Filming for Production Practice.

 These are images taken whilst filming our second production practice film, Location Profile. We focussed on Liverpool's Wellington Column, getting shots of different surroundings and the column itself. We went out in daylight and in the dark, to try and achieve a time lapse shot.

Play Research - Twister

Twister

How do you know how to play?

I think everyone playing had played the game when we were younger, and the rules are simple. You spin the dial and whichever the dial lands on, the person who's turn it is, must place their body part on the colour chosen.

 

What causes tension in this game?

Tension is caused as you want to know what the dial will land on when it is your turn. Once you are into the game, it gets much more difficult as it is harder to get into certain positions, especially when others players are on the mat. Tension is also caused when you have to wait in the position you are in, until your next turn.

How do you assess how you are doing? Do you get feedback?

You assess your performance, knowing how comfortable you are in the position you are having to hold until your next turn. Also once a player falls, they are out of the game, so seeing how many players are left in the game is another way you can assess how well you are playing. You can get feedback from other players telling you where there is any space for you to move.

 

Animation

This is the wizard animation that I created for Digital Media Tools http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjGtX5d3nY4&feature=player_embedded

 

Animation

In Digital Media Tools, we were to make our first animations on the course, and this is what me and Megan produced.

Six Sequence Story

For this task, we had to create a narrative sequence story using six images. The images had to tell the story of either of these things: a day in the life, running late or a complete surprise. I worked with Megan on this task and we came up with the story of 'The Day in the Life of a teddy bear', which we kind of based our story around the Disney Pixar film, T'oy Story'. Our first image was the bear being hugged by their owner, showing they have contact with humans. The next four images were of the bear doing tasks while their owner had gone. They were tasks such as showering, drinking tea, and to add some humour we took photos of the bear online on Build-a-Bear workshop and reading Heat’s Torso of the week. Finally the last image was of the owner coming back in and the bear looking surprised and worried.

Media Contemporary Issues - Our Wiki

We are all working in different groups and have been given different texts to look at, which we must create a Wiki on the certain texts we are focussing on. My group are working on Lev Manovich's 'The Language of New Media' and looking at cultural interfaces. He discusses three different topics ; the printed word, HCI (Human Computer Interface) and cinema.

Each individual in our group has looked at a certain topic and have written a page on the Wiki on one of the three topics. Making a Wiki has helped as it means we have learnt more about what Manovich's views are on the topics however I found it quite hard to understand when reading through the text, to understand what he was saying. We are presenting our wiki next week using a prezi.

Digital Media Tools

Here is my completed photo that I took for my Digital Media Tools seminar. I decided to edit the background black and white, and blur it too to emphasise how fast the bus is moving. I also saturated the colour of the bus to make it more eye-catching.

Visiting the Biennial

These are photos taken from when I visited the Liverpool Biennial back in September, looking at one of the certain exhibitions. We looked at an artist 'Mona Hatoum' where she has created 3D cities and routes of the world. We found it quite difficult to understand, however trying to think about what each of the pieces meant made us each come up with our individual opinions. It was interesting going to a different location other than just going to the lecture room, especially as it was one of the first weeks of being in Liverpool.



Digital Media Tools

I took these photos yesterday for the module Digital Media Tools. I am yet to take more and make more progress, hopefully when the weather gets a bit better.

Contemporary Media Issues - Lesson 2

It is currently my second week of Media Professional Studies, and today's work was based on contemporary media issues. We were asked for this week to bring in an item that personally is significant to each of us, whether this is a special gift, jewellery etc.

I decided to bring in a photograph taken from July this year from the holiday I went on to Tenerife with four of my close friends. I felt this was personal and significant to me as it was my first time I had been abroad, and my first plane journey and also the first time I went on a holiday with no parents or guardians with me. It made me much more independent and was one of the last things I had done together with my close friends, before coming to University.

I was put into a small group with Amy, Daldeep and Matthew, where we had to tell each other about our significant objects and decide how they linked together . Amy brought in an award she had previously won for her football couching which she received at Liverpool Football Club. Daldeep brought in a Liverpool FC jacket as she is a keen supporter of the club, and Matthew brought in a zombie novel 'The Walking Dead' as he is highly interested in this genre.

Once finding a connection between each of our objects, we were to make a presentation and present it to the rest of the members of the course. We used Prezzi which none of us had ever used before. It allowed us to make a presentation that flowed easily and used fun visual graphics. It allowed us to add photos and videos, that were relevant to our objects. It took about an hour to make the presentation and we were all quite pleased with the finishing result. We decided to go first presenting to get it over and done with, which I feel was a good idea, as it meant we wouldn't have to sit and worry through other group's presentations.I usually find presenting hard, but I felt I did okay and having other confident groip members, made it a little easier to get up in front of everyone.

Recent Media Experience - Tim Burton

This week, I began my first year of the three year course, Media Professional Studies at Liverpool John Moores University. I was introduced to all the media techniques and modules I will be using throughout the next year. This blog will help keep myself an archive of the different media I will be looking at throughout the next three years on this course.

I recently watched this week two of the director, Tim Burton’s most successful films in the box office, ‘Sweeney Todd (2007)’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)’. Reason why the public viewers enjoy Tim Burton’s direction and producing of his films are that they will always know what to expect; dark and gothic. With Sweeney Todd, Burton’s gothic imagination fits in very well with the plot of this film as the plot is based on violence and murder. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory however you would expect from reading the book authored by Roald Dahl, to fit all its conventions of a Children’s Fantasy genre. The gothic imagination of Burton works in this film, as he uses visual effects to fit the fantasy element of the film, however having Johnny Depp cast at Willy Wonka, instantly make the film much more gothic especially as he has been cast as the gothic and bizarre character in other Tim Burton films including Sweeney Todd.