ScreenR and Reflection of Creative Practice

As I mentioned in a previous post we had to write an essay about the thinking techniques we looked at in semester one. I found the essay a slightly hard experience as to what to write and how to write it to a university standard, however as my first academy essay, I am quite proud that I completed it. As well as this we also had to create a ScreenR, which is a website that allows you to talk into a microphone whilst recording what's happening on your screen. The ScreenR looked at what reflection is and why its important. We created a Prezi to show on the screen and spoke over it as the Prezi went through. I liked this as a way of presenting information, however I wasn't too kind on speaking into a mic as I hate my voice, but anyway here is my ScreenR for you to view:


Part 1 - http://www.screenr.com/8SQs
Part 2 - http://www.screenr.com/HSQs

Collective Intelligence Feedback

For my first uni assignment, the feedback was quite positive. I received a good mark for my first attempt at a wiki. The comments noted that links to other resources would have made the information stand out more and made it more understandable in the sense that it would have been put into context. This is something I can work on in future assignments, by branching out and finding other resources, rather than just stick to the specific text. The feedback comments also noted that the information is a little repetitive, this just means that I'll need to make sure to proofread my work before submission. There is also a note that while there are links placed in the threads, there are no comments about these links and what they mean in relation to the book. From this, if i am asked to create another wiki, I at least know what will be expected of me, to analyse the content, not just summarise and find out other peoples views on such a subject to make the information more diverse and less one sided. However this being my first uni assignment I am happy with my overall effort and achievement.

First Rough Edit and Retakes

We had our first rough cut viewing of our People on the Move Project and we got positive feedback, but the lecturers noted that we had too many long shots and so needed to re-shoot some cut away shots to make the film flow more. taking there advice we went out again filming and got some nice shots to add into the film. Editing was a hard process, it was the first time i had used such software and its not that complicated just quite awkward but it went quite well, and im sure as time goes on i'll become a pro at editing. I also found the rough cut experience a valuable one, its important to get feedback to be able to improve your film greatly. and once we'd made the chances, the lecturers commented that it was like a different film, which I was pleased to hear.

Film Language Class Test

The next assignment we had for Film Language was the class test. We were shown a ten minute extract from an extract twice. We didn't know what the extract was until the day, it was a scene from 'North by Northwest' directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Once we'd seen the scene we were given an hour to analyse it. I was really nervous about the test, I hadn't really critically analysed anything in a while and was hoping I could work to university standard, but after the test, i felt quite positive about the outcome, I did better than I thought I would.
A few weeks later we got the results back and i'm please to say that I got a mark of 65 (I think out of 100) I was really pleased with this, it meant i got a 2.1, only 5 marks of a first. The feedback commented that i would have gotten higher had i not made as many generalisations and taken more care over language. I'm hoping to take this into consideration for the next assignment we have for Film Language and hope to get an even better mark!

2nd brief for Contemporary Media Issues 'Play'

For our next brief in Contemporary Media Issues we were asked to work in pairs and design a play experience for people in the screen school building. The game could be digital, on a phone app or wall/floor based, there were many options to choose from and the goal of the game was up to us, whether it was competitive, a game of chance, a role play game, or even a game that was designed to develop certain skills. And so in this session me and my partner got thinking of different kinds of games there are and how we could play them around the building, we created a bubble map, using divergent thinking and then narrowed it down through convergent thinking. Here is the bubble map of ideas we had:

Finally we came to the conclusion of the creating a game based on snakes and ladders but instead called 'shoots and catapults'. The idea of the game was based on the fact that the building is very long and getting from one end to the other is an annoying process, and so we decided to play on this and make it a fun process instead. The idea was to have a competitive game between classmates to get from the entrance side of the building to the automatic, whoever got there first won. (we thought of different prices such as credits, free food from the cafe) Here is where 'shoots and catapults' came in, you had to go through each room in the corridor to advance, as you'd enter each room the interactive boards would activate and a lecturer would ask you a question in relation to there module, so it could be a question related to the rule of thirds or what mise-en-scene means. If you got the question right you would be catapulted to the next room, but if not, then you would shoot (like a slide) back to the previous room. 

