friday 28th screening day.

Well today we watched 3 things! what a treat.

We had a short documentary on the rise and fall of left wing drama on british telly called left of frame- in conjunction with that we had the ' boys from the black stuff' which i enjoyed very much. And we topped that all of with M.A.S.H

So to start with the 6 parter the boys from the black stuff was an instant hit for me as i love things to do with the 'trade industry' (i'm a nosy we girl friend and i like to see what they get up to) this is a very provocative / political piece of work , it comments on both the people at the time and the social climate. social realism but not to the extent of cathy come home, this is a drama and works well in that format but it is

also very relevant and important to its time.

interestingly enough there are some people who believe its still relevant today and have even started a Facebook group up about it : link- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boys-from-the-Blackstuff .

Andy brought up a hard question to answer, who is making drama like this today ? Who is actually saying something and making a political statement ? For me it seems like there are lots of things because i only watch what chose to online. There have been several documentaries about women in society which even thought its glossed over nowadays there are still so many problems. however , if you look at when they are broadcast and to the audience size it is pretty dismal in comparison. Is it the place for short films now to make an impact, are people not interested in documentary / drama which makes a political statement? I felt that when the question was asked the topic for my short was important( prison wife's: the forgotten) and that even though its an extremely common thing in britain there is not allot of coverage dramatically or documentary. hence : forgotten wife's. I think that this is not something to keep in class notes but a question to always ask when we are coming up with ideas for television - like i said about cathy come home, this is really up to us to change.

So to the afternoon were we watched M.A.S.H , this is the original Vietnam war film.

Even though you never really see fighting ( almost like jar head) you still get the feeling of exactly what it would have been like to have been there. the confusion and the laughs mingled with the terror.

For watching the film there were defiantly more laughs than terror. in-fact even the grotesque at times operation scenes were made to be a comical.

In all honesty when i wasn't laughing i was board by this film , there was a noticeable lack of plot which would work in a TV program but not on such a large scale. The fact that it was so funny really saved this film for me and with a pretty cool sound track it became overall not a bad one to watch .

peace

easy rider

Billy: What the hell is wrong with freedom? That's what it's all about.

George Hanson: They'll talk to ya and talk to ya and talk to ya about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em.

I was so exited to watch easy rider after the emphasis put on it in the documentary , "a decade under the influence" it seemed to encapsulate what this new wave of film was trying to say , they wanted freedom , and were always looking forward, out of the old ways and into this new society which was sexually and spiritually liberated and full of new experiences waiting for everybody. This was a time for the young to take charge as the old hollywood was dying out. ( quite literally ) known widely as a landmark in film history this is a great example of what and how film making became in the 70. ( even though this was a sneaky 60's film) As Andy commented this film hasn't aged as well as the others. I found this to be true there were parts that didn't sit right for my movie watching eyes, it was very stylised and the edit was interesting but ultimately a little bit irritating as it jumped back and forth back and forth, something which it was praised for at the time. The road movie style was very beautifully captured however and the wide sweeping shots really carried the film along like a beautiful music video, everyone knowing 'born to be wild' as the first instrumental beat raised up.

The film was brave in many ways and i can imagine how it must have been refreshing and shocking at the time for me the thing that stays refreshing in the film is the little diamond lines of dialog which sum up the whole feeling at the time and also the bravery of keeping it so simple, driven by its beautiful cinematography and ideas rather than action.

"An indie film that became the spokesperson for a decade when Hollywood was preoccupied

with other concerns"

The public embraced this film, they liked it because it was something real. People wanted something they recognised, they wanted something that was apart of them .

Overall i think that this film is a grower and has power in its social context at the time, for me now its just a cool road movie but for many it was a beacon that there was change coming. Watching it with those eyes makes it pretty special .

xx peace. xx

the killer inside me

"bleak, blacker than noir."

Just thought i would bring this to everyones attention as i have just seen the trailer for the first time : Relating to the films we are watching at the moment it has a very 1960/70 feel about it and i'm very exited to see it . you should check out the trailer on youtube .

peace

Filming Sams film and grad shoot

It would have to be on the hottest day of the year so far that we decide to film in doors. not only indoors but in the Ath were there are no windows and no natural light.

