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