And so that's the idea, here is the prezi we made to show the idea:

http://prezi.com/iziqtjpm3kbo/chutes-and-catapults/

Digital Tools - Stop Frame

Part of our digital tools was to create a one minute stop frame animation, it could be to do with anything and so in my group we came up with a number of idea's but we finally settled on something easy yet humorous. The story of a cutlery affair, it was like an episode of Hollyoaks. One of the group members drew up a story board for the story, here it is:

Once we had the story figured out it was time to create with my friend digital SLR camera, which was a long but hysterical experience. we had a lot of fun making the story come to life, moving the spoons and forks around step by step and with half a minute filmed by the time we finished the first day, we still had a lot left to shoot, but we would be able to narrow it down some way in the editing process. I'm really excited to get the animation finished and see the final product, I hope it will be something i'm proud of! :)


Here's some pictures of the process in action:

Lego Serious Play

I didn't know Lego Serious Play existed until we had a session for our creativity and concept class. And although it sounds silly, university students playing with Lego, it was a really fun, interesting and creative experience. Plato said 'You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation' and the Lego Serious Play workshop is designed to enhance businesses, making their teams more creative and open, especially when it comes to ideas as many are too scared to share as play is a simpler way to express yourself rather than conversation. And so for four hours we sat and played with Lego. But its more serious than that, we were asked to create towers and the only rule was that it had to be on a green base and a Lego man must be on the top. we came to find that the towers we created, represented us as people. I found from mine that I like things to be neat and organised and I like to be able to oversee everything, almost be in control. But I also like to set goals and reach them (represented by the ladder I stuck in the middle of one of my Lego creations)
I really liked the Lego Workshop, it was a fun way to become creative and learn things about ourselves, it felt like a safe environment to express ourselves and once we'd created these pieces we were asked to find a way to link them all together in relation to how a successful team would work, we then found that parts of making a successful team were missing such as the need for communication and so we all created a Lego piece to represent this. Once we were finished we added sticky notes to the models to show what they were to other groups and then went and looked at others, it was fun to see how other peoples minds work!
The experience taught us that not everything has to be literal and we can take whatever meaning we want from things and so the pictures below probably don't make sense to anyone else, but they do to me and my group..

Scene Analysis

For our first assignment in Film Language we were asked to analyse a 3-5 minute long sequence from a film. We were proved with grids to analyse the shots and there were specific things we had to analyse. Here's a PrintScreen of the grid to show you what we what we had to do:

For the analysis I chose to look at a scene from Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining'. I looked at the famous scene in which Jack (Jack Nicholson) breaks through the bathroom door and shouts 'Here's Johnny'. I liked the scene a lot, its why I choose it, however having to analyse every single shot, replaying each over and over again to fully understand it and find out all the relevant information was tedious and tiresome, it got very boring. However I was quite proud of work that I completed.

Reading Week - Filming

During reading week my production group took up the opportunity of the free time to start filming our 'People on the Move' film. This was the first time i'd filmed and used professional equipment and I was quite excited. Its not as glamorous as you'd think, a lot of standing around, re-shooting from multiple angles and walking around. However even with this, I really enjoyed it. I loved being on a 'set' so to speak and using the professional equipment and watching our film slowing become reality. and afterwards I was excited to edit and put the film together. Here are a few photo's of the filming in process:

Creativity Recap and Assignment

We have an assignment for Creativity and Concept in which we have to reflect on all the thinking techniques that we have looked at in the first semester. Too help us with this assignment we had a recap lesson in which we were put into groups and told to research a technique each and write about it on a big piece of paper. Once this was done we put them all on the wall for people to look at and take pictures to help them with there essay. This was a really helpful session, I hadn't been in for some of the classes and so I was able to see what I missed and take a picture of it for future reference when it came to my essay. Here are some pictures of the posters:

Digital Tools - Animation

In Digital Tools class we looked at an introduction to animation and the different types there are. whilst telling us about 'Stop Frame Animation' (Stop Motion) our lecturer showed us a video that we all found really interesting and enjoyable to watch, so here's the video for you to enjoy 'A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything':

