Tuesday, 23 November 2010

Post 10: Job Roles Research

Post 10 was all about understanding the job roles and responsibilities within a film production crew. This was an important post as it helps us a group understand each role everyone has, not only themselves. We were asked to research into five different job roles/departments.

  • Direction,
  • Camera,
  • Lighting,
  • Production Sound,
  • Art Department.
This will help me when I come to deciding what role I would like to play in the group my our A2 film. What I have researched will be the different roles each person has in the group but at a much smaller scale. Each person will be assigned to a job meaning each person in the group will have their own work to do. Knowing what each role has to do will help us as a group as every task can be product efficiently and effectively.



Direction
  • The Direction department is a subset of a larger occupational group referred to as 'Production'.
  • Best known role within the Direction department is that of Director.
  • Within this department, the Director is also supported by a number of Assistant Director.
  • Other roles in the Direction department include the Script Supervisor, Runner.

Camera
  • Good cinematography involves the creation of beautiful and/or arresting images on screen; it can also tell us more about a character or a location.
  • Shot composition, camera movement and the way a Director of Photography (DoP) chooses to manipulate light and shade, all combine to create each film's unique photographic signature.
  • Camera crews work with extremely delicate, expensive equipment and are amongst the most highly skilled practitioners on any film crew.
In our group the cameraman must be able to work with their equipment succesfully. However like the directer when it comes to filming our chosen cameraman must have more of a say when it comes to filming the project.


Lighting
  • The Lighting department plays a crucial role in most film crews.
  • Although some productions may make use of daylight, for the most part it is necessary to use artificial light to achieve the visual image required.
  • They set up a wide range of lighting equipment to achieve a variety of moods, atmospheres and effects, as well as helping to make the actors, performers and participants look right for their roles.


Sound Production
  • Recording all sound on set or on location is the work of the Production Sound Crew.
  • Although film is considered a primarily visual medium, much of the storytelling and emotional resonance of a script is conveyed through dialogue.
  • Dialogue recorded must be suitably clear which is a complex job.
  • Most actors and Directors prefer to use the sound captured on set or location.
The group member dealing with sound will have to take full responsibilty when learning how to work the sound and when we come to filming. Sound is one of the most important parts of film and the member doing this job will have to make sure they know what they are doing.


Art Department

  • Films can be located anywhere.
  • The look of sets or locations transports audiences into the world of the story.
  • A great deal of work and imagination goes into constructing appropriate backdrops to any story.
  • The Art Department usually employs the largest number of people on any film crew.
The person who decides to take up this role in our group will have to do more production work then practical work like when it comes to filming.

Monday, 22 November 2010

Post 9: Individual Script Feedback

First draft for 'Telephone Box';

PAGE ONE
PAGE TWO
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PAGE FOUR
PAGE FIVE


Feedback
After having my script read by my classmates and Becky Knapp i got many comments and feedback about my script. This was a great chance to see where i had gone wrong but also made the right decision.

One of the main problems people picked out was the format of my script. The layout was not correct for instance the description of the shot was not in the correct position and the font was incorrect. The font used was Times New Roman which should have been Courier, I took this advice on board and changed this for the second draft i made. Another problem picked up was my punctuation. On many parts i did not add in full stops, especially in the speech of the characters.

One point brought up by Becky was what made her change. This was something which was obviously not made clear and in the second draft i made sure the it was clear to the reader the graveyard scene was which helped Jenifer change her view on life. She also commented on a lot of my dialogue. She mentioned about the mothers comments. Becky said they were a bit unsympathetic which I looked to change when coming to the second draft.Other comments that were made about my script was - confusing, and why do we care.

After taking the advice on board I went on to draft a second script. I looked at the feedback and thought about how i could improve my script.

Second Draft;
PAGE ONE
PAGE TWO
PAGE THREE
PAGE FOUR
PAGE FIVE
PAGE SIX

After reading throughout our scripts our class teacher and Becky Knapp chose three scripts from the class to use for the A2 short films. Unfortunately mine was not chosen, however i was put into a group of 4 including me. Our group was built around one of the scripts which was chosen. I was placed in a group with the script 'Karma' written by Emily Downer. My other two group members are Carolyn Thornton and Sohail Sadiq, all of us will go onto be assigned with job responsibilities and mush successfully work together to create a A2 short film.

