Chloe's Blog
September 9th
In my first lesson, we were taught how to create a web page using the website 'Weebly', including how to start up a website and how to create/add pages, images, text etc. The website will be used to update further information on what is to come of the following lessons and what progress has been made. Also we were taught how to use 'Go Animate' which allows us to create little animations providing us with a variety of themes/styles which we will use to create a little animation for our web page.
Jack Woodard and myself created a small Go Animate clip of what is found in horror and what interests the audience. The clip can be found on the initial research page.
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September 10th
Today we had a theory lesson in which we learnt the angles and camera shots and how it is effective in a movie, and also how it affects the audience. Changing the angles and shots within a movie can keep the audience engaged in to the movie, and help build suspense or tension etc; depending on which movie genre the movie is under and also the plot of the story.
An example given/shown to us was 'The Goonies' movie, where the group of teenagers were sliding down water slopes into a large pool within a secret cave. The camera shots used were close-ups to show the characters expressions whether they were scared, thrilled or excited on what was currently happening. The angles used were neutral and also high angle, neutral was used to show a direct view on the characters faces; and the high angle was used to view the characters sliding down the slopes. The purpose of these were to allow the audience to feel the emotions that the teenagers were experiencing, and the speed, twists and turns that they were following.
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September 11th
In lessons today we learnt the 7 key aspects of media, these were: Ideology, Representation, Audience, Construction, Institution, Narrative and Genre.
I - Institution: Is the production company that published the film. For example, Fellah Pictures produced 'The Grudge', and the Warner Brothers produced 'The Exorcist'.
R - Representation: Is how a film genre represents certain people by gender, appearance or race. Pretty, 'dumb' blondes for example are always stereotyped as a typical horror films victim.
A - Audience: Is the audience and age a film or company aim to direct their film's attention towards (Usually 15-25).
C - Construction: Includes a films scene & its props used, as well as said scenes camera shots and angles.
I - Ideology: Is giving cryptic messages and fourth wall-breaking questions to play with the audiences mind.
N - Narrative: Is how the film goes about telling the story to its audience.
G - Genre: Is the category a movie is that a film is directed towards. Horror, Comedy & Romance are good examples. Sub-Genre's are branches of a specific genre, such as 'Slasher' and 'Psychological' being sub-genres of the Horror genre.
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September 12th
This lessons i had missed, but i caught up the following lesson. The rest of my group had been taught the 'Do's and Dont's' of filming. We had written them up on the web page:
In my first lesson, we were taught how to create a web page using the website 'Weebly', including how to start up a website and how to create/add pages, images, text etc. The website will be used to update further information on what is to come of the following lessons and what progress has been made. Also we were taught how to use 'Go Animate' which allows us to create little animations providing us with a variety of themes/styles which we will use to create a little animation for our web page.
Jack Woodard and myself created a small Go Animate clip of what is found in horror and what interests the audience. The clip can be found on the initial research page.
{CM}
September 10th
Today we had a theory lesson in which we learnt the angles and camera shots and how it is effective in a movie, and also how it affects the audience. Changing the angles and shots within a movie can keep the audience engaged in to the movie, and help build suspense or tension etc; depending on which movie genre the movie is under and also the plot of the story.
An example given/shown to us was 'The Goonies' movie, where the group of teenagers were sliding down water slopes into a large pool within a secret cave. The camera shots used were close-ups to show the characters expressions whether they were scared, thrilled or excited on what was currently happening. The angles used were neutral and also high angle, neutral was used to show a direct view on the characters faces; and the high angle was used to view the characters sliding down the slopes. The purpose of these were to allow the audience to feel the emotions that the teenagers were experiencing, and the speed, twists and turns that they were following.
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September 11th
In lessons today we learnt the 7 key aspects of media, these were: Ideology, Representation, Audience, Construction, Institution, Narrative and Genre.
