MDA1400 - First Class

In the first MDA1400 session, we were prompted to think about the different types and purposes of films, and what the term 'film' or 'video' really means.

I found this very interesting as it brought a new angle to the course, and in studying several different types of film in the session, such as the corporate films for BMW featuring Madonna and Clive Owen, and Jane Campion's 'Passionless Moments' (the former of which I was very interested in seeing as 'The Piano' is one of my favourite films and it was interesting to see some of her earlier work).

The main aspect of the first session of this module which interested me was the fact that a lot of the film types we started to discuss such as corporate films, documentary and art films, I had never studied in depth or even worked on in my studies. I am interested to learn more about how the skills we developed in MDA1300 can be then adapted and applied to the many different types of film, thus helping me gain more experience in different types of film making from the module.

Another interesting aspect to this module is the fact that we are only to be in groups of two for the practical assignments.

Overall, I think this will be a positive part of the module, as while time will have to be spent organising a crew, the effort of doing this won't mean the end of the world, and in the smaller group there are less likely to be creative clashes, and less opportunity for problems to arise.

The first brief for this module: to create a 2 minute 'music video with a difference' on the theme of 'Space'.
This can be approached in any way we like, and it is not to include a person lip-syncing to a song.

I already have a few ideas for this brief, and as director, I am excited to pitch them to and discuss them with my director, Chris.

MDA1300 - 'The Gift' - Short Film Brief

Here it is, 'The Gift' out final five minute short film based on Sofiane's story.

The main problems during production were the fact that after getting off to a really organised start, we let standards slip and due to a lack of communication over christmas, fell far behind on schedule.

thankfully, we picked things up a bit, then, unfortunately, on our day of filming, our actress (who we had found on gumtree.com) cancelled an hour before the shoot. At the time I was devastated thinking the project must be over before I feel it had begun for me (as editor, I had only done small jobs before the shoot, such as writing the synopsis and getting hold of some props; on the actual shoot I helped out with lighting and setting up the equipment). thankfully, after a week extension, we were able to find an actress to play the older sister.

I feel that the shoot went very well, as we had planned for it so well beforehand, and were able to refine these plans in teh extra week.

Once editing, I noticed a few problems with footage, such as framing issues and some continuity discrepancies, but I feel tha tI worked around these the best I could, and I am proud with how the film turned out.

I was also interested to experiment with the montage in the middle of the film. I had initlaly planned on using a splitscreen (under instruction of the director and producer), but upon making this, I felt it didn't fit with the slow song, and that the gradual fades would be better, so I consulted them, tried it out and they agreed.

Overall, I am pleased with how the project went, and I enjoyed trying out different editing techniques within the film.

MDA1800 - Assessment 02 - Film Analysis - Melancholia

For the 2nd Assessment for MDA1800, we were asked to analyse a film based on some of the terms seen previously in the module.

With it's theatrical Avant-Garde opening, and deep back-story, with a range of emotional character and a tragic ending, I decided to analyse Lars Von Trier's Melancholia in relation to the characteristics of The Well-Made Play.

1800Assessment 02

MDA1300 - Scene Recreation Brief

This is our scene recreation brief.

unfortunately, due to a burst water main in hendon, we were unable to go to the university campus on the intended day of filming, meaning that the actor for the male lead was unable to make it, so we had to find a replacement (thank you Thor!) who, unfortunately, wasn't an amazing actor, so the male lead detracts from the seriousness of the scene.

The girl, however (Arielle) has worked in theatre and drama groups so acted out the character of Karen very well.

I feel the best aspect about this piece is the attention to detail in the rooms (i.e. the discarded bottled in the background, the song playing at the correct time in the scene and the layout of the two rooms), the camera work (shaky, like in the actual scene, to add a sort of grittiness to the drama of the scene) and the edits which are all at the correct moments.

I feel that in some shots the lighting is darker than it should be, but aside from that I feel that we did well in the task considering the unfortunate events and a slight lack in preparation regarding actors/actresses.

For our next brief, we have been given the task of making a 5 minute short film based on one of our stories created for our storytelling and the screen assignment.