However, each bit of experience i feel leads me further and further into a comfort zone with the camera and my friend the boom pole. i'm not sure what it is but my hight and willingness seems to give me the job of boom op-ping quite frequently. I enjoy doing this job because it important and you feel as if you are helping allot, when i'm 'running' on set i feel a little like a headless chicken but when i'm asked to do sound i feel like i have a specific role in the crew. It will be nice when i get my chance to do camera which is the specific role i would like to pursue.

It was nice to be filming with such a talented dancer but i felt there was more awe than laughs when he started dancing, we will have to see how this comes out in the final edit.

So there has been quite a nasty undercurrent in the class i feel over the grad film/2nd year films. The people who were asked to do it - fine , but there was little information about why and who were picked and left us all feeling a little left out and isolated. so , after finding out the facts from adam on the subject and making myself feel better i jumped on the chance of having a day filming 'paper skin' even if it was to boom op!

My initial worries were , was i going to be able to hold the boom up for long periods of time , and mostly, i worried that i would just get it wrong and cause delays for filming.

well , i got up bright and early and was first there on the steps of the academy on saturday morning. I knew i could get time keeping right and i did. With that under my belt i felt a little more confident that i could be reliable on set to , we traveled with the actors to the set which was nice, as it gave us a chance to get to know each other .

I was well prepared for the day with coffee on tap and chocolate to keep me going : a note for my bag essentials next time would be a sandwich as sweet things get boring quite quickly.

Lani introduced himself straight away and was so cheery and helpful that it put me in the right attitude mode and got me exited to start filming. At first i was a little shaky but i quickly learnt how to find the edge and stay above it! This was my first time seeing the red camera as well and i was very impressed, it was just like setting up a large format film camera but without bellows i'm confident that ill be able to apply the skills i already have and learn the camera very fast in second year.

overall i felt very drained after each experience but was very glad and willing to give up my weekends for it. The more the better.

peace

a bit of reflection

ah summer is defanetly on its way , this week has seen dftv flurish into little brightly colouerd summer creatures, who new we could embrace this month so well.

oliver stone :

As a class we all enjoyed the charm oliver stone adorned on us, who knew ada looked like lady gaga? well now its been pointed out we obviously can all recognise it .

If i'm honest i have only ever seen one of his films and that is - natural born killers- and i fell asleep watching it even though it has such a fast pace at the end. Yes , i did enjoy it and loved how it harked back to bonnie and clyde and how it interviewed different film formats etc. I must say watching the clips of the films with the beautiful string ensemble was really tear jerking. It did make me want to watch platoon - a film i have never considered before.

the highlight of the day however was the amazing free food and the champaigne bar toped of like a cherry on the cake with a rosy cheeked and overly friendly photograph with our old friend Olive stone.

A really excellent experience and Andy was right,

" theres nothing like having an oscar winner around the place to raise the tone. " A Dougan

production classes with abigail:

Well this class should of been a bit of a nightmare for me as it was all about paper and lists and organising times etc. not.my.speciality. but i decided to go for it and try my best, we were split into groups to work ogether and we stayed in the same groups till the end. i think that the members of my group all felt similarly that producing wasnt really there fortay however, we ralied and even thouhgh we had to stay behind for what seemed like hours after the rest had left i think that we got the knack of it. This class for me was about gritting my teeth and just taking things a bit at a time, we got there in the end and funnily enough it was my group members and i who were left finishing the test last on the monday.

it was the first bit of revision i had done in ages and i felt that the test went well.

fingers crossed

the disappearance of alice creed.

well this one is flying some what under the ray dar at the moment but if you have the time you should defiantly check it out. If the fact that the cast consists of only 3 people isn't enough to entice you to watch it then maybe knowing that its been directed by a man who cleverly and stylishly 'cut his cloth' so to speak but in doing so has produced a very addictive and captivating feature!