MoFilm Workshop

For Creativity and Concept, the company MoFilm came in for a workshop. They're a company that help aspiring film makers create videos for companies and social issues, they help them get there work noticed and in some cases has led to ordinary people without media qualifications getting jobs in the industry. 
We were told to work in groups and given a brief in relation to and Indian newspaper: Hindustan Times. We were asked to create a short advert for the paper, to relate to their current campaign in which people will be seen doing something that is seen as wrong, only to be given a sharp hit on the back of the head with the newspaper to show them the error of their ways.
We only had that day to come up with the idea and get filming and so we started to throw idea's around such as excess consumption with like fast food places. we thought to film in McDonald's with someone eating a lot of food but finally we decided to focus on the lack of attention and communication people give nowadays thanks to modern technology. And so we had the idea of someone walking with their ipod in and using there phone, not paying attention to their surroundings, only to push a door that says pull and then get knocked out by the door when someone walks out from the opposite side. They are then knocked to the ground and given a swift whack to the head with the newspaper. we managed to film the advert, however we did not edit in time to enter the MoFilm competition the brief was for. However i will upload some clips to view.

Digital Tools - Sequential Imagery

During a Digital Media Tools session, we looked at sequential imagery and how its used to tell a story. You find sequential imagery in things such as comic books and the space between each image or 'the gutter' is used to allow the audience to make up for themselves what happens in-between the images. It can be quite hard to convey a story in a few words or just a few images, the wrong choice and you won't tell your story in the way you want to, or it won't have the same impact. However thinking about it, its a clever way to tell a story rather than a conventional book. We were given the example of Ernest Hemingway's flash fiction story, told in 6 simple words 'For sale: Baby shoes, never worn'. These simple words give the audience a basis for a story but there are many unanswered questions that the audience can fill in themselves, such as are they boy or girl shoes and why have they never been worn.
And so we were asked to tell our own story in 5 pictures. we worked in pairs, and in my pair we came up with the idea of someone being stuck in a lift, panicking but eventually being freed. We took many pictures and narrowing it down was quite hard, but here are the final 5 images we selected:













To look at the other sequences and pictures from our class, look at our flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljmu_lss/

Contemporary Media Issues 'Collective Intelligence' Assignment

Our first assignment for this module was to investigate in groups a specific text and the concepts behind the idea, exploring them in detail and creating a wiki to show our findings and understandings of the text. By each group creating a wiki on their findings it allows a shared platform for us all to access the information in a simple way My group was given the text 'A Theory of Fun' by Raph Koster (2004). In the book, Koster explores 'Why we find games fun?'

The book was available as an online PDF file and so instead of borrowing it from the University Library, I simply downloaded the file and was able to read the book from the comfort of my own home. I found the book quite engaging, it explored literally the 'theory of fun' and why people enjoy playing games, but was told in an almost child like manner, very visual, which made it more interesting to read, rather than staring at page after page of text. And I actually enjoyed learning why we are so competitive and driven by games, which made it a fun thing to talk about in our wiki.

On the wiki, we had a collective source of information as the main body of the text, about the book and the author and this finding. But we also linked off with threads. We had a number of threads, one looking at a review of the book, while another an interview with Koster and a brief history of his work. 

Overall I was quite pleased with our wiki, we found a lot of detailed information, however I wish we had developed it more and analysed his theory more, rather than just summarise it.

Here is a link to our wiki..

http://contemporarymediaissues.wetpaint.com/page/Theory+of+Fun

People on the move....

Our next assignment for Media Production is to create a 1.30-2.00 minute film, in which it changes locations. Our story is a love story with a twist and i'm excited to make and edit the film.
We also have a workshop, showing us how to use the standard professional camera's, and i'm looking forward to getting to shoot with them, to make our film look professional, especially as i've never used professional filming equipment before.