MDA1300 - Week Six

This week we had to show the clip for we intend to remake
Initially, we had chosen a clip from the film 'In bruges' in which two gunmen are having an argument over a staircase while a woman is between them, frightened.

After discussion with our tutor, however, and due to our lack of planning on how to approach this scene, we have decided to change scenes, and we already have actors, a shot list and a location sorted out for the shoot.

The main reasons we chose not to film this scene was due to the location needed, as it would have been too difficult to find one with the right 'look' and which we could use the camera efficiently to get the needed shots.

After consulting out tutor, the class then had a talk from a production assistant who works on programs such as 'The Only Way is Essex'.

This was really interesting, as we learned a lot about the sorts of tasks and skills we will need to be successful and start out in the industry. I was pleased with the amount of things I could already do, being let down by the fact that I didn't recognise the function and name for the audio cable, which I now know is the one with the three prongs.

I was also interested to see a real call sheet, and hear the sort of things to be expected of a studio runner (the job most people on the course will get when/if we start out in the industry).

It was also nice to be able to speak with somebody who had started out at the bottom, like us, and worked their way up and now having a job on a well-established show which pretty much everybody knows about.

MDA1700 - Assessment 02 - Realism and Formalism

For our 2nd summative assessment for MDA1700, we were asked to focus on a single film we had studied in class, and while possibly referring to Andre Bazin's 'The Evolution of the Language of Cinema', and palcing the film within its historical and cultural context, identify whether we consider the dominant approach of the film to be Realism or Formalism (and which type) and why.

I chose to analyse Jean Renoir's 'Uni Partie De Campagne':

MDA1700 Assessment 02

MDA1300 - Week Five

Directing Workshop

In this workshop, we were asked to go away for an hour and write a script and storyboard for the first few pages of 'The Big Sleep'.

I found this very challenging, but a really fun task as it was good to see how different people had interpreted the scene in their own ways. For example, one change I made which was different from the novel was that Carmen Sternwood slowly and dramatically was revealed coming down the stairs, which was different to the book where she walks through a door, as I felt this was more dramatic and built up the tension of revealing her character, due to her presumed importance in the story (we had only been given the first couple of pages).

It was very interesting to see many of the main roles a director undertakes (such as storyboarding and scriptwriting) and try them out under the pressure of a deadline, as I, liek many of my course-mates had had a more dramatized and glamourised idea of what a director does, and it was good to find out about what they really do, and how much work they have to undertake.

The task for this week was to recreate a 1-2 minute sequence from any film, shot by shot.

We have already got into a group and will meet to discuss ideas as soon as possible

MDA1300 - Lighting Brief

This is our finished lighting project.

The first scene was filmed using artificial lighting; the second with natural lighting.

I feel that the 2nd (naturally lit) video was done well, as there is slight shadowing on the left side to add depth, and it the light looks a lot like the sort of natural light you get in an early morning (continuing the small story involving the two people drinking before a night out, then drinking coffee while suffering the next morning). The main let down in the second clip, I feel, is the backlight doesn't bring both subjects out as much as it could, only the one on screen left.

While the backlight brings out the subjects in the 1st video (artificially lit) I feel that we could have done something a bit more interesting with the background, like had it blacked out and the subjects lit, using the lights or camera exposure. I feel that the lighting of the background is similar to the first one, just a bit darker. I do, however, like the warmth of the lighting (mainly I think due to the backlight highlighting the subjects,) so perhaps if we'd made the 2nd shot colder lighting, it would have contrasted nicely.

initially there were a few problems with getting the footage off the edit machines, as we had left the default settings when exporting the video. We now know that the default settings are NOT always correct and that we should always manually put the correct settings (720p25, on the HM100 cameras)

MDA1300 - Week Four

Lighting Workshop

This week we learned about the three point lighting system, with the key light, fill light and the backlight.

We learned how to safely set up, use and dismantle the lights, and also about the use of gels to give warm or cold lighting. The white balance function on the camera was also discussed alot; how you can use it in conjunction with the ligths to get many natural and unnatural lighting effects.

