Saturday, 17 November 2012

10 Facts About Alfonso Cuaron


·         Birthday: November 28th 1961

·         Born: In Mexico.

·         At National autonomous university of México, Cuaron studied filmmaking and philosophy.

·         He first started out as a technician.  

·         Sólo Con Tu Pareja his first film which was latin.

·         Won an award for best original screen play.

·         Directed the film ‘A Little princess and won an award for best cinematography.

·         Enjoys filming with hand held cameras.

·         Won a BAFTA for his work on Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban

·         Set up his own company called ‘Esperanto Films’.


Preliminary Task Evaluation


What was the task about:

In AS Media Studies my first task was to carry out the preliminary task. This involved me filming the 3 camera angles (match on action, shot reverse shot, and 180 degree rule) in a given scenario.
When conducting my preliminary task I learnt a range of skills and at the end of the task reviewed them.

What I learnt from this task:

The first thing I learnt in my preliminary task was creating a storyboard which had sketches of the different camera angles which I was going to portray. Before completing the task I had never created a storyboard therefore I found this challenging.

After doing this I researched the three camera rules to ensure I knew how they worked. This was the easy part and once this was done, our groups practised on the cameras using these skills. We also watched clips on YouTube to help our understanding with showing the camera skills.

After the task

The main thing I learnt from this task was how to import a video and then convert into final cut. I then learnt to edit the film using the cutting tool to keep and place the parts where I wanted them, resulting in a short movie sequence.

After completing my preliminary task, I sat down with a professional cameraman who came in and observed my video. The feedback I received was helpful as it cleared a few errors in my work.

I also learnt various different factors that need to be taken into account when filming.

One factor being, it’s essential to draw up your storyboard correctly in the beginning to save time on deciding what to do later. Also it would be ideal to have script for each character as a lot of time was wasted and re filmed due to actors forgetting their lines.
Another factor when filming ensures actors are not speaking over each other because when editing on final cut it becomes hard to portray the shot reverse shot.

After completing my preliminary task, I sat down with a professional cameraman who came in and observed my video. The feedback I received was helpful as it cleared a few errors in my work.

Another thing I learnt about was filming precisely within the framework of the camera. This is a very important part when filming as the camera doesn’t need unnecessary items in the background. Therefore the position of the characters must be precise in order to show them in the frame without having unwanted headroom. Whilst this is being done the eye line match for the pair having a conversation needs to be in proportion to the camera as this helps to accurately film.

Overall I was very pleased and enjoyed filming my preliminary task. If I was to repeat this next time I would take in consideration all the feedback I received.

3 Famous Directors Within The Drama Film Genre


Noel Clarke

-          Born: 6th December 1975.

-          From London.

-          British director, actor and screenwriter.

-          Starred in many British dramas such as: Doctor who, Films- Kidulthood, Adulthood and 4321. Furthermore he was also in a music video.

-          Studied Media at University of North London.

-          Taken classes at London Actors Centre.

-          Won an award for most promising actor in 2003 as well as BAFTA Orange Rising Star award in 2009.

-          The Noel Clarke film Adulthood was follow-on from the film Kidulthood which gained £1,203,319 in the UK when it was first released. The film was distributed by Pathe films.

James Cameron

-          Born: August 16 1954 in Canada

-          Job roles undertaken: A writer, producer and director

-          Director of Titanic, Avatar and Terminator 2

-          Studied physics at University.

-          After studying at university he realised he wanted to fulfil his dream of being a screenwriter.

-          Won an academy award for best actor.

-          The main theme throughout many of his films is water or the ocean.

-          His best film Titanic won more than 10 awards and broke all box office records as it was the highest selling movie in 1997.

Sam Mendes

-          Born: August 1st 1965.

-          Job roles undertaken: Director.

-          Studied at Cambridge University with a BA in English.

-          Joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and directed may film such as “Troilus” and “Cressida”.

-           Has received 5 academy awards, one including ‘Best Newcomer’.

-          Recently Mendes has directed the ‘James Bond’ film “Skyfall” which has received $ 87.8 million sales in the U.S.

 

Friday, 12 October 2012

My Moodboard On The Drama Genre


I am considering creating the first 2 minutes of a drama film for my foundation portfolio. I was inspired by this genre after watching Noel Clarke's 'Adulthood'.

Thursday, 11 October 2012

BBC Tour Movie

For our audience and insitutions part of the exam, we visited the BBC Studios in White City.

Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Preliminary Task

This is my preliminary task where I demonstrate the rules of shot reverse shot, match on action and the 180 degree rule in the given scenario.

Wednesday, 12 September 2012

Preliminary Task Definitions


 
  • Match On Action (or cutting on action): A process of cutting a sequence of the same action together to make it appear seamless. A technique used in continuity editing.
  • The 180 Degree Rule:  basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. An imaginary line called the axis connects the characters and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character will always be frame right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first. If the camera passes over the axis, it is called crossing the line or jumping the line.
  • Shot Reverse Shot: Where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.


             
                Shot Reverse Shot                                                        Match on action




The 180 Degree Rule