"craftily engineered piece of work" - Nicolas Barber , the independent

The film opens on a shocking quick shot sequence which lasts for quite a length- there is little dialog as well, there was not a sound in the cinema and if there was ever a moment to realise this is what the cinema experience is about then. I would say that it was this- nobody could tell you were the fire exits were at this point in time. I think the critics are write in saying the films lacks pace after this point and if i'm brutal i would say that some of the beats are a little obvious as time wasters however, i think the overall idea is genius,

Im exited to see what this brit talent will do next be it writer or director.

link to the article i took quote from :

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-disappearance-of-alice-creed-j-blakeson-100-mins-18brrevanche-gtz-spielmann-121-mins-15brthe-milk-of-sorrow-claudia-llosa-95-mins-12a-1960090.html

Autistic superstar and Bonnie and Clyde

SO firstly to quite a delicate subject - which in my opinion wasn't delicately handled. Autistic superstars :

A program following Reggie Yates as he travels round Britain (England) to find talented young musicians, who also have autism – to see in a very un scientific way if giving them the opportunity to take part in his bit event – “autistic superstars” will help them communicate better and allow them to have a chance to show of. ( Because clearly if you are a talented singer but autistic you can't go on XFACTOR! what?! )

Well the first thing that really gets you when you watch this slightly bizarre program is that Reggie Yates is very naive, he clearly didn't take the time before hand to learn and educate himself on what being autistic means and to learn about there sensibilities. He is the presenter but also it is implied that the concert was his idea, it appears that he thought his tv talent would carrie the program but unfortunately i think it would have done better with a more understanding presenter . I'll watch the final episode hoping for an upturn but i think that in essence this program lacks tact and it entertainment over sensibility towards the subject of Autism.

Bonnie and Clyde :

well the whole class really enjoyed this as it had us all laughing and gasping along with it. The film follows Bonnie and Clyde through there short lived fiery relationship. They rob banks to get along and eventually reality catches up with them but what a ride. You really get thrown in to being on there side throughout this one, its clear from the start that its going to be a bumpy ride.

This film was (along with the graduate and in the heat of the night ) right at the start of the new hollywood ear which was heavily influenced by the french new wave of the 50s but still holding some influences from the gangster type films of the earlier classic hollywood period.

The film has a harder more realistic stye of acting and has a higher amount of on screen violence which was also a thing that seemed cutting edge at the time.

I really loved this film and found Faye Dunaways character to be very daring on screen, she oozes sex appeal and is utterly stylish which is perfectly followed and kept up through the film.

Her on screen partner in crime Clyde played by heart throb Warren Beatty also oozes sex appeal and hedonistic charm. For some reason i felt jealous of Bonnie when he comforts her by covering her face with his hand ... maybe it was just the sheer manly size of his hands i don't no ...... any way the film was a joy to watch and Im really loving this trend of films that we are getting to watch in class as Iv said before i think this is my favorite period in films so far .

Exited about Oliver Stone:

natural born killers director oliver stone is coming in on wednesday and Im extremely exited:)

i think that his film was very much influenced by the epic Bonnie and Clyde it will be so amazing to meet him and here what such a legend has to say.

PEACE

reflection on candid cabaret

So on Sunday night i went along to the oran more to film Candid Cabaret. The class seemed generally exited about the opertunity of filming the Musical theatre students and they didnt let us down. Each act was very differant and equally as talanted. Next year ill go along just to watch as i enjoyed the atmosphere and the performances very much. The building and interior of the oran more as well was so pretty and quirky so it was nice to be in such a good looking venue.

The first thing we did was get a de-breifing from Ray on how the hole thing was going to run.
I was exited but nervouse about what camera i was going to be put on. In the end i found myself on the side vue camera which was a position i had wanted so it was all good.

We had several mishaps with BNC cables breaking and cables not being long enough but in the end we settled down and just worked with what we had and what was working, it felt good to have some obsticles and be able to get over them as a team. Flick helped me set up the camera and we did it swiftly finding even without notes we could calobrate vuefinders and set colour temp etc. this i was proud of because i fret over notes and it seemed in this case that they were not needed.

