I can't wait to share this film with you guys!
I will be putting my finished short film on youtube on Monday, and it will be available to watch from midday. I will post a link to the film on here.
Saturday, 7 February 2015
Interpreting Texts
During Wednesday's series of lectures, one of the other topics was how we interpret media texts. Matthew Hall, one the speakers, introduced me to the Stuart Hall's ideas about 'Encoding/Decoding' texts. Hall was a Jamaican cultural theorist and sociologist who was made famous for introducing this idea. So lets look at this idea; first of all when looking at a media text, we have to figure out what the dominant message is; what has the author encoded into the text? Next we have to think; what might be a negotiated interpretation? Basically, how does the audience decode the meaning, do they accept some of the author's intentions? Do they mis-interpret others? Finally we have consider what an oppositional or resistant interpretation is. How does the audience interpret the same text but generate an alternate meaning to that intended by the author?
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| Stuart Hall |
Thursday, 5 February 2015
Youth, Culture and Collective Identity
Yesterday I was at the 'Youth, Culture and Collective Identity' A-level study day at BFI Southbank. It was a day of lectures dedicated to our exam that we will doing in the Summer, and it was a very beneficial. The first section of lectures was on identity and collective identity.
We learnt about some important people to take note of, one of them being Jacques Lacan, a psychoanalyst who had developed a theory called the 'Mirror Stage', a stage at which child begins to develop their identity. Moving on from this, the lecturer (Matthew Hall) began to talk about psychoanalytic film theory and asked the question: how do we use the cinema and television as a 'mirror' to reinforce our identity? After this, Henry Jenkins was introduced, another theorist who believes that we need to interact in order to form our identity.
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| Jacques Lacan |
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| Henry Jenkins |
When we interact, our own identity is influenced by other people, also we may be interact and be heavily influenced by media representations. For example, if we see someone we really like in a film, we may aspire to be like them, and we may shape our identity to be like them. Other theories that exist are that we actively use these representations to reinforce our existing identity and show us how we should aspire to be, or we use media texts as a means to basis for collective identity (e.g Beliebers, TwiHards, Directioners).
Media trip!
The last two days have been awesome. Along with my media class, I spent two days in London doing some really fun stuff and attended an American youth study day at BFI Southbank on Wednesday. On the Tuesday I caught the 8:11am train from Spooner Row; the only train that stops there all day on the way to Norwich, yes, its a quiet place. We all met in Norwich and from there we got on the train heading directly to London Liverpool Street at 9am. Excitement was high and we were all looking forward to what lay ahead. We arrived in London and then got to the accommodation, dumping off our bags before heading out to Oxford Circus, where we took in the sights and sounds of the busy London street. The HMV there is crazy, I recommend it. After having possibly the best sandwich ever (6" Chipotle Chicken melt) from Subway, we all headed to the BBC where we went on an excellent tour of the news rooms and the BBC radio rooms.
The BBC news room was so lively. There was so much going on, and as we all stared down on the news room, the guide explained what actually goes on down there as well as talking about how news stories are verified and how the news presenters are journalists that work 12 hour shifts, working for hours on producing 75% of their own news report. I always just thought news presenters just read the news, but I was wrong; they are journalists themselves, not just news anchors. After this we hit up the BBC One Show studio, which was smaller than expected, and we were told about how its filmed and then we had the chance to sit down on the famous green sofa and get our photo taken. After this, we headed to the BBC radio 4 studio where bands such as Metallica, Coldplay and individual artists such as Justin Timberlake have recorded and performed to audiences. To finish off the tour, we were all taken through to a room where some microphones were set up; this is where BBC radio drama is recorded and as expected, we were able to act out and record our own radio drama. It was great fun and I learnt a lot of things that I did not know about the BBC. On the Tuesday evening, we headed out onto the dark and dingy backstreets of Whitechapel on a Jack the Ripper tour. This tour lasted around an hour and a half, and although it was bloody freezing, the tour guide made the trip extremely interesting and engaging. Being a great lover of history, it was fantastic to go on a tour and learn so much about the mysterious murders from someone called Jonny (like me), who has been studying the subject for 22 years! It was clear to see that he was an expert on the subject.
