Creativity & Concept

In todays session we learnt that each group would have to do a 5 minute presentation about the user groups for our museum assignment, we had to go into detail about the user groups. Also explain what the concept is, a brief rationale showing all research we have found about the user group, also what the content for our user experience and also how we are prepared to present our idea in our final pitch, creating a object to explain and show our idea. While each group had done their 5 minute presentation everybody in the group had to write feedback on post it notes for each group, so that they know improvements they can make when preparing for their final pitch. At the end of the session our tutors informed us that we need to make a start on creating a way of showing our idea. Also a prezi which will hold all the information about the assignment and all the other ideas we came up with. 

Production Practice

In today we had a lighting workshop, our tutor in this session explained how we have to set up lighting when filming. He demonstrated and also drew a diagram how to set up the lights. The key light should be placed behind the camera to the right and the fill light should be to the right of the subject being filmed. The key light doesn’t have a fader, but the fill light has, this is were you can change the lighting on the subject. He also explained that we may need to edit the camera set ups, he also explained the do’s and don’ts with lighting; don’t have the lighting to close to the subject as the camera reacts to lights, lights should be place further away from the subject. When setting up the equipment up we should use gaffer tape to keep the equipment in place, also we should not crowd the subject with a lot of equipment. Another pointer our tutor gave us was that if we wanted to get rid of shadows we can move the lights, camera and also zoom the camera in and out until we think the set up is perfect. All lights should be set to flood light. Also in the workshop our tutor named a book to look at by Harris Watts called on camera. 

After our lighting workshop we then moved onto explaining the treatments that each group had for their short factual film. As I forgot to bring mine, we only had a couple to read, our tutor looked our the treatments our group had, and gave feedback explain which one he thinks we should use for our film. He thought phoebe’s treatment had be expanded enough that we could start to build on, we have until next week to decided if we are sticking to the idea. Also by next week we have to have some footage, script and production schedule, so that we are prepared to start filming. From todays session I have understood about how lighting can effect a scene or subject.  

Film Language

In this session we were introduced into Shane Meadows and how he shows realism, in his films. To start the session we watched a clip from ‘A room for Romeo Brass’ as our tutor thought the opening of the film is brilliant. Also our tutor explained what he believes realism is, he says “Realism is a tangible representation of lived experience”. Throughout the session we moved onto different areas of realism; A critique of ‘Realist’ British cinema, The British New Wave, Aesthetics and ideology of free cinema, Threads of british realist traditions, Information about Shane Meadows. Also the themes, styles and music meadows use. Our tutor picked one of Shane’s film to watch, he picked Dead Man Shoes. I thought that the film was good but is wouldn’t be a film I would personal want to watch again. 

Digital Media Tools

The first digital media tools session after reading week we had to a go at web design and development. Our tutor asked us who had used Dreamweaver before, a number of people put their hands up we were then given a booklet to work through practicing adding layers & positioning them onto the page. We had to practice so when we start creating our own website we know techniques to use, I found it easy creating a web page on Dreamweaver because I created a website in school last year. 

Contemporary Media Issues

At the start of the session we had a discussed about what everybody had done the night before. There were a number of things we had took part in; 

• Social Events - Making Pancakes 
• Film Watching - DVD - Illegal Downloads - Cinema
• Playing Games - XBox - Board Games - Mobile Phone Games
• Reading Books - Magazines
• Reading News Online
• Reading News Papers
• T.V - Watching T.V Again e.g. Laptop - Live T.V
• Chatting to People on - Phone - Skype - Social Networking

We had this discussion to show that we use a lot of media, and that we have a lot to pick from. Each day we can use a range of different media. 

We then moved on to the different types of media producers and what they need to know, when creating different types of media.  We were asked to look at each groups wiki and also to add comments about their topic they have researched. We also had a discussion about the wikis and issues we had creating them. Some issues include that users within a group have different writing styles. Another is that the technology used is slow and sometimes hard to use. 

