Shot List for Preliminary Task

Below is the list of shots which we chose to use in our preliminary task because we thought these would be the most effective. The first shot is fading in from a blackout to a high angle shot of Lyndsey asleep with a book on her face. This cuts to a wide shot of the whole of Lindsey’s body on its side lying down. This establishes with the audience the character which Lyndsey is playing and the personality of this character e.g. clumsy, forgetful etc. This wide shot then cuts to a bird’s eye view tracking shot of Emily walking down a corridor. This bird’s eye tracking shot lasts for approximately 5 seconds before cutting to a stationary shot of Emily walking through the door. This shot cuts to Lyndsey slowly waking up and picking up the papers which have fallen on the floor in the process of her restlessness during her "slumber". At the moment the video is very balanced i.e. there have been two consecutive shots of Lyndsey then two consecutive shots of Emily and now back to two consecutive shots of Lyndsey. This cuts to a medium panning shot of Emily entering the room and asking Lyndsey whether or not she had just been asleep. This panning shot follows Emily into the room and then stops in a wide shot. The wide shot establishes that the characters are opposite and this ensures that the "shot reverse shot" does not confuse the reader. At this point what we were attempting to do was to try to include as many examples of "shot reverse shot" in the conversation. Although at 0:54 we do use a medium shot which has both the characters and this, again, establishes who is on which side just not to confuse the reader. At 0:58 seconds there is a close up on the screen of a phone which clearly displays the time changing from 12:00 to 12:01. This cuts to a tracking shot of Lyndsey running out. This then cuts to a stationary shot of Lyndsey running down the hall. As she runs away because the camera stays still she slowly disappears smaller and smaller.

Preliminary Task Final Cut and Evaluation

In our preliminary task, the most important aspects of editing this video which we were most worried about like continuity editing, not breaking the 180 degree rule, using shot reverse shot etc. An example of how we managed to maintain continuity editing is that we filmed this over a number of days and made our actresses (Lyndsey Wise and Emily Ledger) bring in the same clothes so this didn’t change half way through the video. We try to us a variety of shots including such shots as bird’s eye view, tracking shot, wide shot and close up. The story of the conversation is that due to being nervous all night Lyndsey hasn’t slept very much and has accidentally fallen asleep on a chair. When Emily comes in to wake her, Lyndsey realises she has slept so long that she is late for her interview and runs out of the door. As for suiting the requirements Emily open a door at 0:19 seconds. Emily then continues to walk across the room at 0:40 seconds with a smooth tracking shot. From walking across the room Emily goes to sit down opposite Lyndsey at 0:45 seconds. During the main conversation there are many examples of 'shot reverse shot' as we change from one character to the other. There is a close up of the screen of a phone. This clearly shows the time changing from 12:00 o'clock to 12:01 o'clock.

A mistake that I have made in the continuity editing is at 0:33 seconds. If you look closely Lyndsey put her legs on her right hand side and this suddenly changes to her left hand side when she goes to pick up her papers. Apart from this tiny mistake I think the continuity for this video is quite well put together.

Working Title Productions 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy & The Boat That Rocked.

The trailer above is for Working Title’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”. This was directed by Tomas Alfredson and based on the best selling novel by John le Carré. This story is set during the bleak and suspicious years of the Cold War (a political conflict mainly between America and Russia). The Cold War lasted from 1946-1991 however this glimpse of the Cold War which we witness in ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ is in/around the year 1974 when the Cold War was perhaps at the most tense between nations. The storyline is that there is a mole (spy for another nation) at the top of MI6 but nobody knows who. A man named George Smiley (played by the brilliant, British A-list actor of Gary Oldman) is forced out of semi-retirement to uncover who this mole is. In this film MI6 has a codename of “the circus” in this film which gives it a realistic edge and makes you feel as if your part of the action by including you with this sort of thing e.g. catchphrases and codeword’s, codenames etc. This film is in-fact a remake of the original TV drama/thriller series ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ which was directed by John Irvin and was aired in 1979. In my personal opinion I think that the recent film directed by Tomas Alfredson is very good although if you are a viewer with fresh eyes e.g. you haven’t read the book or seen the 1979 television series, then the film could be a little bit confusing and perhaps slightly lost on a more “uneducated” audience.

