Post 3a: Target Progress

Target Progress

In June, I had to set myself five targets which would were, 1.to keep a well organized folder of class notes. 2. To extend my knowledge range of media terms and vocabulary in preparation for my exam. 3. To further my knowledge of the edit suit. 4. To could involved with class discussion and to give my input regularly as this would further my learning. 5. To meet all deadlines in order to get feedback on the work and this will enable me to complete to a higher standard.

Target 1 - Organized Folder
I feel that since I have started this course, my organization skills have significantly improved and this has reflected in my work. The fact that i can find work to read up on/look back on is a good results as last year this was a point in which I let my self down and i am not willing for this to happen this year

Target 2 – Extend Knowledge of Media Terms and Vocabulary
it was clear to me that last year I came across as the kind of student who just does the bare minimum to pass. Over the summer holidays I had a meeting with my parents which concluded in me realizing that for what I want to do and the lifestyle I want to live I cannot afford to waste this crucial part of my life just ‘passing’ things, I need to go those few steps further and not only aim higher but actually achieve higher. So I am already trying to revise and extend my vocabulary and with input from teachers and parents as well as mainly pushing myself further to add this new knowledge into my writings, you should be able to notice the difference when compared to previous works that I have submitted.

I am very aware that I struggle with English literature and writing long complex pieces of work. I know this is what is needed to get the marks with any course and this one being no exception. So I am going to try as hard as I can to make sure my course work grades are as high as they can be before the exams.

Target 3 - Edit Suite
I have made it clear that I wish to further my knowledge with the edit suite and I still intend to do so. As of yet, I have not had the chance to do so but I am sure this will happen very soon as we will be creating our films in the not so distant future.

Target 4 - Class Discussion
Last year I did not have so much confidence in my Blogger, I did not have the will to do my own independent which could clearly be seen in the amount of class discussion that I got involved in. I know that there were many questions that I would have asked and that would have boosted my knowledge of the subject. This year it is as if I have turned over a new leaf and I am bursting with confidence and I will ask when ever I feel I need to. I love getting into class discussions and I know that my questioning helps the group as well as the quieter members of the class.

Target 5 - Deadlines

I feel that I have improved in how I meet the deadlines set as I am already having the time to correct mistakes that I make. This is because I am sticking to deadlines and giving myself the time to correct my work.

Although target 6 does not exist, I would like to set myself one anyway.

Target 6 – My Blogger Being IT Literate

Last year my Blog was just standard and boring. Again going back to me not pushing myself further. Although I must stress that the exam board has changed since as I was told that we were not aloud to have many pictures, videos colors etc on the blog. Well this year everything has changed and the more we use the better. So this year I am pushing myself to do more work on the presentation of the blog as well as just having the information on their. My aim is to improve the blogs use of colour using images and fonts as well as adding more evidence in the form of actual videos as opposed to video links.

To help me achieve these targets to the best of my ability, I will have to spend a significant amount of free time as well as class time to improve this as this is what will gain me the marks that I really need to achieve.

Post 8: Decisions & Revisions

Decisions & Revisions

Post 8 is requires us to h step of our thought process, the feedback that we received from other classmates and our media teacher. We also have to show the research we collated, and how we evand edfeffwhshow and evaluate our research in order to support the development of your character. We also have to show our basic plot outlines and character Profile.

The first step we went through in order to create ideas for our film was to; make notes on the11 main characteristics a film script should entail. These included;

World

Character

Problem

Want

Need

Obligation

Beginning

Middle

End

First turning point

Second turning point

We then had to show how how we could link all of the above to our film script. Initially I found the task developing my script a lot more challenging then I had originally anticipated. This

was partly due to the fact that I could not come up with any of my own ideas for the narrative to my film. I found that when ever I watched, analyzed, or reviewed a film, I involuntarily took in it was shot, therefore, when we were given the task to create our own film script, I could not come up with any of my own ideas. Having just watched the short film, ‘Signs’, I found that my thought process would sway toward the way in which Signs was made and produced, (wit

hout any verbal communication, just using ‘signs’). My idea finally came from events that have recently occurred in my life, giving me inspiration, and ideas as to what I could base my script on. This thought process then linked to other events and my idea for a script finally came together.

Post 7: Creating your own script.

Creating our own script:

For the first part of the lesson, our task was to talk about what and how we went about the previous day. This was the only information given which left us with a very broad point as to what we could say. It was interesting to hear how many people would only get up to 30 seconds before they had run out of things to say. We then had explained to us that t

his was due to the way we have been taught to only share information that we deemed relevant and think people would like to hear. This meant that actually 99% of how the entire day was left out and therefore we would run out of things to say with half the time left. The objective of this task was for us to learn exactly what to add, how to present it and to manage time correctly.

For the second part of the lesson we had to start the process of creating a script for a short film that we will be producing. So our first task was to have a class discussion about what sources would serve as a starting point for the film, and where we can find the inspiration from. The conclusion being; watching films that are relevant to the genre and narrative you wish to base a script on is very good as it gives you definite evidence that it the idea works and can be shown, but the issue with using secondary narrative is that it becomes very easy to unintentionally copy the story and this is ‘copy right’. A perfect example of this issue coming in to action is the last lesson we had as we had to watch a short film and analyse the narrative. The problem was that when it came to come up with and individual idea for my script, I found that the only ideas that I could think about were out of the short film ‘signs’.

There are also many other ways in which to gather information which could aid the production of a script. A few of these could be;

- The news

- Real world events

- Plain imagination

- Dreams

- Personal experience

- Memories

There are many more sources of information available, many of which branch off of those listed above.

