
Enough about my favourite shows on T.V, I also highly enjoy watching films. Some of my all time favourite films have to be the Star Wars saga, Kill Bill and also The Lord of the Rings. Star Wars has such an epic one of a kind story with a unique feel to it. George Lucas released episodes 4, 5 and 6 before episodes 1, 2 and 3. Never have I seen this done before, releasing the parts 4, 5 and 6 deliberately so that the new technologies can be used for 1, 2 and 3.
I myself am not a media producer in film. However, I did work experience at Epic Studios in Norwich. There, I looked on how they did auditions for an Internet fashion show called “Event Dog” (you may still be able to see it on the Internet today.) I helped out with a discussion at the end of the additions with the producers about who was good and who wasn’t so good. Also because they thought that it would be ideal that a young person should comment as the show was aimed at younger audiences into fashion.
Eventdog bringing a blend of live internet TV, direct from Epic Studios in Norwich. Using and supporting new local talent within music and fashion. - Eventdog, Twitter.
Even through the media have its benefits to the world by viewing it over the Internet, portable devices and other such means. It has its bad side to. Such as there can be more violence, racism involved which can be seen, also, if you’reat home everyday, all day on The Internet then you would lose your sense of time and that you would/might gain weight as you’re not doing any sports.
Taking this into account if I had to create a piece of media I would do a film with a message about what the future may hold for people who use media in their everyday life via a phone, IPad, MP3 Player and the Internet. How it will affect their life and their living health by keep looking at screens for most of their life.
I have chosen media studies as an A-level subject because I highly enjoyed media studies at GCSE. I got a B grade at GSCEs and I thought that I should continue doing something I like and enjoy as well because I got a good grade for it. On the other hand, I also wanted to do Media Studies as a subject because it fits well with my other A-levels which are Animation, Photography and lastly Business Studies. I believe that this mix mach of subjects fits very well together as a whole and will lead me into the world of media.