Story Board Feedback

We received feedback for our photo storyboard, the feedback was quite positive and the lecturers where happy with how our story turned out, they particularly liked the twist to the end of the story and they said that some of the shots really stood out and were framed well. However they told us to watch out for things such as focus as some of the photo's weren't as sharp as they should have been. This is just a lesson to take our time on the next project and make sure everything is perfect.
Below is my favourite shot from the story board, and one of the lecturers favourites also, I really like the composition and the actor (my friend Kayleigh) really shows the emotion the character would have been feeling as they angrily ran away from home -

Film Language - Antichrist

On Friday we watched a film looking at cinematography. The film was the 2009 arthouse-horror film 'Antichrist' by Lars von Trier. I don't know what to make of this film, while it was well shot, it was an odd, disturbing film that overall I didn't really enjoy. I found it hard to follow and some of the scenes weren't easy to watch.

Creating a Wiki

Today in Comtemporary Media Issues we were asked to bring in a media article. I brought in an article on TV and Social Networking and how they are becoming increasingly linked. The link for the article is below:


http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-10-06/xfactor-and-essex-is-social-media-shaping-our-tv-shows


We were then put into groups according to our articles subject area and asked to create a Wiki, linking all the articles together.
We found a common link of Reality TV and Social Networking in our articles but also how the media change our idea and perception of reality and how social networking is reshaping the TV format. To look at our Wiki, follow the below link:


http://contemporarymediaissues.wetpaint.com/page/TV

Production Practice

For my first assignment we had to create a photos storyboard in our production groups. For our story we came up with the plot of a runaway.
.... A mum and daughter have an argument and the daughter runs away, after a few days on the streets she realises she was wrong and goes back home... only for the mother to close the door on her and not allow her back.
To create this storyboard we first drew up each shot, to give us an idea of how we wanted each one to look and once we were agreed on the composition we were ready to shoot. One of my friends played the daughter and a group members sister played the mother. We took pictures around town for the runaway shot and in a group members house for the argument shots. 
I'm pleased with the way the storyboard turned out, some of the shots stand out well, however if we had more time i'd of liked to make it look more professional, by having the daughter change clothes and mess up her hair to show the change in time, but i like the twist at the end, it makes the story more interesting.

 

Digital Tools - Photoshop

This is the original image that I took.

This was my first attempt at editing the image using Photoshop. By changing the contrast, brightness, photo filter and other settings I was able to give the image a warm colouring, conveying the emotion people feel towards inanimate objects such as phones and Ipods.

This is the other edit I created. It has a more cool feel to it, to reflect the coldness of technology. 


This was the first time that i'd ever used Photoshop and i was surprised at how easy it was to use, i was quite proud that i was able to use a new software.

Memorable Item

For the second week of 'Comtemporary Media Issues' we were asked to bring in an item that was significant to us. I brought in my friendship ring, my best friend bought it for me, she has a matching one and we both wear them everyday as a reminder of our friendship.

Story Board Sketch

For media production we had to make a photo storyboard in our production groups. Before we could go out and shoot the photos we needed to create a sketch of what each shot would look like. These are my sketches:

Creativity and Concept...

What is creativity....

• Thinking outside the box
• Making the impossible... possible
• The past, present and future
• Dreams becoming reality

Our lesson on creativity and concept explored what creativity was, how it was defined.... and we were asked to come up with our own definitions of creativity. above are a few of mine.

Digital Tools.

One of our tasks for Digital Tools was to take photos of objects that we see everyday but don't really notice. One of the photos I took was of the doors at the front of my house, I really like the composition of the frame and how they almost mirror each other yet the second is slightly out of focus, giving the image depth. I'm hoping as I progress in the course my photography skills and camera skills improve.

My time at uni

I started my first year of uni this year - September 2011. Going to John Moores University in Liverpool, i will be studying 'Media Professional Studies' for 3 years.
I dont have a lot of experience, I haven't made any short films yet or worked for a media company. I have however, completed a week of work experience in Lime Pictures Studios in which I worked in the art and design department, helping to create the sets.... and since this time I have loved the media industy.
I have always loved the way a film or programme can captivate an audience and leave them on the edge of their seats through the use of camera angles, lighting and music and would love to be able to create that experience for someone else.
In the 3 years on my course, I hope to learn the skills possible to make this happen and even though i'm no sure of what aspect of media I want to go into regarding a job... whether its a director, editor or producer,
I am excited to see where what I learn takes me.