I - Institution: Is the production company that published the film. For example, Fellah Pictures produced 'The Grudge', and the Warner Brothers produced 'The Exorcist'.
R - Representation: Is how a film genre represents certain people by gender, appearance or race. Pretty, 'dumb' blondes for example are always stereotyped as a typical horror films victim.
A - Audience: Is the audience and age a film or company aim to direct their film's attention towards (Usually 15-25).
C - Construction: Includes a films scene & its props used, as well as said scenes camera shots and angles.
I - Ideology: Is giving cryptic messages and fourth wall-breaking questions to play with the audiences mind.
N - Narrative: Is how the film goes about telling the story to its audience.
G - Genre: Is the category a movie is that a film is directed towards. Horror, Comedy & Romance are good examples. Sub-Genre's are branches of a specific genre, such as 'Slasher' and 'Psychological' being sub-genres of the Horror genre.
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September 12th
This lessons i had missed, but i caught up the following lesson. The rest of my group had been taught the 'Do's and Dont's' of filming. We had written them up on the web page:
Previously we had been set a task to record a short film under any genre, titled 'The Exchange'. I was available for that lesson and had taken part in the group task. As we had ready made film, we applied it to the 'Do's an Dont's' research. Nick Davis (editor and film maker of the group) had put together two separate pieces of film, one showing a good preliminary executing the 'Do's' of film making and another showing the 'Dont's'.
The film making, editing and Do's and Don'ts lesson was spread over a 3 day period.
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The film making, editing and Do's and Don'ts lesson was spread over a 3 day period.
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September 19th
In today's lesson we watched the OTS' of 'Ils (Them)', 'The Woman In Black' and 'The Ring'.
'Ils' is a foreign movie translated to 'Them'. As the purpose in media is to create an OTS we watched the OTS to this movie, which had showed us 2 women (mother and daughter) driving home (possibly) at night. They come to an instant stop as they try to dodge the animal in the road and crash into the lamp post. Their car breaks down and the mother gets out of the vehicle to examine the accident and tries to solve the broken engine. The daughter soon worries about her mothers whereabouts as she is no longer in view. The daughter then locks the car doors, and it instantly begins to pour down with rain. She is then in an instant panic, and to end the OTS someone from the back seat of the car appears and begins to suffocate her.
Instantly from the OTS it presents two females, females are idolized as victims in horror movies. As women are seen vulnerable to anyone and anything. The scene is set late at night in the pouring rain, creating an eerie atmosphere and building tension to the audience. The two females are then separated. And to top the OTS off, a mystery person appears from behind the female that is left alone and from my judgement she must've been killed.
In today's lesson we watched the OTS' of 'Ils (Them)', 'The Woman In Black' and 'The Ring'.
'Ils' is a foreign movie translated to 'Them'. As the purpose in media is to create an OTS we watched the OTS to this movie, which had showed us 2 women (mother and daughter) driving home (possibly) at night. They come to an instant stop as they try to dodge the animal in the road and crash into the lamp post. Their car breaks down and the mother gets out of the vehicle to examine the accident and tries to solve the broken engine. The daughter soon worries about her mothers whereabouts as she is no longer in view. The daughter then locks the car doors, and it instantly begins to pour down with rain. She is then in an instant panic, and to end the OTS someone from the back seat of the car appears and begins to suffocate her.
Instantly from the OTS it presents two females, females are idolized as victims in horror movies. As women are seen vulnerable to anyone and anything. The scene is set late at night in the pouring rain, creating an eerie atmosphere and building tension to the audience. The two females are then separated. And to top the OTS off, a mystery person appears from behind the female that is left alone and from my judgement she must've been killed.
