Thursday, 18 March 2010
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Jack, Connor, Elias and I have finished filming our preliminary task.
We filmed it at Jack's house because of ease of access and it was a suitable environment to film in.
We bordered off the part of his kitchen with the appliances in because they did not fit in with the tone of the scene. We did this by simply hanging up a dark blanket.
Our chosen genre is British Crime Thriller, so in order to get the effect of this, we chose to wear suits. I also put on a Cockney accent; the aim of this was to make it seem more believable.
To set the scene we put a small glass on the table, a trio of candlesticks on one stand, a photo of a woman and a gun.
The obvious weakness of our film is the age of the actors; Conor and I are only 17, yet it would be much better for us to have older people to act. For instance, 20-30 years old.
Another problem we faced while filming was having to hold the camera steady. We were fine with the help of the tripod, but when it came to moving the camera we faced a problem: It was hard to hold it steady. We tried looking for a skateboard but Jack didn't have one at his house, so this was a very hard obstacle to overcome.
We are now at the editing stage of the process and we are finding it relatively simple.
We filmed it at Jack's house because of ease of access and it was a suitable environment to film in.
We bordered off the part of his kitchen with the appliances in because they did not fit in with the tone of the scene. We did this by simply hanging up a dark blanket.
Our chosen genre is British Crime Thriller, so in order to get the effect of this, we chose to wear suits. I also put on a Cockney accent; the aim of this was to make it seem more believable.
To set the scene we put a small glass on the table, a trio of candlesticks on one stand, a photo of a woman and a gun.
The obvious weakness of our film is the age of the actors; Conor and I are only 17, yet it would be much better for us to have older people to act. For instance, 20-30 years old.
Another problem we faced while filming was having to hold the camera steady. We were fine with the help of the tripod, but when it came to moving the camera we faced a problem: It was hard to hold it steady. We tried looking for a skateboard but Jack didn't have one at his house, so this was a very hard obstacle to overcome.
We are now at the editing stage of the process and we are finding it relatively simple.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Monday, 1 March 2010
Preliminary task
As a group we decided to choose Crime Thriller as our genre, taking into consideration that it will be particularly challenging.
Research
Two of my favourite British Crime Thriller films:
Sexy Beast (2000)
Dir. Jonathan Glazer
(Picture) -
Ben Kingsley's menacing and brutal performance of gangster Don Logan.
Starring:
Ben Kingsley
Ray Winstone
Ian McShane
Amanda Redman
James Fox
Get Carter (1971)
Dir. Mike Hodges
The film's underlying theme of revenge is portrayed by Carter's (Micheal Caine) progression in finding his brother's killer. Through this, the audience finds themselves on his side. The long lasting chase scenes (which are not necessarily fast-paced) are riveting and rewarding.
"You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow."
Research
Two of my favourite British Crime Thriller films:
Sexy Beast (2000)
Dir. Jonathan Glazer
(Picture) -
Ben Kingsley's menacing and brutal performance of gangster Don Logan.Starring:
Ben Kingsley
Ray Winstone
Ian McShane
Amanda Redman
James Fox
My favourite scene in this film is when Don refuses to put his cigarette out on the plane, It's perfectly acted, and it gives him an excuse to go back to Gal - unfinished business.
"You happy with that? I'm happy with that. I'll smoke it outside. Open the door. I hope this crashes. Open the fucking door!"
Get Carter (1971)
Dir. Mike Hodges
The film's underlying theme of revenge is portrayed by Carter's (Micheal Caine) progression in finding his brother's killer. Through this, the audience finds themselves on his side. The long lasting chase scenes (which are not necessarily fast-paced) are riveting and rewarding.
"You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow."
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
How are hospital staff represented in 'Bodies'?
The establishing shot is a medium-shot of Rob, a new employee on the Gynaecology ward in a hospital. The camera then cuts to a medium-close-up then a close-up, this portrays Rob's professionalism and also adds a sense of action to the character. It subtly mirrors a convict having his photo taken at a police station, however no profile shot was used which makes it seem like he hasn't done anything bad. The camera shots used are to focus on his blank facial expression, which relates to the idea that he is becoming someone - a doctor. His gender, age, ethnicity and status are established in the first clip of him being handed his card and his equipment.