Contemporary Media Issues Wetpaint - Legalisation of drugs

Creativity & Concept

In todays session we were asked to present our ideas for our exhibit for the Liverpool museum. At the start of the session we were asked to get into our museum groups, once everybody had got into their groups. We then had to explain where we were up to with our planning and ideas for the exhibit. After we had explained our idea we received feedback from our tutors about what they think we should do for our final idea for the exhibit. They also explained about the pitch we have to do at the end of semester. For the next few session we have to come up with our final idea were going to use and also to prepare for our pitch. 

Production Practice

This was our first session after reading week, we finalized some editing on the film; effects, fades, time lapse, credits. Once the film was finally done we then burnt the film to DVD so that we could give it to our tutors to look at. Once we had handed in our DVD we then introduced into the next brief we have to do, we have to find an interesting subject or a story which will be told from a number of people, the film has to be between 3-5 minutes long. Each member of our group has to come up with a treatment with an idea for our new brief. After we had been introduced into the new brief we had a progress meeting with one of our tutors to receive feedback from our location film we got a good grade for the film, we were also asked to explain what our positives and negatives filming as a group.

I was glad that we had finished the film in time and that we were able to start thinking about ideas for the next film we will have to create, I was also glad that we have around 4 weeks to complete this film. As I found creating the location and personal profile films slightly rushed as we only had a week or so to get them filmed and also edited.  

Media Contemporary Issues (Reading Week)

As well as filming our personal profile film I also researched and wrote my part about the legalization of drugs, for our wiki. I had to write a 300 word thread about ‘The Creation of Communities’. After finding the basic information about the legalization of drugs I then researched groups created on the internet who are for and against the legalization, and placed them in the thread as well so that the user reading the wiki can go on and look at the groups I have found. Once I had created the 300 word thread I then uploaded it to my groups wiki page on wet paint central. 

Production Practice (Reading Week)

Over reading week, M1J the group I’m in decided we would film our personal profile. The person we decided to interview for our personal profile was; my mum as she is a licensee of a pub, she spoke about working in and around the pub. Instead of just having a face to face interview, took shots of objects around the pub. Also shots of people in the pub being served. 

Once we had got the interview and the shots, we then created the film sequence after that had been created we then began editing the film. So that it fitted the brief we had been given, we had shot of a face to face interview mixed with shots from around the pub. We decided to keep the audio from the interview behind the shots of the pub. I think the final cut of the film works really well, the shots work well with the stories that are being told. Once we had found the person we were interviewing everything fell into place, because at the start we were finding it hard to find someone to interview and thought we wouldn’t get the film done in time. 

Film Language

We had an essay writing lectures, the title of the lecture was analytical and critical writing. In the lecture we were told things that need to be referenced in essays are; direct quotes, paraphrased quotes, quotation within a quotation, a line of argument, even an idea.  Two references are needed within the text of the essay itself and also in the bibliography at the end of the essay. Our tutor also explained that a web source must have an author, date, publication name and also a legitimate URL, also a date of when you accessed the webpage. Also when referencing a webs source we are only allowed to use legitimate and academic sites.  

In the second part of the lecture our tutor explained the difference between descriptive and analytical. Descriptive is what is happening and analytical is why it’s happening.  Formalising research is key to any project while at university, as there is no point in starting writing until all research is complete.  

Also there is a seven point procedure for essay writing they are;

1.       Clarify the task

2.       Collect and record information

3.       Organise and plan

4.       Reflect and evaluate

5.       Write an outline plan and first draft

6.       Work on your first draft

7.       Final draft

Most essays require an analytical/ critical rather than descriptive writing style. Also in most essays you are weighing up an argument/ claim.

I found the lecture useful, as it has given me pointers for when I start my essay for film language in a couple of weeks.