So whaen the performances started there were a few problems : mainly i kept forgetting that i couldnt dance along with the pan handle because the whole camera would also be dancing along! lets hope they dont need my shots for the times i was doing that. Next i felt that my camera positing wasn't quite right as my frame was framed by two large pillers which created havoc when performers went into the crowd and moved around to much.
The biggest mistake i made was to lock of to tightly, at one point the performer ( singing passionetly dipping lower and lower the higher they sang) disapered out the bottom of frame and i couldnt unlock my camera! A very amature mistake.

Overall even though my camera skills sound diabolical i felt i caught the atmosphere and emotions in the performers faces. It was a great experiance as it always is doing live events and we left buzzing. This is always important to remember for me , this is what makes me tick and exites me .

peace

Cathy Come Home

Firstly can i say that the we boy in the film was the cutest child i have ever scene.

ok on to buisness, i knew before it started from what Andy had said that this was going to be shocking, i find it hard to write blogs on shocking things as when your watching it the horror almost washes over you and its hard afterwards to pick single moments out. All you remember is that you found it shocking and that it has made you feel slightly less content than when you walked into the room.

So , i took notes whilste watching it and this is what i got :

• black and white very naturalistic feel.


• the voices are almost drowned out by the ambient noice the general city noice - this really adds to the feeling that they are living on the verge of living on the street.


• very fragmented , which was quite uneasy and hard to watch .


• story works with voice over and dialog - very naturalistic and compelling.

quotes i felt were important from the film:

" love is more important to a child than nice suroundings"

" it was as if they thought it was a crime to have children. "

" why doesnt he do something about it instead of doing something he doesnt beileve in? " - Cathy on the officer who seperated her from her husband.

My notes are so sparse because the film was so captavating , it's so amazing to think that it was broadcast at such a prime time slot and that they could make tv that actually made such a differance.

after Cathy come home was made the governement actually changed legislation. Heres a link if anyones intrested which rounds up in a good general summary Cathy Come Home.

www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/438481/index.html

there was so much socially aware tv in the 70/80's i hope that with my intrest i can bring back important documentaries to the TV. ( not to say there isnt any just that there on at the wrong time and place) Watching this made me want to creat a documentary about how the concervative party will decrease the amount of care given to the society, as my cousin who has quite severe disabilities will feel in the next few years. the programme caused me to be sads and angry and really appreiciate my suroundings . This is real important tv and we need to bring it back .

I gues the future really is in our hands .....

peace

remember me

Why? Were you different? What was unique about you?

A few things I will remember you for:The most unexpected ending I have ever scene.

Letting me fall in love with a talented actor and not a “hot” vampire.

Having the courage to tackle a subject most would think too simple, too boring. In doing so creating a human- relatable and genuine scene which held the audience completely.

This film, I would say was let down dramatically in its structure. i think it was trying to be like 'the air i breath' with interweaving stories and focusing on the one at a time and slowly weaving them together , at times were the story was most interesting the audience were held/captivated and silent but with this came parts were I was tapping my fingers waiting for it to move on , to get going. People got phones out, started to whisper, then silence. For me the most poignant moments were rpatz and his sister, the scene, were she is standing with her hair all chopped of was truly, “re-memorable” and relatable. Like I said it would be seemingly boring- a story line about hair.

This film probably wont be remembered in years as a big hit or one of the greats but i wouldn't pass up the chance of watching it again in the future, it was interesting and purposely delivered.

peace x

a night mare on elm street.

Well this film was quite impressive as it actually managed to scare me!

Iv sat through texas chain saw, halloween you no all the usual hollywood trashy slasher movies and not been scared , quite board in fact. but this one , it caught the right nerve for me and had me hiding my eyes and quivering in my seat. I had previously seen the night mare on elm street box set at a film night and found them to be cheesy very 80's but yes scary to.