On the Wednesday morning we awoke to the comfort of a warm shower, unlimited coffee and unlimited croissants; score. After having far too much to eat, we headed off to the BFI for the American youth study day, which will I explain in depth in another post. After this, we headed to Camden Market to experience the excellent smells of exotic street food outlets and spend ages browsing through the various record shops. In the evening we caught the train back to Norwich and this excellent trip was drawn to a close. On the whole, the trip was really exciting and I learnt a lot of interesting stuff.
Anyway, today I'm back at school and the never ending grind of sixth form life can continue. Good day.
Sunday, 1 February 2015
More on camera angles
Earlier in this blog I looked at some basic camera angles which were the: worm's eye view, low angle, eye-level, high angle and bird's eye view angles. In this post I will be looking at another important camera angle that should be taken into consideration when making your own film, and it is quite common. First of all lets refresh our understanding of what camera angles are. Camera angles are the way that the camera is angled when filming takes place, and the job of a camera angle is to give emotional information to the audience, and guide the viewing audience with their judgement about the character or object thats in the shot. Heres an example for you; if there is a low angled shot of the main character, what we can draw from this shot is that the main character is dominant and powerful.
One of the key camera angles that I did not discuss in my earlier post was the angle known as the Dutch angle; otherwise known as the Dutch tilt, German angle or Oblique/Canted angle. To achieve this angle, the camera is not laid on a non-horizontal surface and therefore its on a sideways slant. This camera angle produces a sense that something is not right, because the camera shot is imbalanced and unstable, reflecting the situation on screen. This camera angle is often used in horror movies, in which scenes of uncertainty and pure horror need canted camera angles to further the scare factor.
One of the key camera angles that I did not discuss in my earlier post was the angle known as the Dutch angle; otherwise known as the Dutch tilt, German angle or Oblique/Canted angle. To achieve this angle, the camera is not laid on a non-horizontal surface and therefore its on a sideways slant. This camera angle produces a sense that something is not right, because the camera shot is imbalanced and unstable, reflecting the situation on screen. This camera angle is often used in horror movies, in which scenes of uncertainty and pure horror need canted camera angles to further the scare factor.
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| Above is an example of the Dutch angle. This looks like a typical scene from a horror film. |
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Hide and Seek
In this blog post I will completing a textual analysis of an existing A2 media short film called Hide and Seek, a film about a young girl who gets in a box, and to her surprise, goes back in time. Watch the film below:
Mise-en-scene
This film is set in a very life-like and normal everyday setting, someones back garden. For decades the garden has always been apart of most houses and it works as the perfect location in this film as one minute its a garden behind a modern day house that is the setting for a family get together on a sunny day and then the next, the garden plays host to a family from the time period of 1939 to 1945 (WW2 references are rife in this film). The garden setting works because it makes the film so much more realistic, simple and easy to make. If the director had chosen the house as the setting, the decor and maybe even the layout of the house would have been changed in between the two time periods, making it easier for continuity errors and small mistakes like seeing a 50" flatscreen TV in the sitting room of house from the 1940s.
Editing
The editing in this film works well. Slow-paced editing has been put to use and it makes the film flow and it makes it feel relaxed, and this certainly helps the film to fit in with the adventurous yet relaxing genre that this film falls in to.
Camera work
Looking at the camera shots and angles, there is an extensive use of close up shots of the girl as she goes on her adventure back in time. This use of close up shots helps us the get a sense of joy and excitement that the girl is experiencing as she goes back in time and discovers new sights, sounds and people.
Sound
When the film is set in the modern day at the beginning and at the end of the film, modern-music in the form of Robbie Williams is played in the background; this is non-diegetic music. This music helps create a feeling of happiness and excitement, as the girl explores the garden and finds the woven crate that she climbs into. However, when the girl steps out into the 1940s, you can hear old jazz-swing music playing in the background, the kind of music you would hear off an old gramophone record from that time period. This music is also uplifting and creates a sense of enjoyment and happiness once again, but it also, most importantly, sets the time period.