Another OTS we analysed was 'The Woman In Black'. The Woman In Black is a popularly, well-known horror movie staring Daniel Radcliffe. The story plot of this movie is about a woman who seeks revenge upon her husbands poor parenting skills by killing other families children; as her son had died and she would 'never forgive' (she quotes numerous times in the movie). The OTS of this movie is of three little girls playing in their nursery, with dolls and a little china tea set. The three girls all in unison look towards one side of the room (which is where the WIB would be standing) and then altogether stand up to walk towards 3 aligned windows on the opposite side of the room. They open the windows and jump to their deaths. Which is followed by a woman's scream (most likely the mothers) and finishes with an 'over the shoulder' camera shot of the woman in black.
Out of the three OTS i find that this OTS is the one with the mystery behind it and i find as the most interesting. The use of little children and a past period time set draws me in more (as a viewer). Young children dying personally i find is a more heart sinking, emotional death as they are very young and it is the last thing you would expect to witness. And the time set of the movie comes across to me as eerie and period movies have the old, broken, creepy look towards them.
Out of the three OTS i find that this OTS is the one with the mystery behind it and i find as the most interesting. The use of little children and a past period time set draws me in more (as a viewer). Young children dying personally i find is a more heart sinking, emotional death as they are very young and it is the last thing you would expect to witness. And the time set of the movie comes across to me as eerie and period movies have the old, broken, creepy look towards them.
We also looked into 'The Ring' OTS. The Ring's OTS has a modern style to it, and can be viewed quite realistically. The Ring is about a video tape which is being passed around of a clip/movie of a variety of ordinary things, and once the clip has ended a phone call is made to the viewer of the video tape to inform them that they will die in a matter of days (7). In the OTS we are presented with 2 girls at a sleepover, and they come across the subject of the video tape. One friend asks the other if they have watched the video and is given the answer 'no'. However, the girl who asks about the video tape has seen the tape. Only to then become cautious and tense about the actions she makes as it is her 7th day since the mysterious phone call. A phone call is made to the house and both girls are weary of whom is on the other end, as one answers and acts scared towards the other; it turns out to be the parents of one of the girls. As soon as the phone call has ended, strange events begin to start around the house such as the TV turning on and off by itself, her friend disappearing from the house and water coming from the bathroom. As soon as the girl encounters 'The Ring' girl, the camera quickly zooms in on the girls face; distorting to her death.
This OTS is clever as it provides a variety of false scares as the girls are wondering around the house cautiously. The false scares bring the audience in to want to know who/what 'The Ring' girl is or what she looks like. The OTS builds up tension as the viewers are unaware of when 'The Ring' girl will be presented to them.
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This OTS is clever as it provides a variety of false scares as the girls are wondering around the house cautiously. The false scares bring the audience in to want to know who/what 'The Ring' girl is or what she looks like. The OTS builds up tension as the viewers are unaware of when 'The Ring' girl will be presented to them.
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September 30th
Today we watched a few more OTS to: Nightmare on Elm Street, Dexter, Saw and Fright Night.
As a whole group (the class), we watched a variety of opening title sequences to movies and/or TV programs. Such as Dexter, Nightmare on Elm Street, Fright Night and Saw. We discussed the difference of linear, non-linear and symbolic opening sequences. We agreed that Dexter was very symbolic as the opening showed a variety of ways in which murder could be pursued. Movies such as: The Grudge, Woman in Black, Ils etc we classed as linear as they had a story line to it; and were in chronological order.
More information on different styles of OTS can be found in the 'Styles of OTS' page.
Today we watched a few more OTS to: Nightmare on Elm Street, Dexter, Saw and Fright Night.
As a whole group (the class), we watched a variety of opening title sequences to movies and/or TV programs. Such as Dexter, Nightmare on Elm Street, Fright Night and Saw. We discussed the difference of linear, non-linear and symbolic opening sequences. We agreed that Dexter was very symbolic as the opening showed a variety of ways in which murder could be pursued. Movies such as: The Grudge, Woman in Black, Ils etc we classed as linear as they had a story line to it; and were in chronological order.
More information on different styles of OTS can be found in the 'Styles of OTS' page.