Contemporary Media Issues

To start the lecture we were shown a video of Clay Shirky, who was explaining how social media can make history, the video lasted 15 minutes long. After the video we were then asked to go into our groups that we had been placed in by our tutors, in groups we have to create a wiki which will discuss a topic we have been given and how it is discussed on line. The group I am in were given legalisation on drugs in our group we had to decide would write about legalisation on drugs through social networking and identity, collective intelligence, the creation of communities, social networking and democracy, social networks as a market/distribution mechanism. We all decided topic we would be talking about, we decided to start writing our summary of legalisation on drugs together.

Legalisation of Drugs Wiki

Creativity & Concept

We had to prepare a presentation/story that would last a minute long; our presentation had to have a beginning, middle and end. We could tell a story about anything or even a nursery rhyme or poem. The story I told was about one of my driving lesson a couple of weeks ago, because there were only a hand full of people in I felt a lot more comfortable speaking in front of them. Our aim was to make sure our presentation lasted a minute, some people finished in a couple of seconds others finished over 1 minute. My story lasted 57 seconds I was the second closest to the aim. Once we had all presented our stories, our tutor explained the mass production team that is needed to create a television programme.

Semester Two Film Language

In the first two lectures of semester two we learnt about The Western; Tradition, the lecture after this we moved onto the development of the western. The films we watched after each lectures were; Winchester ’73 (Anthony Mann, 1950), True Grit (Ethan and Joel Coen, 2010). The next lecture we moved onto Comedy and Romantic Comedy, throughout the lecture we watched a number of clips they included; Bridget Jones, Two weeks’ notice, Sex and the city and Sassy Girl and a few other films.  In the latest lectures we taught about the mind game films within cinema, how a character or story can make you feel and also how they make you think one thing but they do another. In this lecture we also watch extracts from; The Thirteenth Floor, the Matrix. 

Semester Two Digital Media Tools

The first session in this semester we were introduced back into the module. Our tutor explained that this semester we would be creating a website about ourselves showing our work we have created in university. We had a discussion about web authorising and the most popular websites that our used nowadays. In the next lecture we were shown a number of different websites and then asked to go and research web designs that we may like to use on our own websites, also we had to collect work we would like to add to the website. Because in the first semester I missed a few sessions I decided that I would edit some images using Photoshop, so that I had some work to add to the website. In the last session I went to we were given instructions to follow, which would get us used to creating codes on Dreamweaver to create a webpage. The codes we used were to show us how to embed media into a page, to create the format of a page and also how to spread information on the page.  

I am looking forward to creating the website, adding all the work I have created and also helped created. As the website will showcase all the work, I am actually looking forward to creating the website and designing it the way I want.

Semester Two Contemporary Media Issues

The first contemporary media issues of semester two we were introduced to the module, once we had gone through the module handbook we then placed into groups and given a place in Liverpool. The group that I was in got Otterspool Park and Prom, we came up with a story about Steven Gerrard the story reflected on his life. The story was from when he was little up to present, we used Google maps to present our story we used images and videos along with some text. Over the next lecture we spent time creating the story. In our latest lecture we presented our story to the rest of the group and our tutors, after we presented in front of the class we received some feedback; the group and tutors said that they thought it was a good idea, because the audience can see the places as well as reading information about the place, they didn’t have to imagine the place and also it made the story more personal to the audience.

I think using Google maps is a great way to show and tell a story because it brings the reader more closely to the audience reading and looking at the map. I think our story was a good example of using Google maps to tell someone’s story.