I find the idea that no matter how clever or cunning the characters are they have no power over what happens in there dreams. It was heightened by the idea that they were all much more daydreamy in this one and throughout the film you were constantly wondering which was reality and which was a dream.

When we got out of the cinema there was a quiet cheer about us as for the most part the film was allot better than we thought. The acting was fare and there was some very very clever editing which i can't comprehend on how they managed it.

Sam loved the lighting and Chris thought the sound mix was well done , we laughed about this seeming quite studious of ourselves but it shone in the film and it really was well put together.

not a shock then to find it was produced by Michael Bay .

As the story got deeper and the characters found out more and more the horror was left behind slightly by the actual horror of being molested as a child , there were some plot holes which didn't really get answered but hey! it is a slasher movie at heart.

i really enjoyed this film because it did what it said it would on the box and it ( in my opinion) didn't tarnish the iconic "Fredy Crooger" image. In fact in style and in production value it probably did out shine it .

peace xx

reflective on this week

Well it has not been an easy ride this week. However, I don’t think that that is necessarily a bad thing. We were given several deadlines for the end of this week, a treatment and poster for Richard , a treatment for Adam , a summative statement for moodle and 2 blogs one on stagecoach and one on politics. There were meetings for lip dub design team and deli as well .

So yea, pretty busy this week. How do I feel I coped? I think that considering I got everything done and that I didn’t do any all nighters shows I cope half decently. It was a shame I felt that by the time we had Richards class I was almost to tiered to concentrate.

There was allot of confusion as to what happens in second year with Richard and for myself included I wasn’t sure what Richard was really getting at, it seemed to me that half the class will get tutoring and improve and the rest will just be left to their own devises. Feeling tired and realizing as a class I felt that the discussion wasn’t really going anywhere so we moved back onto premises.

I don’t know if it was because I was overly nervouse or because I was being to self critical but it felt in class that Richard struggled with my idea, when I asked for help I was given it in what I found to be very complicated idea’s I wrote furiously trying to stay positive but I felt so embarrassed and very aware of the time Richard was spending on me, feeling almost like the class were getting fed up of heering my idea. This was my reaction in the room but now I think that everyone was just really tierd like myself.

So it was a very thank god its friday feeling in the class, everyone read out their blow up doll ideas and even though its a strange one i can really imagine it working and i think its always good if you can picture something in your head and i really could with this so i'm exited which ever one is picked .

looking forward to next week , its the filming of candid cabaret on sunday and the re-drafting of allot of ideas, this is an exiting time in the academy as everything is being pushed forward to the next level.

i just hope we can all keep up , and i hope personally that i can do my best on a re-draft for richard.

peace xzzzz

stage coach

So, its hard for me to watch a western without thinking of my little sisster, at any given opertunity she would sit down and watch anything atall that involved cowboys and indians, the west and that kinda anoying singalong type soundtack. one of the most depressing favorites of hers was the one that is like the others but everything seems to just go terribly wrong for the whole town in the end. So for me when i heard western i felt i had a pretty good idea what to expect, not that i was dreading the idea of watching it just that i felt i knew what type of thing was going to happen ......

so yes there was the classic chase scene the campfire scene and a showdown at the end but boy was this stylishly done. With lines like,

" an angel in the jungle" and a cracker at the end

"Saved from the blessings of civilisation."

This film is gripping from start to finish.

this is the first western i have seen in black and white so that made a big difference straight away, from the start just visually i was open to the idea that this wasn't going to be just like the others.

There was the perfect road movie cast, the serious brooding John Wayne and the socially ostrocized Dallas who is emplyed to be something of a prostitue, the rich pregnant lady who was nice enough but a bit of a bitch, Hetfeild the swarve good looker and several comic relief’s.

The women are strong characters from the start, even when they are told the cartridge will be in danger and that if they stay on so will they, they refuse to get of and don’t seem that bothered by the idea. There is allot of role reversal with Dallas and Wayne, at one point she goes to serve him dinner and he takes the bowl out of her hand and serves it for her.

