2013 Post 7: Researching Short Films and their use of EDITING

The Last Man on Earth

Now that you have a grasp of media language and editing do a detailed analysis of 2 short films in their use of editing. Remember your terminology and to use ICT as much as possible. You could do a video or audio recording of your findings. As a minimum you have to insert a link to the short film you've watched.

Here is a couple of websites to help you locate some:
Brief Encounter
BBC Network

2013 Post 6: Media Language - Editing

In post 1 you had a brief introduction to media language and the areas it covers. It's essential that we take a more detailed look at it so that you develop your skills a little prior so that you can develop a style to your short film and be more creative.

So in this post you need to take your notes from the lesson and from any additional research you've done and blog the extent of your understanding of editing. You will need to maximise your presentation and ICT marks by including, images, links, and constructed clips.

 GO TO TOWN ON IT.

As a minimum you should be including:

• Explanation of editing as part of the Media Language.
• Montage
• Discuss the work of  Edwin Porter,
• Outline the Kuleshov Effect, create your own and insert with evaluative comments discussing the effect on the audience and how things could have been different and therefore gain affected the outcome.
• Review Battleship Potemkin in relation to montage - discuss your reactions.
• Introduce, insert and discuss your planned montage.
• During the lesson Alex decided to plan a montage for the character of Alan at the swimming gala so ther rest of you need to probably work together (as you don't want your film to be over dominated by montage) to plan the shot list for a short montage that could be inserted at another point in the proposed film. Alex and I discussed possible points could be:
• Developing the infered sexual relationship OR
• Illustrating his reaction when Sophie realises its wrong and decides to tell someone. (This I think is my prefered point, but you could discuss it with Alex a little more.)
• Transparency editing and exercise.
• Framed editing, New French Wave.

KEEP AN EYE ON THIS LIST I MAY ADD TO IT.

Additional Resources From the lesson:

Battleship Potemkin - Eisenstein wrote the film as a revolutionary propaganda film,^[5][6] but also used it to test his theories of "montage".^[7] The revolutionary Soviet filmmakers of the Kuleshov school of filmmaking were experimenting with the effect of film editing on audiences, and Eisenstein attempted to edit the film in such a way as to produce the greatest emotional response, so that the viewer would feel sympathy for the rebellious sailors of the Battleship Potemkin and hatred for their cruel overlords. In the manner of most propaganda, the characterization is simple, so that the audience could clearly see with whom they should sympathize.

Slavko Vorkapich "The Furies" 1934
Humoresque (1946) - Montage Sequence
The Language of Film
Yale Education - Editing

2013 Media Language Editing 3 - Framed Editing

Recap - Framed Editing is when the are reminded that they are viewing an artificially created text through such techniques as Jump cuts and sudden stoppages of sound.

This is an example of jump cuts although in a music video (probably quite common place for the medium) Sufjan Stevens Cover: He Woke Me Up Again.

A film movement called New French Wave - Wiki - RESEARCH IT and watch a few clips.

2013 Media Language - Editing 2 - The Kuleshov Effect

Wiki Definition
Kuleshov used the experiment to indicate the usefulness and effectiveness of film editing. The implication is that viewers brought their own emotional reactions to this sequence of images, and then moreover attributed those reactions to the actor, investing his impassive face with their own feelings. Kuleshov believed this,along with montage, had to be the basis of cinema as an independent art form.

The effect has also been studied by psychologists, and is well-known among modern film makers. Alfred Hitchcock refers to the effect in his conversations with François Truffaut, using actor James Stewart as the example. ^[3]

The experiment itself was created by assembling fragments of pre-existing film from the Tsarist film industry, with no new material. Mosjoukine had been the leading romantic "star" of Tsarist cinema, and familiar to the audience.

Kuleshov demonstrated the necessity of considering montage as the basic tool of cinema art. In Kuleshov's view, the cinema consists of fragments and the assembly of those fragments, the assembly of elements which in reality are distinct. It is therefore not the content of the images in a film which is important, but their combination. The raw materials of such an art work need not be original, but are pre-fabricated elements which can be disassembled and re-assembled by the artist into new juxtapositions.

