Filming Day 2

Today, with much appreciated permission from Mr George, we began filming our interview scene using the Photography equipment! The shots looked brilliant on camera as the lighting was perfect..
However, along with the problem that we did not have enough time in the Art Room to complete filming, we discovered that the buttons on our Flip were failing on us (nothing to do with us)!
Fortunately there's a spare Sony we're able to use and during the meantime, Miss Foster will be kindly letting us use her special, black Flip!



Note to self: Never leave your 'Rough Swedish Girl' make-up on around school as you will be asked if you've been crying or punched in the eye..

Paranormal Activity 3?

Was on my own downstairs around midnight Friday night, when something caught my eye from the corner of the room. Lilly May (Helga) has recently been bought this 'Fur Real Friend' toy cat - which evidently seems to be a bit too fur real..

Luckily I had my camera nearby to catch a - for me - quite scary clip.. the joys of surprise footage!



And you all thought the Media Room was weird..

Camera shots & Purpose

During our last Media lesson, we were processing the idea that some camera shots and movements were used for a direct purpose. I came across this (sort of humorous) parody to the new Harry Potter trailer and it instantly made me think of Media! It describes exactly what action is going on during the trailer, what affect it has on the audience (most of the time) and how it emphasises the greatness of the film - especially when the titles cut in between shots.

Obviously, once you've started A-Level Media, you'll never be able to watch a film as innocently as you once did..

Filming Archive: Day 1

Here's our (EXTREMELY diluted) version of the archiving produced during our first day of Filming!
For some reason the title's included in the video have decided to flip upside down or create fuzzy colours - this only happens when watching the film on YouTube. Unbelievably frustrating..

Our First (failed) Attempt at Tracking

Here's a short clip of the first of many attempts at tracking my feet during our first day of filming - if I remember rightly, we tried to use a magazine to create a smoother shot..

The Breakthrough of a Breakdown!

Recently, our group - Mac 1 - have been becoming pretty bored of our storyline for our 2 minute opening. Although we've come up with a fair few good shots to include in our film, we feel we've been missing the defining 'money shot' to strengthen our plot more..

As always (thankfully!), Miss Foster was bursting with ideas we could work on in the hope of achieving a grounded plot to base our opening around. The idea will ensure a little bit of grovelling to Mr George in order to use the white screen for the background, and the depiction of me being an even more mentally-distorted "albino" than I've already been portayed - however, the shot will highlight the main themes/connotations our opening should contain.

The scene pictured will begin to pinpoint the moment my Swedish character cracked and will hopefully leave the audience with some sort of imagination regarding the reasoning behind such a breakdown..

Snorricam

Despite the funny name, this complex device called the 'Snorricam' could potentially open a bunch of new doors for us regarding camera shots within our coursework; ultimately heightening our view of higher level grades!



We're currently planning (as a class on the whole) to create of these Saw-like contraptions - most probably depending on the supplies of B&Q..

I can just imagine my vertically challenged sister attempting to stand with one of those large frames attatched to her!

CLC Visit

Last Friday we all took a trip round the corner to the CLC; although we didn't really gain any extended knowledge of the program iMovie (at all), a funny little piece of footage was produced from one of the many items Miss Foster's Apple collection contains - the iPhone!

Especially love the slow, returning movement of Nada's phone..

Lilly May

Here's just a short, little video (please watch in 1080p HD) interviewing Lilly about her character, filming day and Mollie!



Excuse the outlandish behaviour towards the end of the clip - I don't know where she gets it from..

Practice Paper - 08/11/10

As promised, we were subjected to our seats to have our first go at a practice Section A paper within our lesson this morning; the question being, "Discuss the ways in which the extract (taken from Doctor Who) constructs representations of gender using the following: Camera shots, angles, movement and composition, Editing, Sound and Mise-en-scene.

Although the question seemed pretty straight forward, - especially seen as the clip held very obvious answers - the time allowance given became a bit of a strain on the brain, and towards the end of the mock exam it felt as though you'd become the crocodile in Peter Pan and could hear the clock constantly ticking from within!

I'm almost certain the teacher marking my paper won't be able to make out one word I've scribbled - my writing never seizes to amaze me under pressure..

Explicit or Implied?

After watching Se7en with the rest of the class on Friday, the lesson was concluded with the question: "Explicit or Implied?"

Many thriller and horror movies will have to ask the same question when filming - some may feel more shocked at the sight of gore and explicit images, whereas others may feel more affected by the use of implied footage. The creators of Se7en - in my eyes - made the right choice by deciding to withold a gruesome image of the character Mills's wife's severed head. By using the effect of an implied image, the audience could focus more on the absolute grief felt and conveyed by the detective instead of having to still overcome shock from seeing such a horrific clip; they could fabricate their own picture of the contents of the parcel - which may disturb viewers more than simply seeing inside.

In contrast however, films like Saw and - more realistically - shows like This is England '86 (sorry to mention it, again!) show extremely explicit images to emotionally connect with the audience. For example, an incredibly disturbing scene of sexual abuse was publicized on Channel 4 for This is England. In this case, the explicit footage shown would have affected each and every one of the thousands of viewers watching the programme; whether they were just a little shocked from the sight or pouring their hearts out and shouting violently at the screen as I did..

On the whole, different people will be affected by different styles of filming; some bloodthirsty viewers may yearn for the showing of a brutally tortured body in order to empathise with the character, wheras others may feel more affected by the implied idea - which can be interpreted as far-fetched or dramatically gory as their minds make it.

When will I, will I be famous?

Recently, we've been keeping track of our little practice videos we've uploaded on to YouTube.. weirdly enough, our most recent - most embarrassing - upload has gained quite a few views over the past week.

7th Nov - 266
9th Nov - 325
14th Nov - 401



Obviously a few of the views have come from various people in school, however we've realised the word 'smoking' in the title of the video has attracted a whole other group of YouTubers around the world - those who like admiring women who smoke.. Although we find the situation quite funny (as you would), we've disabled our comments to ensure we don't recieve any nasty posts calling us "mingers" - as nicely put as possible by Miss Foster!

Se7en

Half way through our Media lesson last Friday we were ordered to switch off our phones, take a seat and "prepare to be silent for the next hour & a half of our lives".. along with sighs of relief came the surprise that we were actually about to watch the film Se7en together!

The film was astoundingly intelligent; from the opening to ending credits the storyline kept everyone's minds churning, aswell as Mollie's body flipping out in ways never seen before..
It's clear to see this film set the standards for future phycological thrillers, such as the Saw series and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - standards which I don't really believe have been surpassed (yet!). The shots, camera angles and audio used in Se7en were brilliant in helping to create a dark atmosphere and just added to the amazing attributes of the entire film.




Although it could seem the shots were purely used to add effect, some of them were clearly put in place to add depth to the film and in one defining case, highlight the contrast between three characters in the penultimate scene..







The shots that only two out of the three characters in the final scene are focused on through the bars within the car is a hugely symbolic piece of footage - which only made the film more intellectually built!