Post 8: Decisions & Revisions

The first task i did to try and help me with choosing an idea for a film was writing down everything that came to my head on a powerpoint presentation. I had a slight idea on the genre route i wanted to go down and from that thought up ideas. The task was the basis of the next few stages which helped me go on to write my first script draft.

After researching into depth about scripts we finally came to the stage of producing our own. To help us come up with ideas for the script we went away and put down all the ideas that came to our heads. For me i wrote ideas down from a bubble of all the ideas i had in mind for a character. I then went onto bullet point an idea for what could be included in the plot of the short film.

After this page I then thought up of a world, character, need, want and obligation; something I looked at in post 7 when speaking about creating your own script. I then went on to make a very rough draft of scenes. This helped me allot to when i came to writing my script as I could refer back to it when writing out my first draft.


A new technique we was introduced to was an 8 way thinking chart. This linked back to the work I did in the earlier posts about creativity and involved being creative about the script i was thinking about writing. The eight words i had to think about was; Nature, Sights, Sounds, Actions, Feelings, Words, People. From these words I had to think about three different elements I could ask about. This was very useful as it really got me thinking about my script and the content. Below is an image of what the thinking chart looked like and what i wrote;

In the end i decided to name the script 'Telephone Box' this was in relation to the character i made up Jenifer (17). The message of the script was there is always a bright side to every situation but you just have to find it.

Synopsis
Jenifer is a teenager finding life tough and only just getting back on track with her life after a best friends death the years anniversary is approaching. Her relationship with her mother is falling apart while she turns to drugs and prostitution. Her views on life take a dramatic turn when she finally plucks up the courage to visit her friends grave after only seeing it at the funeral. We see her enter the telephone box numerous times to make calls to her dealers, but the scene she notices new hot line posters for help with life problems. With the piece of paper in her hand with the numbers of her clients and the hot lines in fornt of her we see Jenifer type in a number but is it for her the good of her or bad?

Tuesday, 16 November 2010

Post 3a: Target Progress

1. The first target i would like to achieve is to improve my skills on the edit suite.
I would say that i could not comment on how i am doing at this first target because we have not started to use the edit suite. However when it does come to this stage I hope, I specifically learn how to properly edit the sound as I found this hard at AS.

2. Another target i am setting myself is to have a stronger research before filming our task.
As we are coming up to preparing our short film I feel so far our research and planning has been very good. I hope as a group we can keep this up and create a strong foundation so we are more than ready when it comes to filming.

3. My third target i would like to achieve by the end of next year is to keep up to date with my blogger and make sure it is at a high standard.
I feel so far I have not kept up to date with blogger as I would like to be. However I feel the standard of the posts I have made are at a high order. In order to stick to this target I will plan out when to come on blogger each week to do posts.


4. The forth target i am setting myself is to keep to the shot lists we have prepared prior to the filming.
One again this target is another one I have not been able to put in to use yet. However when it does come to this stage I will make sure I stick to it by ensuring every time I'm about to film I check the shot list.

5. My final target I am setting myself to have done by the end of the year is to create a successful short film.
This last target is currently being met by the planning we our currently undertaking for our short film. This will be important as if its done right will make everything a lot easier not only at the recording stage but in the editing.

Tuesday, 9 November 2010

Post 7: Creating your own Script

The next stage of this project was a discussion with the class about making our own scripts. We started by speaking about the basics of what we should revolve our short films around. The 3 main elements we came up with we should think about is the world, character and problem. With the character we had to think about a need, a want and an obligation. This would come in handy when we came to write our scripts as it gave us a basis to our scripts.

To help us with this we watched a short film called 'Signs'. It was about a man and a women who worked in two different offices overlooking each other. They start writing on paper to speak to each other through the window. After viewing the film we spoke about what we had done before about the characters in a short film. We came up with his
want was to be loved, he looked a bit lost and confused away from home. His real need was to have some company because he was very lonely and bored but his obligation was him having to go to work and live up to his parents expectations.