The montage experiments carried out by Kuleshov in the late 1910s and early 1920s formed the theoretical basis of Soviet montage cinema, culminating in the famous films of the late 1920s by directors such as Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin and Dziga Vertov, among others. These films included The Battleship Potemkin, October, Mother, The End of St. Petersburg, and The Man with a Movie Camera.

Soviet montage cinema was suppressed under Joseph Stalin during the 1930s as a dangerous example of Formalism in the arts, and as being incompatible with the official Soviet artistic doctrine of Socialist Realism.

Watch this video (yes it is in French but there are subtitles when necessary). It is interesting when considering how different shots constructed through choices in media language (editing) construct different meanings. The image of the man is the same each time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=4gLBXikghE0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gGl3LJ7vHc&playnext=1&list=PLFAD5495B002ED52C

Hitchcock describing the Kuleshov Effect
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCAE0t6KwJY

2013 Media Language - Editing 1

These are very good videos to watch from "The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing".

Part 1 
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4 - currently missing on YouTube.
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

2013 Media Language explained further

Important reading for media language.

Mediaknnowall

Film Language —An Introduction

Anyone can write about what they see on a TV or movie screen. The media studies student who is after good grades in their essays will, however, be using the correct terminology to pinpoint EXACTLY what the film-makers are trying to do, and addressing the big issues of film theory such as how this medium engage with the representation of reality. Film is a language all its own, a way of communicating using images which is understood around the globe, perhaps even around the galaxy - how else would we try to communicate with aliens, except by using pictures? However, like any other language it has rules and conventions which can be deconstructed, and, through deconstruction, understood. But in order to deconstruct, you have to be able to give all the pieces a name.

What we see on the screen is the diegesis (the narrative world of the film) and it can be divided up into two areas:

Mise-en-scène

The things in the scene - these are literally the things put in the picture for you to look at. All or some may be significant, but nothing is accidental - remember, this is not reality, it is a re-presentation of it. This will include actors (think about the use of stars), set (think about the input of the designer, especially the use of colour), costume, lighting. You should consider how the mise-en-scène reflect the production values of the movie. Location is an important aspect of mise-en-scène: why was that particular location chosen, and what advantages/restrictions would you associate with filming there?

Mise-en-shot

The process of translating mise-en-scène into moving pictures, into shots, and the relationship between the two. The main parameters are camera position camera movement shot scale (LS/MS/CU etc) duration of the single shot the pace of editing depth of focus

When describing movement, we consider primary action, ie the movement of characters/objects within the frame andsecondary action, ie the movement of the camera in relation to those objects.

Editing

There is an old adage that films are edited, not made. Much important work is done in the edit suite. While a good editor may not always be able to salvage a bad film, a bad editor can certainly ruin what might otherwise

• continuity - continuous action shown in sequence
• montage - a series of seemingly unrelated shots that the audience must work to connect.

Hollywood movies tend to go for continuity editing, a style also known as transparency (ie you don't notice it). Actions flow smoothly from one frame to another, and the audience simply follow the dialogue. Oppositional to this, and the style employed by many art-house films is framed editing, where the audience are continually reminded that they are viewing an artificially created text. Jump cuts, sudden stoppages of sound,

When shots are placed next to each other in a sequence the link between them is known as a transition. The simplest of these is a cut, ie a straight splice from one section of film to another. There are many others - fades, dissolves, wipes, plus those offered by sophisticated digital software.

Sound

When analysing film you also need to consider SOUND. It is a vital part of the information used for decoding film - whether it comes in the form of a lush string soundtrack or footsteps echoing O/S down a corridor.

• This may be diegetic (coming from inside the narrative world of the film eg characters' voices) or non-diegetic(coming from another source - eg a voice-over or pumping music soundtrack).
• It can be further divided into dialogue (human voices), synchronous (matching actions seen on the images) orasynchronous (from unseen sources) sound effects, and music.

Read an excellent Introduction to Film Sound here.

2013: Post 5: Researching Short Film Content (3)

This is the post in which I want you to detail any additional research you do either in a group or independently. MAKE SURE you show how your research INFORMS your project. I will continue to add to it if needs be but so far the suggestions that have come up in lessons are:





Feature Film




 Feature Film



2013: Post 4: Researching Short Film Content (2)

Following discussions with an English Teacher you have been advised to read Lolita a novel by Vladminir Nabokov as the story is told from the point of view of the sexual groomer.

