Hurtwood Media A2 - Hopes and Expectations for this year

I have some personal aims for Media that I hope to achieve throughout the course of this year. By setting these I am able to have a clear idea of what it is that I have as a target and then drive towards and grantee having a successful, academic year.

From Media Studies I hope to be capable to achive the following:

1. To get the best grade possible, preferably an A or an A*
2. To continue to enjoy the subject and WANT to attend lessons
3. To understand the concepts and develop knowledge within the business sector

Hopefully I'm right in thinking that I am able to gain all of the above as long as I......

Manage my work Affectively

Come to lessons with a positive attitude

and

Listen well in class and ask any nessacessary questions to insure I understand fully.





Below I made a Pie Chart showing a visual representation of the previous AS year and the up and coming A2 year

There are two Main Sections to this course:

• Advanced Portfolio in Media (100 marks) 

this will involve producing a main artefact, two ancillary and an accompanying

blog containing your research, planning and evaluation materials.

• Critical Perspectives in Media (100 marks)

an exam in which you will need to show your understanding of media theory

as it applies to your own media product and apply it.

Hurtwood Media A2 - An Introduction to A2 course

I enjoyed studying Media Studies for the first time throughout my AS year because it was the first time that I had been taught properly about all aspects of the subject. In the past I had only taught myself minor 'hands-on' skills which, in comparison to what I know now, was painful as it took a lot longer than being told how to do it. Now I feel like I am able to go out and confidently use a camera, equipment or software.

The main area I really learnt about and found surprisingly interesting was the business side of the subject, which involved us learning about the Film Industry. Since this 'discovery' I have decided to explore the business side of other industries within the area of work that I want to pursue later in life.

Throughout my life I have always had a great interest in fashion and the industry that surrounds it, and when I hit my GCSE year I finally solidified this decision and made the big move from my previous school

 (of which I attended since nursery to my current place........Hurtwood House :)

Moving here has brought me that one step closer to reaching my goal of getting my foot into the fashion industry.
Much like the situation I had with Media, I haven't had the specific access to education in the area and as a result have had to attend additional courses in oder to get some teaching and then teach myself; which I didn't mind so much because its what I ultimately enjoy doing.

IJustReallyWantToGetOutAndGetGoing

Of course, I like to explore EVERYTHING to do with fashion as well as taking every opportunity that comes my way - (as with most things). The internet is a great source for hunting through subjects related to this area and I spend hours following through links, images and videos of endless, inspiring information. 




Twitter is a fab, instant website that I have daily access to through using my I-phone https://twitter.com/TillyGuttridge



As well as this I also spend far to much time scrolling through, 
which I admit can be extremely dangerous as I get hooked and tend to lose track of time.
http://tillyg.tumblr.com


At the moment I'm looking at Foundation Courses within the fashion industry itself and I hope to find the perfect, well-rounded year course which give me an insight into all the areas and possible unknown areas to me. Through doing this I hope to further my experience and later career as well as hopefully discovering what it truly is I'd like to do!

FINGERS CROSSED

everything will work out okay and I manage to do something I'd love to do.

I really think that studying Media Studies will really help me to pursue this career choice as I may not have been so inclined to have explored the 'Business' side to creative based subjects. Also part of this A2 year course involves studying 'Media in the online age', and this will overlap with some of the websites above as well as many more. So maybe I'll discover something else new which would be fabbbbbbb:) 

My Final Film - Hurtwood

VIDEO

I hope you like my film and appreciate how much work I've done! I've enjoyed producing this and also enjoyed the final production of it.
:)

Task 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the pression from it to full product? - Hurtwood

Looking back at my prelim and my final film I have learnt a wide range of techniques and skills from working with the variety of technologies available to me. One of the most important aspects that I have reinforced during this time is the importance of working as a team and a group.
In addition the technical elements involved. Using Blogger regularly,equipment such as the Son NX5 camera, programs like Final Cut Pro and Sound Track Pro; all of these I have learnt about in a great amount.

Before this I had only visited Blogger once or twice and attempted to create my own blog, however I failed. Now I am able to go about, creating Blogs that include a variety of different techniques and media that help to produce a more visually interesting blog.
To begin with I did include some images however as I've progressed, I've integrated a wider variety of media such as my own videos, youtube videos, powerpoints (using the online program, Scribd). I've also scanned in my own photos, with the addition of including wordle creations - these are just a few examples of some different techniques I've included in my blog to help make it more interesting and fun!

Another way of visually seeing how much I've improved is comparing the quality of my two videos - The first film, my Prelim and also my final film the opening sequence of our Thriller.

 

Even in the above screen grabs you can already see that the quality of the final film is much higher and more sophisticated than the original clip. Additionally the composition of the shot is much more successful than the previous.

This has been achieved by my improvement in the way that I've shot and filmed the clips and also the way that I've used the editing program to put these together.