We then went on the discuss why we make short films and what directors get from making them. For many it is to showcase their talent in creating short films. This could lead to bigger chances such as directing a film on a larger scale. One way they can showcase their talent to get this chance is film festivals. This gives the director a chance to broadcast their film to a large amount of people hoping to get recognised. Its not just music festivals where short films can be seen, online websites such as Youtube also allow directors to upload their short films for free. This is an easy and cheap way of getting your film out there. Behind the directors who would do everything possible to get their short film seen many just create them for a personal interest. This group of people could be creating them for close family or just simply for themselves.

Thursday, 7 October 2010

Post 6: What makes a good Short Film?

After a visit from film producer Becky Knapp we were required to make our own research into what she discussed with us and also further reading into scripts. After giving us two scripts we had to watch the short films and see if our thoughts from the script was anything like the actual film. Further independent study was also required and further reading. All of the research is below.

When Becky came in to talk to our group about short films she gave out two scripts from her productions. Before we watched her short films we read the script for the film. The idea behind this was to get an image in our head about what we think the short film will look like on screen. We looked at a total of three scripts, reading one script at a time then viewing the content. The two films we looked at were, Donna and Does God Play Football.

The first script we viewed was for the short film Donna. When i first read the script it did not draw my attention. This was because it was plain boring. The lack of dialogue stopped me from imaging any of the characters. After reading thorough the script we viewed the image. It was totally different to the first image i had in my head. This was because i felt the script was difficult to keep with as it was quite dull and dragged on. However i felt the short film as a moving image was well presented with a exceptional location, characters etc. I would say the film not not appeal to me. This is because i found it tedious, however accept the fact producers spent a lot of time producing and filming.

The second script we read was for the short film Does God Play Football. The film is about a seven year old boy without a father but fills the gap by believing in Jesus. In comparison to Donna i found this script more interesting and didn't drift off during reading. I feel the increased use of dialogue to Donna helped create an image of what the film would look like. However like Donna the image in my head was nothing like the image on screen when watching the film. I believe this leads back to Post 2 with the whole idea of creativity, meaning we all picture these scripts differently in our minds. My views on the film were much better than Donna, i feel DGPF was more appealing to me and interesting. However i did feel every scene was dark which did put me off the short film.



Reading these scripts will help me when i come to write my own. I have come to the conclusion that my script will have more dialogue than description. This is because i found Donna tedious to read as it did not draw my attention. From reading these scripts i have also found out that the title to my short film will be one of the biggest factors to weather it is a success or not. The title is the fist element you see when considering to watch a film or not. I feel Donna did not draw my attention however believe Does God Play Football was a noticeable title.

After the lesson we were set some independent study to do some further reading on how to make a good short film script. I read the link on the KLS Media Department blog on 'how to write a good short film script'
The Sunday Times - How to write a good short film script

On the blog was also an example of a example script
Sample script

After reading through the links I felt in a lot better state to finally write up my script. If I have taken anything from this research it is to make sure the punch-line can be easily seen. As the title states the short films are not long so it is essential to get your point to the audience. Looking at the sample script has helped me realise how I need to set out my layout. I will use this information when it comes to drawing up my final script.

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

Post 5: Audience Theory & My Short Film

The first task we were set on audience theory was to read through a series of links with readings of Audience theory. After grouping with 3 of us we had to create a presentation on notes from the section we were selected to do. My group were selected to write up notes on the views of David Gauntlett; it was about his criticism on the effects model.

Below is a link to the presentation;

Audience Theory Presentation

 The second part of post 5 was to watch four films and analyse them. The four I watched were Wasp, About a Girl, Cubs and Frendo.


Wasp (2003)
Wasp is a thrilling social realism film ("Social realism in films is the representative of real life, with all its difficulties" Source) about a single mother with four children living in very poor conditions. The short film had a budget of £53,250, funded by the new cinema fund and film four. The UK film council also helped with the budget, helped clear music rights, and promoting the film. It has won many awards at numerous film festivals in many different countries including, Bermuda, USA, Sweden, Germany.

