Thursday 24 December 2009

Title Sequence Functions





• We see the title of the programme immediately which makes initial contact with audiences as they know what the programme is and want to carry on watching.

• By seeing cars, houses and streets we know that the programme is going to be a TV Drama about daily life.

• The title sequence prepares the audience by putting them in a calm mood and wondering what to expect from this peaceful neighbourhood.

• Enigmas aren't used so the audience don't know what to expect and our anticipating about what is going to happen.

• The editing is fast-moving and the transitions between the shots merge into one another.

• The soundtrack is a well established tone that is associated with that particular programme. The music is quite calm and slow to get the audience into a relaxed mood even though the drama is little from calming and contains many confrontations.

• The title of the drama is shown straight away so that the audience are aware of what programme it is. At the very start the production company is shown so that the audience are aware of who produced the TV Drama. The Writer and the Director's name is also shown later on in the title sequence in white, block capitals so that the audience attention can be drawn to them easily.

• Firstly, a high angle shot is used to make the houses look small and worthless. Then a mid shot of the bridge is used to show the rest of the background as well. A long shot of the back of the houses is used to show the amount of houses on that sreet. A mid shot is used of the pub so you feel as if you are standing infront of it and you are able to see the whole of the pub.

• The setting consists of: terraced houses, cars, a bridge, a cat and a pub. These are all used to show the audience that the drama is set in a typical town or village. Only people in the very distance are shown so we don't know who is involved in the programme. Lighting is used to show that the weather is mild and to create the effect that it's just an average day to make the audience want to know what could have gone so wrong.

Tuesday 8 December 2009

TV Drama



Characters - There is a guy at the start wearing tracksuit bottoms and complete non-uniform. He smashes the glass infront of him, we can connote from this that he is a trouble maker and cares very little for authority. The kids all seem loud, hyperactive and do not seem to care. A few of them are in uniform but the rest are wearing hoodies, baseball caps and trainers. We can connote that the school is in a low income area and many of the pupils come from deprived background. We can connote that they have a lot of disrespect for their teachers and do not care about how they act around school. The guy with his hood up and the guy in the leather jackets look very suspicious as they are being very secretive and walk to and from each other very quickly. We can connote that the school is a state school because of the way the pupils are behaving. The teachers are wearing suits but look untidy with their top button undone. They are smoking and seem to pay little attention to the rowdyness around them. The headmaster seems very distressed and annoyed. He is throwing everything out the window and is shouting, we can connote that he can not cope with the unruly pupils in his school. The guy who goes to comfort him appears to be understanding and seems to know what he is going through.

Stories - The story is told in a school and is suppose to give the audience an insight into the daily lives of pupils and teachers at a comprehensive school.

Camerawork - A zoom shot is used at the start when the camera zooms out of the smashed window so we can see who did it and the setting. Mid-shots are used so we can see the character and also what's going on behind them. A birds eye view shot is used to make the people and the school look small and so the audience feels above them. This is used to make the school seems little and worthless. A close up shot of some of the pupils is used so we can see their facial expressions. Point of view shots are used throughout so you feel like a pupil at the school. A high angle shot is used of the headmaster to show that he is the higher up in the school and is suppose to be in the most power. A long shot of the teacher running is used to show the whole corridor and where he is running to and from.

Music - The music in the clip is the Kaiser Chief's "I predict a riot".
The music goes well with the scene as it's fast pace and fits in with the busy school playground where the pupils are unruly and keeping busy. The lyrics fit in well with the scene as the kids in the school and the teacher on the roof all seem to be causing a riot.

Icons of genre - Icons of the genre are used such as we see the actual school building, the school gates, the pupils uniform, the teachers and the headmasters paper. All these icons show us that the TV drama is a School Tv Drama.

Monday 2 November 2009

Preliminary Task - Magazine Evaluation Questions

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

I worked with Maz and she taught me how to used Photoshop. We both put our ideas forward and participated in the task.

2. How did you plan your cover and contents page? What magazines did you use for your inspiration?

We drew out a plan for our front cover and contents page and we used Cosmopolitan for our inspiration.

3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

We used a digital camera to take pictures using a clear background. The we used Photoshop Elements 8.0 to make the magazine.

4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

We had to take into account when we were going to get our pictures and how to manage our time whilst editing.

5. Which magazines conventions does the magazine follow?

We've used 3 colours in our magazine so that it looks effective.

6. Which does it break?

None.

7. Who is your target audience and how does the layout/images/fonts/colour pallate/cover lines appeal to them?

Our target audience is students from Lutterworth College. We use neutral colours such as greens and blues which attract both a male and female audience.