Post 6: What makes a good short film?

What Makes A Good Short Film

During our class studies we were fortunate to have a visit from film industry producer Rebecca Knapp. She provided us with vital information and the key criteria of what is expected within industry (industry standard).  She explained exactly how to go about, and what to include, when producing a short film. It was extremely helpful for me to hear her experiences and advice and I have transfered her guidance and expertise for use in my own work.

An extract taken from Vision Picutres website about Rebecca knapp

http://visionpictures.org/our-people/directors/rebecca-knapp/

“Rebecca is an award-winning producer who has worked in film and television production on programmes ranging from drama to documentary to entertainment for over ten years.

Since graduating with an honours Law degree from Edinburgh University (specialising in Media Law and Intellectual Property), she produced six short films which won over 24 International awards and were nominated for three BAFTAs. She associate produced the BAFTA nominated feature film ROLLIN’ WITH THE NINES and produced POPCORN backed by Screen East and the UK Film Council.”

Rebecca's session began with a lively discussion about short films and exactly what significance and reasoning is behind them. We then discussed and addressed the many different kinds of short films that are out there. We took into consideration that the length of the film would not normally exceed 5 minutes and that the plot and the story line would have to be easily distinguishable within those 5 minutes. We went on to examine the purpose behind short films.

Why a Short Film?

The idea of a short is to showcase the producers ability and creativity to certain members within the media industry. The producer would also be looking for funding and may even be hosting a feature film, using the short as an incentive to further investigate the individuals potential.

When creating a short film, you are trying to entice and capture the mind of your audience within a short time period of around 5 minutes. Trying to create a complex story line with over complicated character plots would just cause the audience to misunderstand/misinterpret what is going on and could make the difference between a career and failure. We considered, the conventions surrounding the short film industry, and how to go about producing a short film which would fulfill strict criteria. 


Rebecca handed out a variety of different scripts and texts to read through and provide feedback to the rest of the class. We then gave our own personal opinion of what we thought of each script and text. These comments consisted of;

-         what we thought the outline of the play was about

-         how enjoyable it was for us to read it

-         whether we understood the script.

The two scripts were 'Donna' and 'Does God Play Football'. I chose to focus on 'Does God Play Football'. I found it easier reading but also, as a class, we came to the conclusion that Donna was not a very interesting piece of text. However, after watching the film, we discussed it again to see if our previous reactions on the script had changed.

Unlike when we watched the film Donna, our reactions changed after having read the script and watched the 'Does God Play Football', as it had much more dialogue and we all found ourselves being very attracted to the script and the short film. We covered questions like; what i think/thought of film, was it good to watch, is the storyline compelling, what was my favourite part, is there good use of music, etc?

Independent study tasks - Short films.

In the last part of the lesson we were asked to go and work on an Independent study task, to watch 5 different short films and talk about whether we thought they were "good" or not. Defining "good" in my own words, means whether the short films are easy to understand, whether the characters suit the narrative, does the music suit the film...


The first piece of work I did for my independent study task was to watch a short film called "STALKER" by Brett Driver and Clinton Jones. The film features a lone SAS soldier as he creeps his way around what initially looks like a deserted science laboratory. You follow his journey round the building, whilst the camera shots and the music creates suspense and really gives the audience the feeling that the soldier is being watched and "stalked". The scientists who are in the white radiation suits appearing to be looking for the soldier, effectively give the creepy edge to the film. However, when they hear a noise and they speak, it ruins the eerie effect. I was expecting them to be silent which kept them scary, rather than typical American voices which ruined it for me. I found that the overall narrative of this short film was understandable and I found that music along with the visual effects made a very pleasing first short film. 



The second short film we watched was "Lovefield" by Mathieu Ratthe. This film manipulatively plays on the senses. Mathieu states "that this film takes the audience on a roller-coaster ride of emotions." The use of the crow and its constant cry really build tension into the film, making the audience believe that a crime has just been committed, but the climax reveals something very different; Life! There are clear changes in the lighting from the beginning of the film and the end, when you see the baby. This enhances the tension and I would say that this is a very well made short thriller.




"Apricot" By Ben Briand, was the third film studied - a moving short about remembering and reminiscing. I researched into Ben Briand and his masterpiece 'Apricot', and found out that his film won the Vimeo award for best narrative, voted for by over 3 million people. It was credited for its none-traditional success not through film festivals but on the internet, gaining 300,000 views within a short time of release. 'Apricot' shows a montage of memories from the past and the exquisite imagery really helps to shape this into a heart moving short film.
http://www.campaignbrief.com/2010/09/ben-briands-apricot-one-of-the.html




The fourth film I watched was "Snap" by Manolo Celi. - For me this shirt film by Monalo Celi was not very interesting and although he has won many awards and is actually currently producing a feature film based on his recognition of this short film, this is still not enough me to personally like and understand this film. I found it difficult to understand why the both characters change throughout the chase scene and why a white tourist suddenly turns into a black African military looking guy. This film does have some very interesting camera shots and I do like the slow motion shots of the chased man having paint thrown upon him and this has given my some interesting ideas for my own short film.

The fifth and final short film that I watched was "Signs"

"Signs" is the final short film I looked at and overall this was my favorite. Patric Hughes took this film down a completely different route from the other films. He really shows the power of the 'written word' and the influence this alone can have on the viewer. The good acting, the perfect facial expressions, make this a very easy to watch, if predictable short film. The end scenes, when the characters meet on the street, had me debating how or what would be the first thing said. The fact that they start from scratch, and have it written, really makes Patrics short movie end in a warm, tingling feeling that leaves the viewer appreciating the morals and values of love.