The dominant message we get as an audience in wasp is that Zoe (the mother) does not have the finance to feed her or her children. However, when it comes to impressing a man she pulls out her wallet with enough change to buy a round at the pub. It stereotypes young single mothers as being a bad parent and not having enough money.


As an audience you have some sympathy with Zoe because she is a single mother with not a lot of money finding it hard to keep her children in place. We see that she wants to go out and have a good time, however as an audience it's frustrating to watch her spend money on drinks at the pub then buying her children food.
The audience knows something will happen to Zoe's children's as soon as she leaves them outside on their own. The wasp flying into the baby's mouth puts the audience on edge and reinforces that Zoe is not fit to be a mother.

The short film looks at life for people lower down the social ladder and almost living in poverty with no food to eat. The mode of address is the the way Zoe is shown to be perceived by an audience. Messages shown though the film include how hard life is being a single parent not being able to afford basic living necessities.

This film is best viewed with large audiences. This is because I think an audience would be torn on how they felt about Zoe. I think some viewers would feel sorry for her because of her situation while others believe she has got herself into it by spending her money in the pub rather than food for her children.


About a Girl (2008)
About a girl is an eye catching short film about an average working class teenager experiencing hopes and dreams. With a budget of around 33,000 the 9 minute clip has won many awards. These include BAFTA Awards, Edinburgh International Film Festival, London Film Festival and the Manchester International Short Film Festival.

The dominant message we get from the short film that the girl is just a normal teenager dreaming of making it as a pop star. However as the film goes on we soon recognize she does not come from the best background. With her parents not the most supportive as an audience you get the idea she isn't the most disciplined teenager. This is especially shown to us in the last scene of the film when we see her throw a plastic bag into a canal finding out it is a baby.


As a viewing audience from the beginning we have some respect the girl, this is because she is ambitious wanting stardom and a better life for herself. We see it is hard for her coming from a poor background with her parents being split up. She doesn't want to end up like her mother and clearly states it when walking. When we see the bag thrown into the canal with a baby however as an audience you lose all that respect you built up for her.

The last scene hits you quite hard as a viewing audience because it is so unexpected. The first time I watched the short film I had to watch the ending again as I was so surprised and shocked to what had just happened. You want to watch it all again so you can realise what she really meant when she was talking about her life. It fits together like a jigsaw and makes you think to the reason why she is in this position.

Like the short film Wasp this was also on the topic of the working class. It is also targeted
to the middle class to show them what life is really like for lower classes? With no help from her parents it gives the message that the lower classes do not give enough support to their children. Teenage pregnancy is also a hot topic and shows once again the parents do not care enough for their child.

I believe this film should be shown in a room of about ten. This is because it is a very shocking short film and leads you to want to discuss about why these events happened.

Cubs (2006)
Cubs is a about a gang of inner city youths who have discovered a new love for urban fox hunting. Ben a normal teenager wants to join the gang however this comes at a price. The short film won the British independent film awards in 2006 for best British sport.

Many teenagers will go to many lengths to try and fit into a group or to please someone. You could see that the teenager (Ben) who had to hunt down the fox was under a lot of peer pressure to do what he did. His guilt is clear when he wipes the blood off his face.

As an audience we feel for Ben for wanting to be accepted into the gang. This is because even when he was accepted into the group he still was not happy.

From an audience point of view however the one person you feel sorry for is the girl (Davis) Ben's friend. At the start of the film she tells him he they won't get chosen and was right. However after a bit of persuading Ben was told to come that night by the leader of the gang (Karl). Davis's disappointment in Ben is shown when he shoots the helpless fox. You feel as though he let her down by doing it and by the end the pair can't even look at each other with Davis walking off in disgust.

When Ben is about to shoot the defenceless fox you, as an audience, are intrigued to see what he ends up doing. The clips of him looking round at everyone around him and more importantly Davis' defeated face as though he had betrayed her, put the viewing audience into unrest to whether he will shoot or not.