Semester Two Creativity & Concept

The first creativity and concept session after Christmas we were introduced into the module assignment, after being introduced to the module we were then asked to complete a questionnaire which was on a university website; the questionnaire showed that I am a level/even person on all the areas of the questionnaire, I had the same score on most areas apart from one or two. After the questionnaire we were then asked to get into teams, me and Megan got into a team. We were then asked to pick a group of people that would visit the new Liverpool museum; the group of people we chose was a Local History group. Over the next couple of weeks we have to come up with an idea for something new that could be added for the Local History group, we have to pitch our ideas to our tutors in a couple of weeks. The second session we had been placed into teams, the aim of the lecture was to learn about becoming facilitator, the task that we had to take part in was to come up with ideas for a LJMU day which would celebrate JMU success. We had to come up with ideas with a budget of £1000. The next lecture we had we explored De Bono’s six thinking hats, we were given an idea which we had to develop using the six thinking hats.

o   White Hat Thinking; Data, Facts, Information known and needed.

o   Black Hat Thinking; Difficulties, Potential Problems. Why something may not work.

o   Red Hat Thinking; Feelings, Hunches, Gut Instinct and Intuition.

o   Green Hat Thinking; Creativity – Possibilities, Alternatives, Solutions, New Ideas.

o   Yellow Hat Thinking; Values and Benefits. Why something may work.

o   Blue Hat Thinking; Manage The Thinking Process, Focus, Next Steps, and Action Plans.

In the latest lecture in our groups we were asked four questions;

1.       What/ who is your user group?

2.       How does this user effect the client?

3.       Initial Thoughts? –Not solutions but more a breakdown of user / client / content.

4.       How are you proposing to go about this project?

-What is the process?   - What are the roles?

At the beginning of the lecture me and Kay created a diagram with ideas, but once we had a discussion with one of our tutors she explained that we needed to explore our user group first. We created profiles of people that would be in our user group, the profiles consisted of their job title, description about them, interests, dreams, education and music and also ideas that would interest them to the new museum. Before our pitch in a couple of weeks we will develop through the next questions so that we come up with an original idea, which will appeal to our user group.

I enjoyed using the six thinking hats because when using them you have to make sure that the product/idea you are coming up with will actually work, also that the product/idea is original from others.  

Semester Two Production Practice

The first week back after the Christmas holidays we were asked to come up with ideas for a film based around Liverpool, the film would be called ‘It’s Liverpool’. After been asked to come up with ideas for the It’s Liverpool we were also introduced to the other assignment and films we will be creating during semester two. The second session of production practice the whole group had a sound workshop, throughout the week after the session we started filming for our It’s Liverpool film. The locations that we filmed at were; The Liver Buildings (Pier Head), The Museum of Liverpool, Echo Arena, Liverpool Wheel, Albert Dock. After we had filmed some of the locations we then started to create a rough cut of the film. When creating the rough cut we had a couple of problems with the computer trying to add effects on certain clips. We decided that we would film a few more locations so that we could complete the final edit of our film.

We completed our final edit of our It’s Liverpool; we added a number of effects to the film. We also added music from soundcloud.com, the song we used was called I’m God by Clams Casino, the final cut of the film was around 1 minute 30 seconds (90 Seconds). We were then asked to burn the final cut onto a DVD so that we could hand it to our tutors when we had our production meeting. The meeting was about our next project, the next project would be an interview type film. The person being interviewed would have to have an interesting story. We came up with a few people to interview but we haven’t decided on the person yet, we need to decide by next week who we are going to interview.

When we had to come up with ideas for the It’s Liverpool film, our group had some problems trying to come up with ideas. But once we got over that problem we worked well on finding locations to film, I think the final cut of the film works for advertising Liverpool as a city because the locations we filmed stand to the audience watching.

Film Language

Over the first semester of film language we have been taught about different areas of films. Mise en Scene, cinematography and editing, sound in film, narrative and narration, story and plot, adaptation and remakes, themes motifs and levels of interpretation. After each of the lectures we have watched a number of clips and films; Crime and Misdemeanours, Notorious, Caught, Rebel without a Cause, the Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Antichrist, Fear X, and Morvern Callar, North by Northwest, Swimming Pool and many other films. During the first semester we were asked to outside of the lecture to pick a film and create a scene analysis on the film, the film I chose was North by Northwest the scene I chose was the drunk driving scene. The next lecture we had we had a class test which we would write a short essay about a scene the tutors have picked, they chose a scene from North by Northwest where Thornhill is searching for Townsend and then we finally meets Kendall.