Mise-en-scene
This film is set in a very life-like and normal everyday setting, someones back garden. For decades the garden has always been apart of most houses and it works as the perfect location in this film as one minute its a garden behind a modern day house that is the setting for a family get together on a sunny day and then the next, the garden plays host to a family from the time period of 1939 to 1945 (WW2 references are rife in this film). The garden setting works because it makes the film so much more realistic, simple and easy to make. If the director had chosen the house as the setting, the decor and maybe even the layout of the house would have been changed in between the two time periods, making it easier for continuity errors and small mistakes like seeing a 50" flatscreen TV in the sitting room of house from the 1940s.
Editing
The editing in this film works well. Slow-paced editing has been put to use and it makes the film flow and it makes it feel relaxed, and this certainly helps the film to fit in with the adventurous yet relaxing genre that this film falls in to.
Camera work
Looking at the camera shots and angles, there is an extensive use of close up shots of the girl as she goes on her adventure back in time. This use of close up shots helps us the get a sense of joy and excitement that the girl is experiencing as she goes back in time and discovers new sights, sounds and people.
Sound
When the film is set in the modern day at the beginning and at the end of the film, modern-music in the form of Robbie Williams is played in the background; this is non-diegetic music. This music helps create a feeling of happiness and excitement, as the girl explores the garden and finds the woven crate that she climbs into. However, when the girl steps out into the 1940s, you can hear old jazz-swing music playing in the background, the kind of music you would hear off an old gramophone record from that time period. This music is also uplifting and creates a sense of enjoyment and happiness once again, but it also, most importantly, sets the time period.
'Stranded' - Alex La Riviere
For this post, I will analysing another existing A2 Media short film, this film being 'Stranded', a thriller produced by Alex La Riviere. I would say its one of the weaker existing A2 Media short films that I've seen, but its still a good example to look at to get a sense of the other films out there. Well what is this film about? Its about 3 girls who drive out into the middle of nowhere and then end up with their car breaking down on them. One by one, all 3 girls are taken away by a mysterious hooded murderer.
I will textually analyse this film by looking at the sound, editing and camera work. First of all you can watch this film below.
Editing
To reflect the intensity of the situation, quick-cut editing is used when the 2nd victim is attacked (at about 3:35). The girl is calling for her friend as she has gone missing and as soon as she turns around she meets her fate in the form of the hooded murderer as the screen goes black. This use of the quick cut edit reflects the brutal and sudden nature of the murder; as well as the girl being caught by surprise, we are also caught by surprise, leaving us on the edge of our seats.
Camera work
At the beginning of the film, a number of extreme wide shots are used to set the scene. This use of this type of shot establishes the location of the 3 girls, as well as showing the size of the landscape and also highlighting that they are in the middle of nowhere and they are very lost. When the the 3rd girl is attacked at the end of the film, a medium close up shot is used and it is filmed from the back of car on the inside and it shows the murderer and the shocked looking girl, before it cuts to black.
Sound
When the driving girl gets out of the car and goes off to get a signal for her mobile phone, dark and eerie non-diegetic sound begins to play in the background, making the viewing audience feel like something dreadful is going to occur. This background music leaves you feeling tense and makes your mind think scary thoughts. This is typical of most horror and psychological thriller films and in this film I would say it is not as effective but it is still there and therefore it makes it fit in with the genre.
Mise-en-scene
This film is set in the English countryside, and its supposed to look like its in the middle of nowhere but unfortunately in this film, there are plenty of sign posts and houses dotted around that the director of this film has clearly not seen, anyway, this remote location certainly reflects the feeling of loneliness and helplessness of the 3 girls who are stuck in the 'middle of nowhere'; I didn't know there were houses there to be honest, but I could be wrong.
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