8. Does the magazine appeal to new or regular readers – how do you know?

Our magazine appeals to both new and regular readers. It attracts new readers because of the variety of colour and cheap price. But it also attracts regular readers because of the variety of new headlines which stand out.

9. How successful was your magazine cover? Identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

I think our magazine cover was very suzzessful and the colour schemes worked well, to improve I'd change the layout and use more fonts to make it look more interesting.

10. What have you learnt about producing a magazine front cover and contents page? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework?

I have learnt how to use Photoshop and what to include on a front cover of a magazine and a contents page. I enjoyed learning how to use it and I'm thinking of doing a magazine cover for my foundation coursework.

Friday 30 October 2009

Preliminary Task - Film Evaluation Questions

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

I worked with Maz, Wez and Josh. We managed the task by deciding that Josh was going to film and me, Maz and Wez were going to be in the film.

2. How did you plan your short filmed piece? Did you use any other films for your inspiration?

We planned our short film by drawing a storyboard. We decided our storyline would include Maz walking into a room, sitting down at a table with Wez and having a conversation. Maz splits up with her boyfriend Wez. Wez cries followed by me shouting "so you got dumped then." We took this line from the film "about a boy" as this was our inspiration for our film.

3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

For our task we used a video camera, a tripod, a tape, a firewire lead and an Apple Mac to edit.


4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?


When planning we had to take into account what our storyline was going be and how it was going to work. When shooting we had to take into account what camera angles to ues and to include mise - en- scene. When editing we took into account what we needed to get rid of and what to add to make the film more effective.

5. Which film conventions does the piece follow? e.g. music, match on action, 180 degree rule, camera work etc

We used the 180 degree rule around Wez when he was crying in our film, we also used match on match action and used a variety of different camera shots.

6. Which does it break?

We broke the film conventions of music as we couldn't find a suitable song on rockband and weren't able to copy other songs.

7. How did you consider mise en scene? e.g. lighting, camera work, setting, costume, props etc

Mise en scene was carefully considered because it was important that we included the right mise-en-scene in order for our film to look realistic and work effectively. Because our scene was a "cafe" we kept the lighing bright. We managed to move the tables and chairs so it looked more realistic and we got mugs and biscuits to make the scene look like a cafe would do. We made sure when filming that we didn't include certain areas of the classroom or else it would have ruined the effect. We had to film the whole of our piece again as we realised we had missed a shot and because we didn't have the same clothes on, we wanted to make sure it looked consisternt.

8. How did you consider narrative? Is there a sense of a storyline? Can any theorists be applied e.g. Barthes, Todorov, Propp, Levi Strauss

Yes, there is a sense of a storyline and we used some of Barthes' Narrative Codes in our film. We used to Enigma Code to make the audience ask questions as to why Maz is splitting up with Wez. Maz says "you know why I'm dumping you" which uses The Semantic Code because there's an additional meaning and Wez knows why she's breaking up with him. Propps theory is kind of used as we see Wez as being the heroes and Maz being the villain but we don't entirely know the reasons behind her splitting up with him. Todorov's theory is used as there is a state of Equilibrium at the start where the protagonist appears to be happy, this then is disrupted by another protagonist. Because it is such a shot film we don't see it return to the state of New Equilibrium but it would have done if we'd made a longer film.

9. How successful was your filmed piece? Identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

For a first piece, I think our film was very successful. We were enable to include a variety of shots and camera angles. We worked well as a group and included everyone's different ideas. I would improve is by using more props, spending more time on the filming and finding music that would go with the piece.

10. What have you learnt about producing a short piece of film? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework?

I have learnt a lot about producing a film as before I had never filmed anything before. I enjoyed leaning about it but despite this I'm thinking of doing a magazine cover as I found it easier than filming and enjoyed putting my creative ideas on paper.

Tuesday 13 October 2009

Magazine Preliminary Practical

Today Me and Maz designed our front cover for the magazine. As I had never used Photoshop before Maz helped me learn how to use it and by the end I was confident with using Photoshop. Our first job was to change the background to a light green- which fitted in with our colour scheme. We cut the background out of our picture and put the picture onto our magazine. We then added a title and a variety of healines. We changed the colours and fonts. Then we added a price tag, bar code and which months addition it was. I enjoyed learning how to use Photoshop so thanks Maz!!!