Certain camera shot used in Bodies represent the characters' hierarchy. For example, a three-shot of the ward manager in the foreground, Rob in the mid-ground and the nurse in the background (the nurse is out of focus) suggests that male staff are more important that female staff. This shot implies that the females have less significant jobs and that men have the moral high ground. What this means is that the males have more authority and power over the females, but this is conveyed in a subtle way which informs the audience of class and status in the hospital.
This representation of female staff is shown throughout the episode, for example, when the woman switches the names around on the procedure list but simply forgets to switch around the actual medical procedures. Resulting in a close call of nearly performing a sterilisation on a woman who is craving a baby.
After this disturbance in equilibrium, another female member of staff, in response to the close call, says "shit happens, sorry". -This behaviour is associated people who are tired of their job and don't put any effort in. The exact opposite behaviour, however, is conveyed through the male members of staff. For instance, Rob's determination to keep a woman alive but in the end is overwhelmed with her death. -The audience sympathizes with Rob a times.
The humour amongst the staff is limited and is usually crude, for instance, "You don't half see some freaky fannies 'round here". Then cutting to the reaction of a female doctor who doesn't say anything, keeps to herself. This shows the on-going hierarchy of the men and the representation of female staff (they have a lower status).
This limitation of humour conveys professionalism and stress, stress such as the pregnant female doctor, doctor's patients dying and Rob's on-going search for mate - "Want to go pub? My shout, come on". It also adds to the effect of everyday life, of which the audience are put in a voyeuristic position (CCTV camera) but are simultaneously involved in a lot of the action. Action such as dramatical medical procedure scenes, for example when Rob, while admitting he doesn't know what he's doing, tries to respirate a patient gone into cardiac arrest. These scenes aren't cut short, the audience witnesses the full procedure - this promotes a different perspective on the hospital staff. In these scenes, they are being represented as life-savers, heroes.
When we see the ward manager and his assistants, the men are dressed in black suits and ties, adn the women tend to wear black blouses while looking professional and also attractive.
Certain camera shot used in Bodies represent the characters' hierarchy. For example, a three-shot of the ward manager in the foreground, Rob in the mid-ground and the nurse in the background (the nurse is out of focus) suggests that male staff are more important that female staff. This shot implies that the females have less significant jobs and that men have the moral high ground. What this means is that the males have more authority and power over the females, but this is conveyed in a subtle way which informs the audience of class and status in the hospital.
This representation of female staff is shown throughout the episode, for example, when the woman switches the names around on the procedure list but simply forgets to switch around the actual medical procedures. Resulting in a close call of nearly performing a sterilisation on a woman who is craving a baby.
After this disturbance in equilibrium, another female member of staff, in response to the close call, says "shit happens, sorry". -This behaviour is associated people who are tired of their job and don't put any effort in. The exact opposite behaviour, however, is conveyed through the male members of staff. For instance, Rob's determination to keep a woman alive but in the end is overwhelmed with her death. -The audience sympathizes with Rob a times.
The humour amongst the staff is limited and is usually crude, for instance, "You don't half see some freaky fannies 'round here". Then cutting to the reaction of a female doctor who doesn't say anything, keeps to herself. This shows the on-going hierarchy of the men and the representation of female staff (they have a lower status).
This limitation of humour conveys professionalism and stress, stress such as the pregnant female doctor, doctor's patients dying and Rob's on-going search for mate - "Want to go pub? My shout, come on". It also adds to the effect of everyday life, of which the audience are put in a voyeuristic position (CCTV camera) but are simultaneously involved in a lot of the action. Action such as dramatical medical procedure scenes, for example when Rob, while admitting he doesn't know what he's doing, tries to respirate a patient gone into cardiac arrest. These scenes aren't cut short, the audience witnesses the full procedure - this promotes a different perspective on the hospital staff. In these scenes, they are being represented as life-savers, heroes.