I would consider this film to be aimed at teenagers. This is because the message given is that initiation not important. Teenagers should not worry about fitting in and should be happy with the people they have like Ben had with Davis. The message is proven by the fact Ben was still unhappy when he shot the fox and was accepted into the 'Gang'.

I believe this film should be shown in around groups of 20. This is because it is another short film that would have a lot of people with different views on initiation.

Frendo (2009)
This is a hard hitting short film about a man who went out parting taking large amounts of drugs and alcohol this is the end lost him loosing not only his girlfriend but his face. The film has won the BBC winning short film in 2009 and was made by the independent film company Four Colour Films.

The dominant message you get from this short film is that taking drugs and drinking alcohol on a regular basis can affect you forever. Frendo shows the permanent effects these can cause with the man's lack of expression in his face.
As an audience you don't feel symphony with the person with the man because it was his decision to go out and party with drink and drugs. It was his fault that he did not stay in with his girlfriend, which in the end led to her leaving him. However from another view you can feel for him as he wanted to go out and have a good time with his friends like everyone else. Different people will have different views on this matter.

The part of the short film that hits you most is when he is asked what is wrong with his face. This is when he enters the toilets and realises that his facial expressions have completely gone. It hits you as you see the worst effects of drug and alcohol abuse.

This short film is aimed at people between the ages of 16-25. This is because these are the years who go partying and who most likely to take these substances. Its message is overdosing on these can have a serious effect on not only your health but your relationships.

The film should be shown in small groups of people aimed between the ages of 16-25 as it would have an effect on them whether they are taking large amounts of these substances or not. After viewing this you feel you need to discuss with people their views on it.

Conclusion - How I will use this in my own short film
In conclusion the main elements I need to add into my own short film are stereotypes, a message and a shock factor. Like in Wasp Zoe was a stereotype of a single mother, with no money and letting her children let loose. Cubs gave us the message that initiation came at a price. With Ben being accepted into the gang he was soon left by his real friend Davis. While a shock factor like in About a Girl is also a very strong element to have in a film. Because it was so unexpected it played with your mind and you wanted to watch the film again to see if what she was talking about related to the ending.

All these four films were all shoot in superb locations that helped make the film realistic. For me the best one was Wasp. The location fitted with the characters and helped create a scene that the family was actually in a really bad state financially.

By using what I have found out throughout watching these films I will hopefully successfully create a 5 minute short film.

Tuesday, 7 September 2010

Post 4: Genre as a Media Concept

In our media lesson we looked at genre as a media concept. After looking through a power point we had a discussion on many of the topics brought up.
The link below is for the KLS media department's power point on genre as a media concept;
KLS Media Department - Genre as a Media Concept



The first discussion we had was about Robert Altman's views on genres. One of his theories is "That genres are defined by producers and are easily recognised by audiences" In many ways this is very true. This is because producers choose the actors for their films which tells the audience what genre of film they are producing. For example if a film stars Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwarzenegger you know it's going to be an action film. We also discussed about how genres develop in predictable ways. This was one of Robert Altman's Theories and in many cases could not be doubted. For instance a romance genre film would usually start with a slow beginning leading to something dramatic happening in the middle ending in a romantic fairy tale. However as a group we did not agree with all of his ideas. Altman believed "That texts 'belong' clearly to a particular genre in each case" We disagreed strongly on this as many films can be perceived as many different genres in one. An example of a film is 'Titanic' which is a romance and disaster film. One quote from Altman that could be linked with our AS media project 'Thug Britain' is "That genres are ideological". This is because we specifically made our opening scene in a different way to draw the attention of a younger audience. Drug related deals, interesting locations and music were all used in our opening scene to attract the audience we wanted. I believe we done this pretty successfully however looking back would have changed a lot.

The next discussion the group had was thoughts about Genre. We looked at a Robert Altman question "Should we read genre as a noun or adjective" After a short vote we came up with the idea that genre is an adjective. An adjective is a describing word so looking at it from an audience point of view this is what a genre is.

