Thom Walker's AS Media Blog

A Media blog following the progress of Thom Walker's AS coursework

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the boys group photo

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tabs for website

The suggested categories for media AS website from Mr Goddard 

Planning -------------------

storyboard script shooting schedule risk assesment casting location codes of dress props lighting titles soundtrack

Research ------------------- Other texts genre techniques and test shots institution audience

Group ------------ roles why chose group what roles do i bring

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New Website

Be sure to check out my new website :

http://twalkermedia.wix.com/asmedia

contains details on my media premlimnary and more! Also check out our other social networks

https://twitter.com/twalkermedia

https://www.facebook.com/twalkermedia

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Match on Action

The following description helped me a lot in understanding match on Action:

Cutting on action or matching on actionrefers to film editing and video editingtechniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. Although the two shots may have actually been shot hours apart from each other, cutting on action gives the impression of continuous time when watching the edited film. By having a subject begin an action in one shot and carry it through to completion in the next, the editor creates a visual bridge, which distracts the viewer from noticing the cut or noticing any slight continuity error between the two shots.

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start with shot of person in room - victim

build suspense via diegetic sound of footsteps and non diegetic soundtrack

shots cut of inbetween room and slow reveals of killer walking.

victim is hiding in room

shots of killer entering room, and calming sitting down

victim asks "question"

psychopath "response"

cut to black, then  cut to low angle of victim 

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Preliminary Task

The preliminary task is designed to allow you to asses the difference in quality when making the main task and allow you to try out certain techniques.It counts towards 15 marks of the main task and is to last for around 30 seconds to 2 minutes. The use of key filming concepts such as match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.

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Shallow Grave (Boyle, 1994, UK)

The opening title's background are red indicating danger or blood, we then see a fade to white and fade to visual with a voice over, the editing pace at this point is quite slow matching the music which is building. the shot is a birds eyes spinning which is quite disorientating. We then see the non diegetic music rise in importance and pace. this is coupled with fast paced shots of the urban area with many handheld shots of the floor once again adding to the disorientation. This is then contrasted by the slow moving stable shots of the forest. The shots are overlayed by the opening credits, the main one of which is larger than the names and appears in one of the woodland shots. the main title is red which a black outline once again making it stand out and giving it a rather ominous look presenting danger. the shots of the forest are low key which contrasts to the high key lighting of the city thus making a contrast between the two.

The non diegetic music then subsides to allow way for the narrative to start, where we see three people sitting and interviewing a new flat mate. before this we see an almost POV shot of the man climbing the stairs, and then a shot of the name plate, thus introducing the characters. We also see a red door, introducing that this may be a place of danger. we see a high angle shot of the man - Cameron as he is walking down the stairs showing his weakness, you then see a low angle shot of Ewan Mcgregor. We then see the three flatmates cackling which is quite strange and out of place. 

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New Tricks is a fantastic crime tv drama to represent age and gender. There are 3 elder men (about 50+) that are all crime investigators, and the boss who is a female (mid 30’s) The boss is both a stereotypical character of a female, however she is also very antistereotypical, the reason being is because she is a very attractive female, always representing herself in an attractive way. However she is the boss of 3 elder men, this is unstereotypical because most boss’ are male and of the elder generation, this is because males are represented to be more powerful and dominant and elder people are generally represented to be wiser and more experienced. The 3 crime investigators are very stereotypical old men, they are all very intelligent and enjoy a bit of banter every now and then.

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Rear Windows (Hitchcock, 1954, US)

The title sequence sets the scene, it is fairly stationary and so shows a closed environment. The music going along with the title sequence is quite stringy and creates suspense. In the background we see the blinds slowly revealing the apartment. This symbolises the revealing of the plot. the camera panning around the block of flats shows how they are all connected to each other and possibly tells us there may be a signifigant part of the plot revolving around the interaction between one of the flat members. It also creates a very unnaturual feel. There is a juxtaposisition betwen the protagonist, who is very passive and the rest of the people who are very active

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Thriller Notes, 20/10/2014

It can include - a pursuit - victim of a crime - isolated criminal - abscence of authority Charles Derry identifies six sub genres of thrillers, but there may be more: - Murderous passions (love triangle, where one of the love triangle members gets killed) - The political thriller (involves a plot to assisinate a powerful person or government conspiracy) - The thriller of aquired identity (where the protagonist have comes to terms with an unnocustmed murder) - The pyschotraumatic thriller (involves crime or murder and the effects of a past trauma) - The thriller of moral confrontation of good versus evil - The thriller of the innocent on the run (innocent is on the run from a power higher than themselves) When making a thriller intro, for the 2014 exam, stick to a mainstream example of thriller, do not think about the entire plot of a full length movie, just the two minutes that you are filming some examples of the sub genres Murderous Passions - The Postman Always Rings Twice ( Garnett, 1946, US) - Double Indeminity (Wilder, 1944, US) Political Thriller - Seven Days In May (Frankemheimer, 1946, US) - JFK (Stone, 1991, US) - Shooter (Fuqua, 2007, US) Thriller Of Aquired Identity - North By NorthWest ( Hitchcock, 1959, US) - The Assassin (Badham, 1992, US) - The Maze Runner (Ball, 2014, US) Psychotraumatic Thriller - Marnie (Hitchcock, 1964, US) - The Equalizer (Fuqua, 2014, US) - White Bird in a Blizzard (Araki, 2014, US) Thiller of Moral Confrontation of Good Versus Evil - Strangers On A Train (Hitchcock, 1951, US) - Se7en (Fincher,1995, US) Thriller of Innocent On The Run - The 39 Steps (Hitchcock, 1953, UK) - The Fugitive (Davis, 1993, US) - Enemy Of The State - Gone Girl (Fincher, 2014, US) There can be extracts with both sub genres included, such as Shooter (Fuqua, 2007, US) Where we see that the polticial thriller is introduced when Bobby Lee Swagger is framed for a political assisnation and then the innocent on the run is introduced when he has to run from a group of corrupt politicions. These sub genres however are only there as a guide, they are produced by Charles Derry, and so are not set in stone, there are other sub genres.

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The Thriller Genre Here we see the different types of thriller

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In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

George Orwell

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Stereotypes of age - 16/10/2014

Showing the positive and negative representations of young and old people in the media

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The 180 dgr rule When filming an interaction, stay within a 180 dgr arc. Keep the cameras on one side of the arc otherwise your interaction will not have continuity, which would confuse the audience. If you are looking to create discontinuity then this would be perfect

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Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

George Orwell 

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Our Girl S2E3 - Representation Of Regionality - 14/10/2014

In this extract we see a stark contrast between Mollie’s home life and her work. Where as in Afghanistan, we see a very dusty and barren landscape, with molly living in a tent, she comes back home to the very urban and modern environment of london. The code of dress in this picture indicate the merging of her work and home life and tell the audience how she has not yet adjusted to civilian life. Props wise she is also using a mobile phone, which shows the technological advancements in her home country. After a while back in England, her code of dress changes entirely to civilian clothing and away from the army clothing. When we are in Afghanistan, we see a heavy presence of long shots, highlighting the scenery and barrenness of the location, this juxtaposes the camera shots used when in england, which are generally medium or close ups to show london as a cluttered and tightly packed space. Our girl highlights the massive differences in the two regions using a variety of camera, editing, sound and mis en scene techniques, including ambient sounds, editing pace, narrative and actors.