28 November 2012 - Mock Exam Q 'n' A

Three things I found easy

• Types of Sound/Music
• Mise-en-Scene
• Taking notes

Things I found hard

• Timed writing (Need more time)
• Composition
• Editing skills



12 November 2012 - Photoshop

Using Photoshop

Here is how I had learnt to use Photoshop in order to start making some sort of progress in my School Magazine;

•  First I will go on 'File' and then click 'New' which will then lead you onto a drop box where it will ask you the Title of the Document and also what kind of document it will be. I had chosen 'International Paper' which you can select by clicking on the drop box that says 'Present'. (Make sure that it's also in A4 as the size may come out different) What should appear is a blank A4 paper.
• In order to add colour to the background there are two options; The first is going onto 'Edit' and then clicking onto 'Fill...' A drop box will appear which you will then have to select on 'Use:', that will help you choose what you want to to add as a background. But since it's my first time I clicked onto 'Colour..' which then led me to another drop box in which I could select which colour I would like to use for my background. Another way is to look at the right-hand side of the Photoshop page layout and near the top corner you should be able to see a box which says 'Colour'. In the same box you can click a different heading (Styles), and that will lead onto a selection of patterns that you can use for your background.
• Then I would insert an image by getting up the picture in the folder and then I drag and drop in into the page on photoshop.
• After than I played around with the tools that could add some sort of effects onto the images.
  Blur tool and Magic lasso are 2 of the many tools there are for you to use.

9 November 2012 - Sound

Types of Sound or Music

• Film and TV largely effects the audience because of what they see, and especially what they hear
• Dialogue recorded on location - Sound of people speaking whilst filming
• Dialogue recorded after filming - Sound recording is done after and then added to the film clip, lip dubbed
• Diegetic sound or music - Sound that relates to what is shown in the clip and recorded when it happens, eg. Seeing a door slam and hearing it slam at the same time
• Non-Diegetic sound or music - Sound such as music or sound effects that are then added after the clip is used. Perhaps music that doesn't fit in with the scene, eg. Soft music being played in the park but there is no source where the music could be coming from

More types of Sound and Music

• Sound bridge - A sound that leads in and out of a scene/ a sound that overlaps between scenes
• Layering - Different types of sound on top of each other helps to emphasis the scene that it's perhaps busy
• Sonic Flashback - Sound from one diegetic time is heard over images from a later time (Flashback out of sound instead of imagery)
• Direct Sound - When using direct sound, the music, noise, and speech of the profilmic event at the moment of filming is recorded in the film

22 October 2012 - Mood Board & School Magazine

In class we had started to look at different types of Music magazines and we were told to do a Mood Board on a magazine in which would be an idea for our own, and this is what I came up with.

Also in class we got told to plan out a School Magazine title in which I had chosen the name 'News on the Clock' as I thought this was relevant to the magazine topic. We then added comments on which why we had chosen the title and also why the font we chose is relevant too.

19 October 2012 - Obama's Favourite 'The Wire'

Obama’s favourite – The wire http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/jul/19/television.wire

5 Reason's why Omar (The Wire) is an interesting character?

• He's mean, funny, cooler and braver than any character even seen on TV
• He's a challenging character and he has quite a high determination in what he does
• He challenges the stereotype of a 'Gangster' as his character is in fact a homosexual
• He's clever in his use of words (on other words he's manipulative)
• He has a moral code in which he ALWAYS follows (only steals from drug dealers)

Crime Drama usually includes 3 types of Characters:

• The ones that solve the crime
• The ones that commit the crime
• The victims

Character types and Stock Characters (Crime Drama, eg. Sherlock)

• The grumpy detective
• The sidekick
• The troubled police officer
• The crooked police officer
• The brilliant genius

Media Theory

Vladimir Propp analysed character types and came up with a list:

• Hero - Who goes on the quest
• Villain - Who's against the Hero
• Dispatcher - Helps the Hero off on their quest
• Donor - Helps the Hero
• Princess - Prize for the Hero

Analysing Characters in these Video Clips:

The Crime Solvers

• Can have the program named after them (eponymous)
• Can work in pairs where they are equal 
• Can have a lead player and a sidekick
• Can be an ensemble drama (where are team of crime solvers work together to solve the crime)

Criminals/Victims

Criminals:

• Often transient characters: They only appear in one episode or one series as they get caught in the end
• Different criminals in different episodes (usually)

Victims:

• Also transient characters: Only appear once as they could either 'move on' or die
• Always different victims in each episode

Lead, Pair or Ensemble

Lead:

• Sherlock
• The Wire
• Morse
• Monk

Pair:

• Starsky and Hutch
• Scott and Bailey
• Rosemary and Thyme
• The X Files
• 24

Ensemble:

• The Wire
• The Bill
• CSI: Miami
• Law and Order

Theory Alert: Binary Oppositions

• Good VS Evil
• Heroes VS Villains
• Victims VS Criminals
• Criminals VS Law
• Police Officers VS Criminals
• Truth VS Lies
• The Law VS Crime
• Bad Police Officers VS Good
• Innocent VS Guilty

Law and Order - Binary Oppositions:

• Victims VS Criminals
• Law VS Criminals
• Police VS Criminals
• Truth VS Lies
• Innocent VS Guilty
• Prosecutors VS Criminals