October 21st
Our aim in today's lesson was to create a variety of different types of edible blood, which will ultimately be used in our OTS. My group chose to make the 'Realistic blood' this recipe consumed of:
The other types of blood that were being made by other groups were:
The first attempt of my groups recipe had not turned out as we expected as we did not fully follow the recipe/plan given. Our second attempt turned out better, and we had finished with a runny, red liquid which i personally found looked very realistic.
After all the groups had created their blood recipe, we went outside and tested the recipes "blood splatter", "dribbling" and how they tasted (as it was edible blood. Jack Woodard offered to be the taster/tester in our group.
Our aim in today's lesson was to create a variety of different types of edible blood, which will ultimately be used in our OTS. My group chose to make the 'Realistic blood' this recipe consumed of:
- 2/3 c. Corn Syrup
- 1/3 c. Warm Water
- 5 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 4 Tbsp red food coloring
- 1 Tbsp Powdered Cocoa
- 2 drops of green or yellow food coloring
The other types of blood that were being made by other groups were:
- Cheap 'N' easy blood
- Peanut butter blood (chunky and smooth)
- Tomato ketchup or sauce blood
- Chocolate blood
- Peppermint blood
- Gravy blood
- Simple fake blood
The first attempt of my groups recipe had not turned out as we expected as we did not fully follow the recipe/plan given. Our second attempt turned out better, and we had finished with a runny, red liquid which i personally found looked very realistic.
After all the groups had created their blood recipe, we went outside and tested the recipes "blood splatter", "dribbling" and how they tasted (as it was edible blood. Jack Woodard offered to be the taster/tester in our group.
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November 3rd
Today we had a theory lesson and learnt what the purpose of 'Mise-en-scene' was about.
"Mise-en-scene translates into what is in the scene. Everything you see on screen is there for a reason and has been chosen to have an impact on the audience". The 5 areas/categories of Mise-en-scene are:
Props can give a greater insight into the character in the scene. For example a messy desk could represent a messy lifestyle of a person. Latest gadgets could represent wealth or line of work.
Clothing can help give an insight into a characters personality, social class, personal circumstances, hobbies etc. It can even give an insight into the time period on climate conditions.
Location can also impact on the mood of the scene on the audience. Different locations can imply scary, busy, isolation, safe, happy and more.
Actors of different ages and genders will be used to appeal to different target audiences. They may also be selected to help enhance a particular genre of film.
Positioning is not only about what is in the scene, but also where you place it. Positioning of actors in particular are most important, placing actors at a distance could indicate tension or dislike.
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Today we had a theory lesson and learnt what the purpose of 'Mise-en-scene' was about.
"Mise-en-scene translates into what is in the scene. Everything you see on screen is there for a reason and has been chosen to have an impact on the audience". The 5 areas/categories of Mise-en-scene are:
- Props
- Clothing
- Location
- Actors
- Positioning
Props can give a greater insight into the character in the scene. For example a messy desk could represent a messy lifestyle of a person. Latest gadgets could represent wealth or line of work.
Clothing can help give an insight into a characters personality, social class, personal circumstances, hobbies etc. It can even give an insight into the time period on climate conditions.
Location can also impact on the mood of the scene on the audience. Different locations can imply scary, busy, isolation, safe, happy and more.
Actors of different ages and genders will be used to appeal to different target audiences. They may also be selected to help enhance a particular genre of film.
Positioning is not only about what is in the scene, but also where you place it. Positioning of actors in particular are most important, placing actors at a distance could indicate tension or dislike.
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November 7th
We had another theory lesson today in which we learnt eh purposes and styles of editing. Editing is the process of selecting and preparing media used to convey information. There are a variety of editing styles, such as:
Parallel cutting/Cross cutting is used to show different things that are happening at the same time, e.g. two characters typing to get to the same destination, parallel cutting is used to show different journeys.
Eye line match is a shot that shows what an actor or character is looking at, known as a POV (Point of View) shot.