16th October 2009

Today, Me and Maz did the finishing touches to our Magazine Preliminary front cover. We added more headings and made the picture bigger. Then we worked on our Contents page. We kept the background the same colour as the front cover and also the font so it looked consistent. We added a title which was black. Then we added three pictures. One of Maz playing the double bass, one of me on an excercise bike and one of our friends Luke and Hannah acting out Hamlet. We placed the pictures in random places on the page and put headings and page numbers in various places before and after the pictures. I enjoyed learning how to use Photoshop and found it was easier to use second time round. Although I did make a few mistakes and found it hard at times. Overall, good lesson.

Sunday 11 October 2009

Planning Our Magazine Cover.

Today, me and Maz planned our preliminary magazine cover and contents page. Firstly, we were told to plan our magazine cover on paper. We decided to keep it simple and call it LC mag and our genre of the magazine was a "general" magazine. We wanted a general magazine because it had a mass target audience and wanted to appeal to everyone. We wanted to include general issues in the school such as: fashion, careers, music, sport, exams, food and even advice. We also decided on the colour schemes of black font, pale green background, turquoise and blue. We also made some headline for our magazine these included:

"Find out what's in and out this month- What to wear this winter"
"Football- First match of the season- Will we win or will we lose?"
"School band make it big this month."
"How to cope with A Level stress!"
"MC Lutto- Whatever happened to Jamie Oliver?"

We also decided that our contents page would consist of three pictures on the right hand side and a list of the headlines.

I look forward to using Photoshop as I've never used it before and look forward to learning how to do so.

Then we were told to get a digital camera and take a variety of pictures which were relevant to our magazine genre. We took a picture of our friends Abbi and Luke acting out a scene from "Macbeth" and also pictures of Maz and a double bass and me on an exercise bike. There were for the contents page. Maz also took a variety of pictures for the front page of our magazine. I enjoyed taking pictures and planning the magazine.

Here are some of the picture that we are thinking to use on the Contents page of our magazine:





Here are some of the pictures we are thinking to use on the front cover of our magazine:





Tuesday 6 October 2009

Editing our Preliminary Piece

Whilst uploading our film onto the Mac, we discovered that a few of our shots were blurry. So we decided to do the whole thing again as we had to include that shot and the clothes that we were wearing were different to when we have filmed. We had a variety of out takes but due to the fact we were wearing different clothes we weren't able to use them. We had to crop a few of our shots out to make them fit together and we added titles to our film. When this was done, the shots moved smoothly and the film looked much better. We added a song but deleted it shorly afterwards due to a copyright issue. We were going to create our own music from "Garage Band" but decided not to as there wasn't anything we really liked on there that we thought would fit our film.

Tuesday 29 September 2009

Today's Practical Preliminary Lesson.


Today, Me, Maz, Wez and Josh filmed our preliminary. We were told that our film must include someone opening a door, crossing a room, sitting down and then exchanging dialogue with another person. We drew a storyboard in a previous lesson and decided to film in a Resistant materials classroom. Our script consisted of Maz splitting up with her boyfriend Wez and I was a person in the background who laughs at Wez's misfortune.

The DT technician provided us with props to make it look like a cafe and more realistic e.g. mugs, biscuits, etc.

We included a range of camera shots in our film. These were; a tilt show of Maz walking into the room, an extreme close-up shot of her hand on the door, mid-shot of her walking in, point of view shot of Wez at the table, shot/reverse shot of Maz and Wez talking, close -up of Wez crying and a long shot of Maz walking out. The film ended of a mid shot of me shouting "so you got dumped then."

The Narrative Codes are covered in our film. The Action code in our film was that Maz dumped Wez and we wonder what the resolution is. The Enigma code is the audience want to know why Wez is being dumped. The Semantic code is when Maz says "you know full well why I'm ending it with you!"

The things that went well with our filming were; we all worked well as a group and got involved and we managed to include every single camera shot.

The problems that occurred when we filmed was that our shot/reverse shot was a bit blurred and we had to rush some of the shots because of time

Overall, I enjoyed filming and thought we all worked really well as a group.

Tuesday 22 September 2009

First Practical Practice

For my first practical, we practiced using the different shots. We included lots of shots. There were The Long Shot, The Mid-shot, The Close up, The Extreme Close Up, High Angle, Low Angle, Point Of View shot and a Tilt shot on a sign that said "no parking beyond this point." We also did Pan and Track shots of our friend walking by the sign. I was pleased that I managed to include all the shots but I would film something more interesting than a sign.

For my first editing lesson, we took off the sound and shortened shots which were too long. We did this because the shorter shots made it look more dramatic. Before each shot we had titles to introduce the shot, to show the audience what shots they were. I enjoyed editing but next time I will add music and make sure I have a larger variety of shots.