Previous work I haven't posted here yet

So far we have had 3 weeks worth of lessons, however I missed a few lessons out from my blog.

One of those lessons was when we looked at the differences between fonts and the image they are with. The two logos were of Buffy the Vampire slayer.

and Casino Royale

The two logos show the difference between the two genres very clearly. Buffy the vampire slayer is more of a gothic style logo, which portrays an evil that is presence in the show, further enforced by an underlining which is also part of an inverted cross, a sign of the devil. Where as Casino Royale features a sophisticated serif font which is positioned to use 007's name within the title, the soft shining blue colour of the text gives a sense of mystery and classiness which are both features of the character James Bond, the font in Buffy the vampire slayers logo also relates to the plot with the gothic style text dripping blood, an occurrence that naturally happens in vampire based films or shows.

Analysing Silent Hill

On Wednesday we all met up to analyse Silent Hill, we watched the first 10 minutes an analysed different parts of the film, such as Sound, Camera, Editing and Mise-en-scene. We rewatched the opening 3 times passing around the role of analysis, we then watched the film until the group had to leave to do other things. Through this we got to start our analysis and take them away, we assigned each person a role to type up an analysis, we gave that person our notes of that technique and will now combine that for our presentation on Friday.

Lesson reflection

In this week we have made a few devleopments on our analysis of The Terminator 2. We carried on analysing the film, I carried on writing about Mis-en-scene, how the clothing and lights effect the character and audiences perception. We watched the last 2 scenes, in one Sarah is in the caravan park collecting weapons, she sits down and begins to monologue her feelings and views on how the old Temrinator is now good, and also like a fatherly figure. During this scene she was wearing sun glasses, so I commented on how sh was hiding behind the glasses, possibly feeling insecure and confused, using the sunglasses to masqurade how she was watching the two play around. During the same scene she had a dream similar to her last, in which the playground she dreamed about is destroyed, and all the cildren in it and her self being killed by nuclear explosion, I commented on how intense the red flames and light were, showing the sheer power of the explosion.

Me and my group have also decided on the film we are going to analyse and our idea for the opening of a movie.

Examining shots

Certain shots in film can give details that otherwise would have to be given in words. An example of this is when a character is weak, shots of them are usually high, where as the powerful character will have the shot from below.

Above is a Point of view shot, the shot allows viewers to view the scene through the eyes of the character. In this shot the background is blurred and bright, showing it as an almost dream like scene. In focus is a shot of the gun being held by the character, most of the gun is in the dark or darker than the shot in front, giving the impression that this character has been in a fight to escape an area. The door in front of him is very bright, showing the character has finally escaped, walking into the light.

In this shot, the character looks menacing and powerful, this is an impression given from the style of shot, which is a worms eye shot. The character in the film would feel intimidated by this character, the audience would recognize him as the more powerful character. This can portray him as a bully in a school, shown by his clothing. However in the background there are soft purple colours of flowers. This can also show that the character may be good instead of bad, or have a good side. The light around his eyes contributes to the impression of him being the bad guy, being darker than the rest of his face.

This week

So far this week I've done a few tasks. Firstly I presented my Mis-en-scene about a Canon Eos 400D advert (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTADaUtdwvY)


I commented on various parts of the advert, mainly how the world is portrayed as a play ground. At the start of the advert a dozen people are sky diving down to earth. Each person lands in different locations, each different from the other, for example A man lands in a city while a Girl lands in a forest. This showed how the camera is built to be used anywhere by any one. The characters are all wearing casual clothing, further supporting the idea of usability. The lighting in the advert is pleasant and natural. It provides some nice scenery rather than putting anything in the limelight, this is because most people who want to start photography usually have the idea of taking photos of landscapes. However the varied locations show the camera is usable anywhere, landscape photography can be done in the forest, meanwhile in the city the camera can be used for street photography and urban photography.


I also created images in a group showing the different camera angles you can use in a film. We discussed how each one can be used to reveal details and inform watchers. For example an extreme close up can give the impression that the character is evil or sinister, however it can also be used to show emotions, such as a single tear dropping from someones eye. 


We also watched and discussed different films and genres. How a plot usually goes for each genre (stereo typically atleast) and what the cast consists of, such as how a comedy usually has one man or woman attempting to do something, such as win over a lover or complete a task but failing to do so in comedic ways. We analysed a few scenes from Terminator 2, in which we observed how the way James Cameron directed the film to show certain attributes to Sarah Connor, such as how one scene starts with her excersising, showing her as a strong woman, and how the light from the window is always on her through each scene, giving the impression she is the good character, the one chosen to save the day.
Aswell as that  we examined 3 trailers and talked about how we know what Genre each film was, such as how There's something about Mary was a comedy, shown in how the main characters are all put in funny situation, and how Gladiator was a historical epic, with all the fighting action and powerful speeches.


So all in all an eventful week so far.
Later 

As Media

Today I made my As media blog. I'll be using this to report my reflections over the year, I can see this being very useful.