After this we had a debate on where you would find tomato puree in a supermarket. Most people had very different ideas to where the puree would be found in a supermarket. After this we were then asked; "What would happen to this item if it were shelved in another part of the shop" and "Would the thing itself be any different" After talking we decided it is a big factor to where the tomato puree is placed in the supermarket. For instance if it was put with all the other tomato products would people still buy it? In relation to film and genre in if something is changed will it change something else? For instance if Taylor Lautner was not in Twilight would as many girls watch it? Or if the Football Factory made a squeal to the first film without Danny Dyer would many men bother going to the cinema to view it. The tomato puree is a great example of how one little difference like changing something could make a huge difference.

The final slide we looked at was Neale and Hartley's views on genre theory. Neale's theory is genre theory leads to 'regulated variety' while on the other hand Hartley describes a contract between producer and audience which 'disciplines' choices and reduces desires. In a way I can agree with both, this is because as an audience we have a lot of power over the film industry. With so many films produced there is a greater choice for an audience to choose what they want to see. Film producers know this and work with audiences to help make their film more desirable.

After looking at Genre it has helped me to see where I went wrong in the making of my opening sequence at AS. One way I think we could have improved is to have played on stereotypes. I think we tried to do this with the outfits we chose however looking back maybe should have done the kitchen scene in a different location. This is because it was a bit weird the pair lived in a house while struggling for money. I fell this confused the viewing audience and would have changed this if I had the chance. Considering we only had two minutes to play on stereotypes would have helped us story tell better.

My new understanding on Genre will help me greatly in my A2 short film. I have learnt it is the little parts that make big differences for instance one actor can make the whole film a success. I feel for our AS we had two very good actors which also helped the film a great deal. It will also help me when choosing what genre to choose. By looking at the most popular genres they seem to have around three or four different ones. This will help create a larger audience.

Wednesday, 7 July 2010

Post 3: Skills


Skills Table
For this part of the project we were put into small groups and had to speak about all the skills we have learnt in the making of our AS media opening scene. These were all written down on a poster. We put our skills into four different topics.

- Digital Technology,
- Research and Planning,
- Post Production,
- Media text Conventions

Each topic needed an identification to a specific skill we needed when producing our AS project 'Thug Britain'. These three things were Cognitive skills,Technical skills and Interpersonal skills. After this we had to film our poster and have voice overs reading out the table.







A2 SMART Targets
1. The first target i would like to achieve is to improve my skills on the edit suite. I feel i learnt allot at AS with the preliminary task and opening sequence to a film. However editing the sound i found very difficult and could not get to grips with editing this. Another part of the edit suite i believe i could still improve is adding in visual effects. This was because i was not the member of the group who did this part. I will achieve this target by using the edit suite more often so when it does come to the main task i can complete it to the best of my ability.

2. Another target i am setting myself is to have a stronger research before filming our task. Not only will this give us a better understanding on how to make my filming at a higher quality but will give me numerous ideas. After looking at existing films after we made our AS opening sequence i felt if i had seen it before we had filmed i would have wanted to change many parts. I will achieve this target by doing more home study research in build up to filming for this project.

3. My third target i would like to achieve by the end of next year is to keep up to date with my blogger and make sure it is at a high standard. I felt at AS my blogger was thorough and had detail, however feel if i left it to the last minute to complete all the work. This made it all feel a bit rushed. I also didn't complete some posts to the best of my ability. The key to making sure this does not happen again to to do allot more independent study at home. I also aim to use my free periods in school wisely by logging onto blogger to complete work.

4. The forth target i am setting myself is to keep to the shot lists we have prepared prior to the filming. I felt previously we did not stick to every detail in the shot lists such as the sizes of the shots and the length of the shots. This lead to us having to re-jig one or two shots so it kept the whole opening scene flowing. The overall quality will be a lot higher if we refer to the shot lists when we actually film. This target will be met by ensuring every time we film, we have the shot list sheet and keep to it.

5. My final target I am setting myself to have done by the end of the year is to create a successful short film. I felt our opening to a film 'Thug Britain' was very strong in terms of what we included. We had Shot reverse shot, good locations, talented actors and neat editing. If this is to be done everything learnt in preparing, filming and editing in the opening to a film will have to be more effective.