When we see the ward manager and his assistants, the men are dressed in black suits and ties, adn the women tend to wear black blouses while looking professional and also attractive.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
The Guardian Online, news is changing
www.guardian.co.uk - This is an online news source which provides readers of the Guardian newspaper and everybody else with a chance to read whatever news they want, at no cost.Website of the year 27 January 2010
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It is without a doubt much more capable at providing readers with more information, with an inclusive process. This means it treats the audience with a privileged position. For example, you can register, sign in, immediately upload your CV for job vacancies and can gain access to frequently updated news articles by a click of the mouse.
The Guardian website has developed a close business-partner relationship with Apple; at the top of the homepage, where the prominent articles belong, is a link to a video of the launch of the new 'iPad' - not to be mistaken for the iPod. Also, users of the iPhone have the privilege of streaming news fresh from the site onto their phone, thus reaching out to a whole new audience. They are converging, by doing this they are diversifying so they produce and distribute across several media, in this case - the mobile phone - which is the most widely-used handheld gadget on the planet.
The Guardian online gives the audience the options of exclusive categories; blogs, video, community and jobs. This gives the audience a chance to express themselves and write articles on a forum, handing out links to their blogs, watching videos and a job search. These jobs range from Art and Heritage jobs to Marketing and PR jobs.
This gives a great sense of community and togetherness.
With the Internet dominating the newspapers, as it has much more to offer, and news which is updated regularly, (looking at it now, the last update was less then a minute ago) it looks as if in the near future newspapers will find no other alliterative but to conform to the change in media. In this lifetime, we may see the collapse of the newspaper industry and the Internet being home to thousands of news feeds.
Sunday, 6 December 2009
News Values
1. Unexpectedness: 'Man bites dog' is news. If an event is highly unpredictable, then it is likely it will make it into the news.
2. Unambiguity: Events whose implications and meanings are clear make for a better story than those that are open for interpretation or need more explanation.
3. Personalisation: Events that can be portrayed as the actions of individuals will be more attractive than one in which there is no such "human interest".
4. Continuity: Once an event has been covered, it is convenient to cover it some more - the running story. -This will very much depend on the nature of the event. E.g. The war in Afghanistan.
5. Reference to elite nations: Those nations which are closest to our own will receive most of the coverage.
6. Reference to elite persons: The media may pay attention to important people; "The Labour Party leader falls in sea" - That is news.
7. Composition: Stories must compete with eachother for space within the media. For example, if a newspaper already has several foreign news item, the elast important news item might have to make way for a domestic news item.
8. Visual imperatives: The 9/11 terror attacks, in which the death toll was almost 3000, provided a series of powerful images. Terro attacks in the Congo have claimed 3million people, but because the cameras weren't there, the violence isn't as well-known.
9. Negativity: Bad news is good news.
10. Logistics: Although eased by the availability of global communications even from remote regions, the ability to deploy and control production of reporting staff, and functionality of technical resources can determine whether a story is covered.
2. Unambiguity: Events whose implications and meanings are clear make for a better story than those that are open for interpretation or need more explanation.
3. Personalisation: Events that can be portrayed as the actions of individuals will be more attractive than one in which there is no such "human interest".
4. Continuity: Once an event has been covered, it is convenient to cover it some more - the running story. -This will very much depend on the nature of the event. E.g. The war in Afghanistan.
5. Reference to elite nations: Those nations which are closest to our own will receive most of the coverage.
6. Reference to elite persons: The media may pay attention to important people; "The Labour Party leader falls in sea" - That is news.
7. Composition: Stories must compete with eachother for space within the media. For example, if a newspaper already has several foreign news item, the elast important news item might have to make way for a domestic news item.
8. Visual imperatives: The 9/11 terror attacks, in which the death toll was almost 3000, provided a series of powerful images. Terro attacks in the Congo have claimed 3million people, but because the cameras weren't there, the violence isn't as well-known.
9. Negativity: Bad news is good news.
10. Logistics: Although eased by the availability of global communications even from remote regions, the ability to deploy and control production of reporting staff, and functionality of technical resources can determine whether a story is covered.
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