The camera quality has improved as a result pre-planning what shots I intend on using when coming to the shooting day. This is done by creating and drawing up a storyboard that includes information such as shot type, action, movement, lighting, time and many other characterics. In addition the shots are not only framed better but also we've included shots like a tracking shot which using movement. This involves the revealing of the scene slowly and it flows into one-another, tying the clips together comfortably.
Learning to use a camera properly and effectively is a key element to filming as this produces how effectively the outcome of your final film is.

In addition to learning this equipment, my knowledge behind editing and the program 'Final Cut Pro' has increased massively. This is noticeable when comparing the Prelim and my final Thriller as I have included a greater range of material, through using still images as well as moving shots, of a higher level. These moving shots emphasised the rhythm and also adds an element of varying pace - hence creating a more satisfying film.

Furthermore, the way that we can constructed the film as a whole, this being how the shots have been put together. We were able to do this affectively by our pre-planning. It was here were I recognised the importance of organisation  and this was helped by creating a Storyboard. This is a key element which involoves us drawing up shots and estimating how the lighting, sound and other key elements should look when we finally come to the shooting day. Additional to this we also construct a shot list:

This all involves us as a group being organised in advance, as this ensures that our shoot day flows well and goes to plan!

This leads me on to another lesson I have learnt throughout this time period. Being organised is one of the biggest points that I has been reineforced, all of the pre-planning takes up the majority of the time and it is important that you continue tho carry out these tasks carefully and thoroughly. For example drawing up the storyboard and producing a set design -

Like in the image above, to create this scene we would have had to drawn up an image to ensure all of us understood what it was we wanted to produce and how we were going to do it. We researched how it was supposed to look to ensure that we produced a realistic and convincing set that the audience could understand.
This yet again involved us to source our props to create a tent like this. Here being big sheets, lightstands, crocodile clips and weights; all of which we used to produce this, however some props we did have to find last minute due to some hic-ups.

Lastly teamwork. This is an element that I feel like I have learnt about the most, as without this the whole Thriller, production and completion of our work would not have happened if we weren't to work together.
Part of this involoves peoples commitments and a rule that should be followed is that when given a task, or taking on a task, you should stick to it! For example I said that I would produce a storyboard so that we had a general idea of what it was we were going to be carrying out.

 I produced this multiple times - unfortunately - as a result of our ideas changing regularly. Although it was a hassel, I still carried on with it as I said I would. If i didn't it would inflict upon the way that we all worked.
Furthermore, an important aspect that us as a group should work at is to keep calm and don't get to stressed and panicy. There is no reason as to why we should be flustered because we were prepared. If this happens it is key to keep calm and try and look for a possible solution.

Other than that I feel like as a whole we were successful in what we finally produced. I hope that our hard work is noticeable and that people appreciate whjat it is we have produced.

Task 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? - Hurtwood

As a group we have annotated our thriller sequence to show how we used digital technologies to create this sequence.




Please click on the speech bubble below the turn off the speech bubbles.

Task 5: How did you attract/address your audience - Hurtwood

The target audience is men aged 25-55.

Our Thriller falls into the 'Disaster Thriller' genre as it is based on the idea of the world's end of civilization as the result of a disease spreading and wiping out the majority of the population.
Issues such as these have recently been in the news and so people will be able to relate to topic and also its more realistic hence it being a more grown up thriller. Below is an example of an article showing a story that was in the news earlier this year, which is very similar to our theme:

A screen grab from our thriller, including a still from news footage and a microscophic cell from a virus.

Since looking at the results of what types of people watched the Contagion trailer (males 25-55) I've concluded that older males are more likely to want to watch our Thriller.

People with an older age are more likely to have an interest in medical issues and geographic disasters as our thriller addresses these issues and people of an older age tend to understand these better and also watch these as they could learn/argue how and why some of the issues talked about in the film happen. Also at this age people are more aware of the state and welfare of our planet as a whole and they may be interested in the understanding of surviving in these kind of situations. 

Another reason as to why I think that our Thriller will be more appropiate for men of an older age is because it is based on real life issues which these people appreciate and understand much more because they want something more thoughtful than the typical car chase. For example the issue referring to the Bird Flu crisis.

Additionally to the points above, our film offers an idealised fantasy of male power and intellegence; as well as stregth and good looks. This brave, intellegent and heroic character is something that men of an age like this enjoy to imagine and fantize about.

The clip above is taken from our Thriller opening, and this is an example of a scene that a male character (like described before) is stereotypically supposed to accomplish. If we were to include a female as the main character in film like this we would get a completely different response. Stereotypically women are not able to succeed in helping a scene like this, they aren't known to be hero's of the day. Also the reason for men coming to watch films like this would probably change, the female character would become an object to watch rather than the meaning behind the film itself.

Task 1: In what ways does my media project uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media products? - Hurtwood

In What Way Does Your Media Project Use

Here I've created a powerpoint explaining the ways in which different films, programs and books have inspired us to produce our Thriller opening in the way that we have. Be this the set-up/mise-en-scene, editing techniques, affects used and overall production.