The screenplay weaved happily through the upbeat stingy western music. When it comes to longer dialogs with Ringo kid its very stylish and to the point, there doesn’t seem to b a wasted word and Wayne’s execution is word perfect. They never held onto the serious words for that long you always new there would be some comic relief round the corner, which was a really nice touch in the screenplay as it acted as a yoyo effect.

The cinematography was very beautiful to from the wide sweeping shot to the tight close shots inside the stagecoach. These shots were particularly brave as they lingered with no dialog on expression- acting so strong no words were needed, well-polished and lovely lit working to their best advantages with the black and white film. The corridor scene was also a really well lit and framed shot, Dallas was kept in a pool of light and you could just see Wayne highlighted in the corner of the shot.

the classic shoot out scene at the end of the film cleverly cut away from the action instead of shoving it , playing out slowly showing reactions of dallas and the saloon really worked and made a statement that this wasn't just your average cowboy movie .

the moments in the salloon are so tense its horrible , you just want something to happen , the silence is defining as its in such stark contrast to the jogging western music you get so used to throughout the film.

amazing :)

peace x

the blog on politics

Blog on politics:

So how is politics represented on t.v :

Well sadly I do not posses a TV but when I was at home I caught the first of the party debates. Being at home really influenced my watching of the debate as my parents were there shouting at the tv and even worse my little sister was there who completely outshines me in political knowledge. It was nice that this could be a family watch, I felt privileged at how much importance my parents have always put on politics and in the debate I think that the leaders should have dealt with family issues more, clearly in the audience there was a lack of young people, even when there was a question from a young school boy he was surrounded by older people. This looked visually bad and only reflected on how most young people see politics as today, a distant thing that doesn’t relate to them.

I have witnessed one of the conservatives tv campaign’s-adverts whilst watching Britain’s got talent on itv player. I thought it was so disturbing that they were aiming it at the audience that will suffer most – the working class, the ones that the conservatives party will forget about are the ones that are thinking – hey I could do with £150 pounds. This made me so frustrated, as I knew how influential these “testimonial” type adverts are to the working class.

Back on the case of the Conservatives- have you seen the sun today!

Not having a tv means I have to do the old fashion thing of reading the newspaper and I was saddened and shocked to see the page three headliner

“Save these girls from the dole tomorrow.”

What! These girls can only nude model? Is that what your saying. Ok so that is not at all what they are saying, they want to say look guys if you want naked girls vote conservatives. How pathetic, to go so low as to do that I felt was shocking and demoralizing to the party but clearly the sun knows what it is doing. It did influence/ sway the vote with its famous headliner,

“ Would the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights.”

This link shows the poster and how the girl’s underwear was photoshoped blue.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/may/05/the-sun-page-three-pants

Overall its clear that the political advertising is just like the ones we are currently discussing on Moodle, manipulative to its audience and extremely tacktical and sneaky.

As for the vote, is there a politician I can trust with my future? That is my answer to the question could it have been done differently , yes yes yes! they could all start by simply stating there manifestos and explaining how they are different and telling us all the good points about there parties , instead of backstabbing sleazy adverts and newspaper gimmicks.

Peace xx

in the heat of the night

yet another amazing film and from the same year that the graduate came out , what a fantastic year in cinema. Firstly the opening song by Ray Charles really drew you right in and it seemed so modern with the blurry lights and being so simple with emphasis on the song and its lyrics.

I knew of this film only from my mother telling me how gorgeous sdney portie was in it , just like many films i know by this description - long hot summer being one she comments on allot!

I loved the plot twist at the end of the film , it wasn't what i expected and it got grittier and grittier with the introduction of the abortion idea. The themes in the film were extremely topical at that period in time, the racism was shocking and really unbelievable but it was like that then and i'm glad it didn't shy away from any of it. It stands now as a historic piece, this i felt is exactly how it was for people back then.

The end scene was perfect with the swapping of roles almost as the sergeant takes the suitcase for him, this was a really nice touch and i'm so so glad Virgil didn't apologise for himself .

really nice film. peace xx