Match cut is a series of different shots from different angles and positions to show the same scene from different perspectives.
Jump cut is used to show the passage of time within a frame filming the same action but further on in the time line. It was once considered a mistake but it can be used to draw attention or used to suggest disorientation.
Fast paced editing suggests excitement, action, confrontation etc.
Slow paced editing may be caused by complicated camerawork, such as long tracking shots, which follow the action without cutting. These long takes may add to the tension or give a sense or spectacle.
Change of editing pace is usually used to signal an impatient change, such as the start of an action sequence.
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We had another theory lesson today in which we learnt eh purposes and styles of editing. Editing is the process of selecting and preparing media used to convey information. There are a variety of editing styles, such as:
- Shot/reverse shot
- Parallel cutting/Cross cutting
- Eye line match
- Match cut
- Jump cut
- Fast paced editing
- Slow paced editing
- Change of editing pace
Parallel cutting/Cross cutting is used to show different things that are happening at the same time, e.g. two characters typing to get to the same destination, parallel cutting is used to show different journeys.
Eye line match is a shot that shows what an actor or character is looking at, known as a POV (Point of View) shot.
Match cut is a series of different shots from different angles and positions to show the same scene from different perspectives.
Jump cut is used to show the passage of time within a frame filming the same action but further on in the time line. It was once considered a mistake but it can be used to draw attention or used to suggest disorientation.
Fast paced editing suggests excitement, action, confrontation etc.
Slow paced editing may be caused by complicated camerawork, such as long tracking shots, which follow the action without cutting. These long takes may add to the tension or give a sense or spectacle.
Change of editing pace is usually used to signal an impatient change, such as the start of an action sequence.
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November ...
My group and I decided to go out and film in the local cemetery (Coney Hill) and capture some footage and images that we can use for our OTS, also to build on our idea and have a clear plan.
My group and I decided to go out and film in the local cemetery (Coney Hill) and capture some footage and images that we can use for our OTS, also to build on our idea and have a clear plan.
November 24th
In today's lesson we looked at the order of OTS credits. We looked at the opening of 'The Grudge' and 'Severance', we focused on the order of the credits. Once we watched the OTS's we had to put into order strips of paper that had a variety of jobs/responsibilities that are included in the credits from memory. After attempting to recall the order of the credits, we then (if wrong) put the strips into the correct order and discussed the purpose of the order, how one job/responsibility was more important than the other.
The correct order of credits are/is:
-Distribution (LOGO)
-Investor (LOGO)
-Production (LOGO)
-Production + distribution +/or investor
-Titles of movie
-Stars of movie
-Casting directors
-Music composed
-Hair and Make-up
-Costume designer
-Editor
-Production designer
-Director of photography
-Line manager
-Co-producers
-Producers
-Writer(s)
-Director
In today's lesson we looked at the order of OTS credits. We looked at the opening of 'The Grudge' and 'Severance', we focused on the order of the credits. Once we watched the OTS's we had to put into order strips of paper that had a variety of jobs/responsibilities that are included in the credits from memory. After attempting to recall the order of the credits, we then (if wrong) put the strips into the correct order and discussed the purpose of the order, how one job/responsibility was more important than the other.
The correct order of credits are/is:
-Distribution (LOGO)
-Investor (LOGO)
-Production (LOGO)
-Production + distribution +/or investor
-Titles of movie
-Stars of movie
-Casting directors
-Music composed
-Hair and Make-up
-Costume designer
-Editor
-Production designer
-Director of photography
-Line manager
-Co-producers
-Producers
-Writer(s)
-Director
After discussing the order of the credits, we looked into the similarities and/or differences between the opening credits of 'The Grudge' and 'Severance'.
[INSERT ORDERS OF THE GRUDGE AND SEVERANCE OPENING CREDITS]
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[INSERT ORDERS OF THE GRUDGE AND SEVERANCE OPENING CREDITS]
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