I found this very interesting as I had not really known a lot about the white balance function before, or how to use it as efficiently as I now feel I can.

I definitely feel that lighting has been teh most challenging aspect of film production we have covered so far, mainly because I am unfamiliar with the equipment, so find it challenging to use efficiently.
I hope that as I undertake more projects, I will get better at using the equipment and m ability to use the equipment to light a scene will increase.

For this week's brief we are to shoot the same scene twice; once with natural lighting, the second with artificial lighting; using the three point lighting system.

MDA1300 - Editing Brief

Unlike the last brief, we decided upon roles straight away and this was a great advantage in the task. For this brief I was the editor.

While there are one or two problems with sound and lighting (the lighting was mainly fixed in editing), I feel the continuity editing of the video was well done and I was proud with the work of the group.

There are no gaps or jumps in continuity, and we have fulfilled the requirements of the brief.
Unlike the last task we also considered the costume of the characters (thor, looking like a typical 'tough guy criminal' and me having to wear a football shirt, as I'd just watched a match in which my team lost.)

As I enjoy and feel quite confident in using the editing programs I was pleased to be the editor for this task. I remembered to do things such as when the camera cuts, have the action moved along a slight bit so the cut looks smooth, and that when characters go from one shot to the next, for them to not leave the frame, lest the edit look odd and not right with audiences.

MDA1300 - Week Three

Editing Workshop

This was one of the workshops which I was looking forwards to the most, as in all fo the work I had done so far, editing was my favourite part.

Initially, I presumed the workshop would be a tutorial on editing on the computer, so I was surprised when we were given the task involving a series of pictures which we were supposed to organise into a line, each picture representing a scene from the film.

After completing the task we were asked to each walk up to the line of pictures and remove and justify the removal of a scene from the film which was unnecessary.

I found this a very interesting and enjoyable exercise as it shed a new light on what 'editing' was, and that it doesn't just mean the task of putting the film together on an edit machine, but that you had to think about what goes well in the film and what can be cut out for the purpose of time or if it is uninteresting, repetitive or unnecessary.

MDA1700 - Weeks 7-12 - Realism and Formalism

After looking at the Hollywood Continuity System, we moved on to the study of different types of Realisms and Formalism.

Initially, I found the idea of Formalism, especially the implementation of editing, particularly interesting. I had never heard of the term 'Formalism' before, and initially found the different ideas associated with the movement, and the different theorists and theories (such as Andre Bazin's work in 'The Evolution of the Language of Cinema' quite difficult to grasp, however, once I got more comfortable with the new terms and ideas I feel I became a lot more comfortable with the content.

I found Eisenstein's work on Montage, and the different types of montage and their uses very interesting as well, such as the dialectical montage (for example) in Battleship Potemkin, in the steps scene, and the idea that two unrelated images can generate a previously unthought of meaning.

This was similar to the idea of the 'Kuleshov Effect' which I found particularly interesting, in which a person was shown three images of, for example, a man, a bowl of soup, and then the man, again. despite no indication of this in the shots, audiences inferred that the man was hungry, due to the association of the images. I found this particularly interesting, as though I had never thought of it as a point before, this influence held by editing (even of 3 simple images) holds a key importance in how films are interpreted by audiences.

The movement I found the most interesting out of the ones we looked at, was French Poetic Realism. After watchign Jean Renoir's 'Une Partie De Campagne', I really enjoyed the use of stylistic elements and general feel of the film.

I had always presumed Realism to mean a film which was presented as 'realistic' (such as the typical British 'Kitchen Sink' dramas, or the more modern films featuring handheld camera to present a 'realistic' feel), yet when I watched my first poetic realist film, I found that it had a particularly poignant feel to it.

The use of camera movement, music and setting, while not particularly unrealistic, didn't have the grittiness I would associate with what I would think of any form of 'realism', and which can be found in, for example, Italian Neo-Realism (i.e. The Bicycle Thieves). The film itself had an almost fairytale elements to it, which I found particuly captivating, and I also enjoy how, upon further research and finding out more about Jean Renoir, he had been influenced by his Father's work, and used imagery and motifs associated with the French Impressionism Art Movement.