The trailer above is for Working Title’s “The Boat That Rocked”. This was directed by Richard Curtis and based on a true story. In the 1960’s there was a very similar pirate radio station to the one portrayed in the film called ‘Radio Caroline’. I personally believe this could have been some of the inspiration which spurred Curtis on to create (in my own personal opinion) this masterpiece of a film. The main storyline behind this film is that it’s based in 1966 where free love and peace rules. There is a boat which is a pirate radio station called ‘Radio Rock’. This is the most popular radio station because in 1966, BBC only played 45 minutes of popular rock music a day whereas radio rock played it 24/7. The government sees this radio station as ruining the country. Therefore they bend every rule in the book to try to shut radio rock but the pirates fight on. The film is based around this conflict but also the relationships between the crew on board. There is a quote from the film from the character that is in charge of shutting down the radio station who calls the people of Britain who listen to this radio station: “the drug takers, the law breakers and the bottom bashing fornicators of our recently great country”. I thought this summed up his views on the matter very succinctly. I think the reason this film did so well is because it appealed to so many different audiences. For example it appealed to the older generation because they would’ve been around in the 1960’s and could relate to the music. So it could have been mainly the soundtrack which appealed to the older generation. It would also appeal to the younger generation because it has A-list British actors like Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, and Chris O’Dowd etc. This is my favourite film just due to the fact that because my dad is such a huge ‘Beatles’ fan etc I was pretty much brought up on the kind of music which is in this film and so I can sort of relate to it because it reminds me a little bit of my childhood and that’s the kind of music I grew up around which I know and love.

 

This is the opening scene to Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill 1"

The reason why this is shot in black and white is Tarantino paying tribute to the older film makers from the 1940's and 1950's. The first thing you hear is diagetic sound from the bride. The first shot is a close up of the brides face looking rather helpless due to the fact her face is covered in cuts and bruises. This establishes a connection with the audience because they feel pity for her. The first actual dialogue in the scene is the enigmatic character "Bill" asking the question "Do you find me sadistic?". This sets the audience up with a prediction of what the rest of the film is going to contain and be about. The moment we find out that this characters name is Bill is when he goes to wipe some blood from the brides face revealing writing embroided into the hankerchief saying "Bill".

Year 12 Media Student Questionnaire

Year 12 Media Studies Student Questionnaire

Name:

James Winterburn

GCSE results:

·         Science 1^st year = A

·         Science 2^nd year = B

·         Catering = B

·         Geography = B           

·         English Literature = B

·         English Language = B

·         Religious Studies = B

·         Music = B

·         Maths = B

·         ICT = C

Hobbies:

I thoroughly enjoy playing the drums in my band called ‘The Crates’. We have two songs uploaded on YouTube and one uploaded on Facebook. Another hobby of mine is ten pin bowling where I play at a competitive level. Last year I along with my team mates managed to win the local league. I also competed at a national competition in Nottingham but unfortunately not bringing home any individual merits to celebrate. My club managed to win a handful of trophies overall though.

Media Interests:

Print Media:

I don’t read a variety of news in news papers although I am very interested in reviews for things like restaurants and new releases of music albums, maybe even film reviews. I prefer to read the news in the news paper rather than on the internet because it feels more traditional. Also a personally reason is that at home my internet connection isn’t exactly brilliant so I might not be able to access it on the internet on some occasions. I do not read many magazines unless you can count things like comic strips e.g. the beano, the dandy etc for which I am an avid reader.

Radio Media:

For radio it is mostly entertainment which I listen to. The most common time is from about half 7 – 8 o’clock in the morning where I am packing my bag, having breakfast etc and I will put Radio 1’s The Chris Moyles Show. I find it very funny.

Music Industry:

I don’t really have a favourite genre of music because I listen to a large variety of music apart from such genres as ‘Dub-step’ etc. Although if I had to pick I would say rock/metal is my favourite genre to listen to.
I belong to a band called ‘The Crates’ where I am the drummer.
I access my music mainly through YouTube or iTunes, although I thoroughly enjoy listening to my dads’ old vinyl records on his old vinyl player. There’s something about the vintage quality of the music. Perhaps it’s because I enjoy the music so much even though it’s not from my generation.

I don’t agree with illegally downloading music because that is which is damaging the music industry.
If your favourite band starts to dress in a certain way then you might copy them because in your mind they are what you consider ‘cool’ thus you start to mimic them. As far as my attitude goes I have had one major influence from a particular artist. This artist being, what I consider to be the ‘King of Reggae’, Bob Marley. Listening to his music I have learnt that there is no point in worrying because life is too short and that everything will be fine in the end if you stick to it and try your hardest at what you want to do in life.

Video Games:

I thoroughly enjoy playing video games. I would say that my favourite video game would be a game called ‘Assassins Creed’. It involves you completing missions but you have the ability of jumping from roof to roof and doing lots of parkour and jumping around etc. Almost like an olden day spider-man in a way.  

A lot of video games are based on violence using guns and such. This could influence the way that gamers view the world and that the way to solve a conflict is to kill the opposed person(s). A good example of a game which exploits women is the series of the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ games where you are a thug and you can hire women as prostitutes etc.