Friday, 25 June 2010

Post 2: Creativity

Creativity
A quote from Linda Naiman defines 'Creativity' "I define creativity as the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing. Innovation is the production or implementation of an idea. If you have ideas, but don't act on them, you are imaginative but not creative."
Source


Game of Consequences
The game of consequences involved a group of four with each person writing down an adjective and noun on a piece of paper to create a sentence. Each time something was written down it was folded over so the next person could not see what was written before. When the piece of paper would opened up it read a short sentence. Our group ended up with "The disgusting bucket drinking the new rubber duck."

Using this sentence we had to use our creative side to create an image involving a new rubber duck and a bucket. We could do this in many ways on any programs. In the end I created mine on Photo plus an image editing program where you can take a few images and merge them together and so forth.

This task was probably the hardest and easiest in one. This was because there was many rules in this which only allowed us to create a picture along the lines of our sentence. However it also made it a lot easier as it gave us something to aim at while many of the other tasks did not have as many rules. I would not say it affected the ability of being creative as it was just a sentence which could be perceived in many ways by different people.


Below is the image I created; 'The disgusting bucket drinking the new rubber duck';

Creative work
The picture below is a work of my own individual piece of creative work. I feel this is creative because was my own idea to take the picture out the blue. I feel thinking of the idea then actually taking it takes us back to Linda Naiman's idea of thinking of something then making it creative by actually producing it. By taking this photo I have made it creativity. I feel there was not a lot of rules or conventions to this task and it actually made it a lot harder to think of something creative as you didn't have any basis to work along. However it tested your ability to be creative.


Video on Creativity
The video on creativity was given to us to see how creative our group could be with a camera. We were given the instruction to film a one minute clip which had to include a pen. The clip could not be edited so every shot had to be pin point perfect. We had twenty minutes to come up with an idea and film it. In the end we came up with the idea of a lost pen. the individual that had lost his pen went around looking for it not knowing it was closer to him than he thought. Everyone in the group had there own creative ideas and these were put together into one.

For this task as a group we had to be very creative and with only 20 minutes had to think of ideas that came to our heads. This made the task harder as you did not get a chance to think though and work out what you were going to film. In the end we thought of something then filmed it also thinking about the minute we had to film it in. This task had a few rules including it had to be one minute long and had to include a pen. The pen rule helped as it gave us something to have the clip on. It did affect our ability to be creative though as a without the pen we could have done anything with the one minute. However without I don't think we would have thought of anything to film in the short amount of time we did have.
Below is the clip; 'Where's my pen';




Conclusion
In my view being creative is the ability to do something different and something someone else would not necessarily think of. I like Linda Naiman's idea of imagination ideas then producing them. It can be defined as creativity as you are actually creating what you are thinking. I feel the game of consequences really made you think about what you could make out of a stupid sentence. In the end I don't think I could have been creative as I could have but at the time that's the picture that was in my head of what I would look like. My own creative work showed my creative side and helped to show what I thought was being creative. The last task video on creativity made us a group put all our thoughts into one. After watching other groups videos I feel we could have been much more creative but once again at the time that was our creative minds working to make what we made.


This is a great way of learning how to be creative and have an open mind in the lead up to writing a script. Having a script which is creative is important as it will attract an audience. Learning about being creative will also help when we come to film. Being creative with the shots and so forth will enhance the quality of our final cut. To conclude creating this post has helped me realise how important my creative side is and to use it in the up and coming work. 

Wednesday, 23 June 2010

Post 1: Skill

For the start of our A2 media coursework we were asked to find the term of "Skill". Below are links to sites which give us a definition.

http://http://www.yourdictionary.com/skill

http://http://www.thefreedictionary.com/skill

http://www.yourdictionary.com/skill

'SKILL' Definition:
A skill is the great ability of proficient, this is acquired or developed through training or simply experience. This relates to our further projects as we will need to have skills in filming etc. The more you practice the better you will get. I will use this in my media project as the more practice I get the stronger I will be at that element of media studies whether it be the edit suite or drawing up a shot list.