A Review of a past blog

  I chose to analyse and review this persons blog as I know this person and I think I know they wont mind me critiquing it :)
   I chose to firstly look at his older blog : http://samwebbermedia.blogspot.com/
I found that compared to his newer one, he was obviously less advanced in his knowledge of how to use blogger and so prezi's were not shown on it and were only hyperlinked and the content of it was much smaller. But, there was good use of other types of digital media such as photos uploaded and youtube videos embedded.
   Next, I looked at his second and newer blog : http://www.a2samwebbermedia.blogspot.com/
I found that it looked much more visually stunning and its content larger. He seems much clearer in what he is doing and this is shown in how the blog looks much more professional. He has uploaded many more photos, embedded youtube videos and has shown his powerpoint presentation through screen shots. This all helps people to see his work in different perspectives. He writes confidently with a clear knowledge of media terminology and all his work links and fits in with what he is trying to say and the work that is being put across. He has understood that youtube videos can not always be seen at school and so has found a way to put them onto vimeo and then upload and embed them from there, making sure that anyone can watch or listen to them at any time, anywhere- http://vimeo.com/18585656


The way I will be following him in terms of technique or style/methods is that I will be ensuring people can see all the videos by using vimeo and will use more videos to show examples of my own work, getting ideas.
I will show more of my inspirations through photos and film noir photographers, like how he did but with his he used artwork and directors work through film.
I will be doing more things to show my ideas, through explanation of target audience and animatics.

Diagetic or Diegetic?

Just a little post to express my slight annoyance on how everyone spells the word diAgetic or diEgetic in different ways. I have seen in numerous texts it spelt with an 'a' and then in other ones an 'e'. I was undecided until I came across the word 'Diegesis' which is a word that is actually in the dictionary. So from that, even though I think it sounds better with an 'a', I'm going to spell it with an 'e', even though on some occasions I may spell it wrong.

In the lesson of the 9th of November

This is what I produced in the media lesson on the 9th of November. It is notes on what must be involved in my concept board for my film noir. In this lesson I learnt new terminology such as contrapunctual (see sheet) and the thing that I have been wondering about (what do you call sound that is supposed to be in a scene that the audience know has been edited in) has been answered- it is called implied diagetic. 

The unconventional side to the OTS of 'I Am Legend'

  Usually in your typical OTS the story or a clue to the story is almost revealed right away. But not in this one. Unconventially, it takes its time to uncover the story to its anticipating audience, but that is what I personally like about it, it doesn't reveal why the city has gone to ruin and keeps you in suspense. Will Smiths character acts disrespectably towards his surroundings and his safety. This is not what we would usually see straight away and it hits the audience hard because of its insensitiveness.
  No non-diagetic underscore is playing discreetly beneath, which is what we would expect to hear, making the audience feel even more tense and uneasy, expecting something dramatic to happen.
  Finally, and simply, there is nothing that is interrupting the movie and OTS, for example who it is directed by or who the main actors and actresses were or even the title of the film! This must have been hard because of how the film was so eagerly anticipated, and obviously the director wanted to have some credit for it, but had to swallow his pride and just appear at the end of the movie.
     

Conventions of the OTS for 'I am Legend'

  The Whole OTS is based on enigma and only slight exposure of the story, which heightens the mystery even more so. It starts with a News broadcast and begins to look like more of a television documentary with archive footage. What the viewer finds out is that it is actaully a flashback of the past, which could be seen as conventional or unconventional.
  It cuts from TV to widescreen which helps to differentiate between what was the past and what is happening now. The very beginning has sound running with no footage visually, this is a very post modern idea and seems to amplify the enigma. While this OTS does not fit in with the horror genre, it does have tension increasing conventions and the extended silences help to make a strong contrast just like a horror film would.
  A 'hook' is a thing that draws the audience in and this is exactly what they use in this, creating questions such as 'what has caused this terrible post apocalyptic state?' and 'why is there only one man left?'. The shots used are quite a lot of establishing shots that help to set the scene and location. These shots are conventional and traditionally seen in OTS'. In the mise-en-scene we see yellow cabs, tall skyscrapers,blue post boxes, tall traffic lights and the news readers have american accents. All these clues help the audience to be lead to believe that it is set in New York. Another shot that is used is a high angle shot (birds eye view) of the city, this indicates that the viewer has more power and it seems that they have the control over the situation. Other shots include mid-shots and close-ups of the two main characters, Robert Neville(Will Smith) and his trusty dog. These two shots help to establish the characters and introduce them to the eager audience.
     

OTS for 'I Am Legend'

Introducing... Me and Media Studies

   I have studied Media Studies for 2 years now having already taken a GCSE in it, getting a B, and have decided to carry it on for AS level, maybe even A level too. I'm a person that will work hard in all aspects of the media course, being essay writing or the production side of it.
    My love of film and photgraphy has contributed to my understanding of terminology and ideas and I hope that choosing them as subjects as well, will help to link with Media Studies course and help the assortment of abnormal and normal ideas to be expressed through and in the subject.