New Technology:
I think that new technologies, like the internet for example, have increased my knowledge and understanding of the world due to the fact that things like the news are more accessible. A few examples of technology that which have increased the ability to communicate with others are things like the internet, mobile phones, and even some games consoles give you the ability to talk to your friends. With new technology access to films has become very easy. For example on the internet there are such websites as ‘BBC iPlayer’ which let you watch television programmes which you may have missed or maybe just want to watch again. There are also many popular sites for the music industry to distribute music throughout the internet legally. There are of course websites which allow you to illegally download music which I personally am strongly against. Websites like ‘BlogSpot’ and ‘Tumblr’ allow you to create your own blog which people can follow and comment on etc. New technologies have helped this because before, for example, the internet the only way you could possibly do this was on paper etc.

Television: One of my favourite channels is ‘ComedyCentral’ just because I like such programmes as ‘Live at the Apollo’, and concerts made by certain comedians. Another channel I like is a channel called ‘G.O.L.D’ which stands for “Go on Laugh Daily”. As you can see, even from the two examples I have given above, I enjoy watching things which make me laugh and smile. My favourite television genre is comedy because I am not really a fan of things like horror for example, quite the opposite in fact. One television programmes which I personally find memorable is a programme called ‘Mythbusters’. The reason for this is because they take myths and rumours and put them to the test. This programme usually ends in them just being silly and going completely over the top. This usually contains them being silly and using high explosives etc. Another one is called ‘Bear Grylls: Born Survivor’. The reason for this is because I find it very interesting to see the different ways of surviving in the wilderness. I think it may have something to do with the fact I was in Scouts for quite a few years when I was younger and this topic has always slightly interested me. I would say the final television programme I will mention is a programme called ‘Man vs. Food’. In this programme he goes around sampling some of America’s most famous restaurants etc. He also tries to complete eating challenges where he just has to either eat his way through a large quantity of a certain type of food or maybe eat a certain amount of the spiciest chilli etc. The reason for this is because I am a bit of a food fanatic and will try anything because I love food.

Feature Film:

My favourite genre in film is comedy, music and action/adventure. I love to have a laugh and music is my passion. 3 films which I find absolutely outstanding are ‘The Boat That Rocked’, ‘Wanted’, and ‘Anchorman’. In summary, ‘The Boat That Rocked’ is a large cargo ship which has been converted into a pirate radio station in the 1960’s. The reason I like ‘The Boat That Rocked’ so much is due to the fact that it has a lot of music in it from the era which I enjoy listening to e.g. 1960’s rock like ‘The Who’, ‘The Beatles’ etc. The reason which I like ‘Wanted’ so much is because it’s packed full of action and has a very interesting story line about a man named Wesley Gibson who is the son of a professional assassin who is shot and Wesley has to try to ‘step into his fathers shoes’ so to speak. Anchorman is about a top news presenter who is the best in the whole of San Diego called Ron Burgundy. He is then rivalled by another woman presenter called Veronica Corningstone. Ron faces the possibility of losing his job to this new presenter and gets up to all kind of antics to sabotage her brilliant reputation. The ways in which I enjoy consuming film are at the cinema and on the television. My favourite cinema is probably Vue Cinema in the Castle Mall. The reason is because I really enjoy the buzzing atmosphere in there and also because the prices are reasonable. I definitely prefer to watch films in a group because I enjoy the company of others and asking about which parts the enjoyed the most.

Am I a media producer?

The only sort of media production which I have contributed towards is my bands music video. These are very basic videos using a home camera to film us playing our songs without any effects or editing of any kind. Unless we have someone else outside the band to film us it’s usually a still shot of us playing.

Conclusion:

I am not an easily offended person so I don’t have a very vivid idea about the kind of media which could have offended me. Really the only contender would have to be the magazines like ‘Match’ and ‘Match of the day’. These are football magazines for those of you unaware. The reason I don’t like them is because I personally am not very interested in them myself. Although, having said this, my brother is a huge football fan and these magazines are scattered everywhere in our house.

In contrast to this I am an avid reader of adventure/fantasy books which intrigue me. I think it’s due to the fact that in these books there are no limitations which I enjoy very much so.

I text which changes my view about the world everyday is the newspaper. I never really get buried with interest in it but my dad reads it everyday so I like to have a skim through just to try and keep up to date with things in general.

I would probably choose a popular magazine which lots of teenagers read e.g. heat, hello or OK magazine. The message I would try to put across would be something to do with a popular genre of music or perhaps a rising star, maybe someone doing very well for a few wrong reasons. Basically a music review to be fair.

The reason I chose media studies as an option was because I am very interested in the production of films and music video etc.

I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into my interests in media etc.

James Winterburn 12KE J