1. Provide the examiner with an introduction to the book and why you have read it / watched the film?
2. Following a class discussion and reflecting your independent thoughts DETAIL how will your research influence your film?

2013: Post 3: Researching Short Film Content (1)

It is essential that you research the topic for your narrative. Especially with your content being about sexual grooming. In order to obtain the higher grades you will need to record this work accurately and show how it has impacted on your project.

So...

1. Introduce the research with the School Child Protection Officer and what you were hoping to get out of the interview. Do NOT mention any names not even the school.
2. Embed the interview by visiting http://soundcloud.com/mrsshipp100/school-child-protection (Click on share and select the embed code, take all of the weird writing and paste in your blog. It will automatically convert when you publish, fingers crossed.

It should come out looking like this:


     3.  Respond to your findings from the research and how it informs your project.

2013 Post 2:How to write a good short film script?

In class we looked at two articles during which we discussed the elements that you need to consider when making a short film. In this blog post:

1. Summarise key points onto your blog making sure you reference the articles,
2. AND, detail how what you've learnt will effect your idea. REMEMBER this is the first time on your blog that you have mentioned your idea for your script and that it's a development on from your AS coursework so make sure you give the examiner a brief description for your intended film.

We talked a lot about your film idea and questions were rasied... this is where you should record the whole of the conversation.

 YOU GET MARKS FOR SHOWING HOW YOUR RESEARCH INFORMS YOUR PRODUCT!

2013 Post 1 - Researching Existing Short Films Part A

So, as we've discussed your coursework for A2 is to produce a short film in its entirety. To begin with we need to analyse existing examples so that we can consider what we will be competing against.

Today we looked at three short films:

•  
• Divine
• On a Life's Edge
• That Old One  ...... and had a basic introduction to Media Language.

Once you've created a new blog produce your first post using the title above.

1. Include an introduction saying what the post is about & why you have done this piece of work.
2. Write a textual analysis of one of the above films highlighting memorial Media Language elements. Ensure you cover, Camera, Sound, Editing, and Mise-en-scene.
3. Don't forget to have visuals and/or video/audio element to your presentation.

Good Luck on your first post.

START 2013 A2 Introduction

Ok! So you've decided that you might continue onto A2 Media Studies but what does it involve?
Again there are 2 units:

• G324 Advanced Production (Coursework)
• G325: Critical Perspectives in the Media - 2hr Exam
• Section 1: Theoretical Evaluation of Production
• Section 2: Contemporary Media Issues (2013 CHANGE Contemporary Media Regulation)

G324: Advanced Portfolio in Media - The unit requires you to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving you the opportunity to develop your own skills in these technologies. It also enables you to develop the skills of presentation that are required for further study at higher levels and in the workplace. This unit is internally assessed and externally moderated.

Brief: A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, together with the following:

• a postcard for marketing the film;

• a film magazine review page featuring the film.

Oh, and yes! All elements still need to be blogged!

G325: Critical Perspectives in the Media - The purpose of this unit is to assess candidates’ knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates, through their understanding of one contemporary media issue and their ability to evaluate their own practical work in reflective and theoretical ways.

Section 1: Theoretical Evaluation of Production

Answer two compulsory questions. The first requires you to describe and evaluate your skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio. The second asks you to identify one production and evaluate it in relation to one theoretical concept.

Question 1(a) requires you to describe and evaluate your skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio. The focus of this evaluation must be on skills development, and the question will require you to adapt this to one or two specific production practices. The list of practices to which questions will relate is as follows:

• Digital Technology
• Creativity
• Research and planning
• Post-production
• Using conventions from real media texts

In the examination, questions will be posed using one or two of these categories. Where you have produced relevant work outside the context of their A Level media course, you are free to additionally refer to this experience.

Question 1(b) requires you to select one production and evaluate it in relation to a media concept. The list of concepts to which questions will relate is as follows:


• Genre
• Narrative
• Representation
• Audience
• Media language

In the examination, questions will be set using one of these concepts only.

Question 2 - A seperate blog has been set up for this question with loads of resources. So click here http://klsa2mediadepartmentg325.blogspot.co.uk/ to visit the site.