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: