MDA1400 - Third Class

After critiquing the observation documentaries, we looked at Campaign Films, and started to think about the causes on which we would like to base our own campaign films on in our groups.

the main aspects we had to consider were WHO the audience for our film would be, and WHERE it might be distributed, as each of these would affect the form and style as they'd affect the audience and how we need to reach them

I was paired with Matt, and we decided he would be producer, and I would be director, and we decided that the issue we would raise is Alcohol Awareness, and drinking excessively in students.

We started out by looking at similar ad campaigns and how they reach their audiences.

Our target audience was students aged 18 to 25, who regularly go out drinking as it is the social norm.

Our initial plans were to show the students drinking at a party with friends, and initially showing them as being popular and 'cool' people, then show the shocking reality in which they are drunken messes, being mocked and taken advantage of.

This is similar to an existing alcohol awareness campaign, in which what a girl thinks is happening is shown simultaneously alongside what others are observing.

I am excited to start this project, as I feel that with planning we have gotten off to a good start, so as long as we keep organised we should have no problem making a successful campaign film.

MDA1400 - Brief 02 - Observational Documentary - 'Cig Break'

This is the observational documentary made by Mayang and I.

While we initially set out to observe the social aspects of people on a cigarette break, due to a lack of planning on our behalf, and mistakes during filming, the best footage we had was of a person on their own on a cig break.

While most of the footage, I can safely admit, was quite boring, there was the one moment on here, in which a group of students walk by, one of whom is bragging about his collection of designer shoes.

This random event is really what makes it a natural observational documentary, as it shows that while just observing events different things happened which weren't influenced by us.

The minimal titles and lack of sound editing also adhere to the 'conventions' of observational documentary.

MDA1400 - Second Class

After critiquing the group's variety of responses to the 'Space' brief, we discussed the film form of 'documentary', and looked at the different approaches to documentary, including:

• Poetic
• Expository
• Observational
• Participatory
• Reflexive
• Performative

I found the session interesting, as I honestly hadn't thought much about the different types of documentaries, so it was interesting to see some examples and learn about different types and their main (but not the only) characteristics and themes.

The main type we focused on was the Observational Documentary, and we watched Molly Denevue's 'The Heart of Angel' and Mark Isaac's 'Lift'.

out of these two, I found Lift the most entertaining, as while both had relatable character's and were interesting, I really enjoyed the humour in 'Lift' and the huge range of characters.
Also, the fact that it was set in one block of flats with the same people living there, and not a busy London tube station, meant that the same people were seen repeatedly, so you became attached to some of the characters, as you would in a narrative film almost.

This weeks brief is to make a short observational documentary.
While I am excited about the opportunity to do this, I feel that as it's a new genre I am working with I may find it difficult to come up with workable ideas, so I will have to start discussing possibilities with my parter for this week, Mayang, as soon as possible.

MDA1400 - Brief 01 - '(no) Space'

No Space from Adam Amini on Vimeo.

This our (mine and Chris Salisbury's) response to the first brief for MDA1400 - to create a 2 minute video with the theme of 'space'.

while we were initially thinking of ideas to do with 'outer space', in the end we decided to take 'space' to mean 'personal space' or when a person feels they have no space in their lives, emotionally, not physically.

as director, I really enjoyed pitching the creative aspects of our idea to the producer, as I have always enjoyed and been interested in art films, arthouse films and avant garde-style films, yet in my studies I had never had much of a chance to put my interest into practise, so I found the chance to exercise creative control with a high standard of equipment very fun and interesting.

I also edited the piece so it was also the first piece of work I had created in which I feel I left a creative mark, and even though there are technical faults and issues, it is probably the piece so far I am most proud to have worked on.

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