Creativity & Concept

On Thursday 20^th October 2011, a couple of people from MOFILM came into our lecture, they showed us some short films that students have previous created. They then asked us to get into groups and come up with ideas for a film from the brief we were given the brief said that the video could be about anything, but a person or a group of people would have to hit with a newspaper, as the video would be about a news paper company.

Over the next few lectures we were given images and had to come up with ideas. With the first set of images we had to come up with ideas for a Snow Mobile. The idea that my group came up with was a bubble machine that would work on the ice/snow and also water. We then came up with ideas of Snow Skates, Snow Dye and also The Snow Canoe/Trolley. We were then given more images to come up with different ideas; we came up with a wig which changes colours & styles, A skateboard which is voice activated, sunglasses which changes what you see, an all in one breakfast maker. We were then asked to come up with an idea we could use the SCAMPER method on the idea, our idea was a mirror hall as it would be personal reflection. SCAMPER stands for; Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other use, Eliminate, Reverse.

The next lecture we were placed into different groups and asked to research divergent thinking, we had to explain divergent thinking once each group had researched different information techniques. Our tutors then asked us to place our posters containing the research up around the wall; they then went around the room talking about each group’s research. The other groups consisted of; Concept Extraction, Eno Cards, De Bono Cards, Scamper, Convergent Thinking, Plus Minus Interesting, Multiple Intelligences, Thinking outside the box. We had all spoke about the research we had to explain things that we had noticed around the university and also to explain a type of person you see around the university. Our tutors then placed all our post it notes of the people and things you notice around the room together, we were then given the post it notes and asked to come up with a product that would help improve things within the university.

v  Our topic was a stressed 1^st year student, missing home.

Ø  Students sit in groups at lunchtimes

Ø  Students on different courses do not mingle in the coffee shop area.

Ø  People walk around the building in cluster’s, they don’t mingle.

v  Our Idea was a screen that shows events happening e.g. film nights, Drinks events, Gigs. The events would be open to all students, staff. The groups allocated would be randomly picked to ensure an event which would be mixed. Users would swipe their ID card to accept the event, also with their cards and at the event they would receive discount.

In the next lecture we were once again placed into groups of five and had to have a discussion about Lego. We were then asked to create a tower out of the Lego blocks the towers base had to be green and also to have a Lego person on the top. In our groups we had to explain our choices we picked for the tower, explaining what the tower represented, we were then asked to edit the tower to represent what we believe we bring to a team. Once we had completed our tower we were then asked to build another object that would represent what we thought is important within a group, once each person in the group had finished, we then had to place the object on the table and place them in importance to a team being successful. We found that there were some items that were missing to make the team work, so we created a few other objects to represent the missing links of the team. Within the last few lectures of the first semester we started writing up our 2000 word reflection of the different techniques we had learnt, we also had to create a prezi presentation which would also be a way on reflecting on the techniques and how they are used. 

I really enjoyed the Lego lecture, learning about how to create an object to show our thought and also to show our own creativity using the Lego blocks.  Out of the entire lectures learning about different techniques of creativity this one is the one I found enjoyable, because we were placed into groups we learnt about how the group members view themselves.

Digital Media Tools

Over the last couple of months we have had a number Digital Media Tools lectures, the lectures consisted of information about different types of images and how they can affect you. For example the narrative between two images, we were also asked to take five images which would tell a visual story. Me and my partner for this task Megan came up with a story about a friend phoning another friend, but they are angry with them so they put the phone down on them. The frames around the images would tell the story. The next lecture we had was about animation we watched a short video “A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything”. Throughout the lecture we spoke about different types of animation that is used in the industry; stop motion, rotoscoping, cut out collage, frame animation, time lapse and after effects. At the end of the lecture we were asked to come up with our own idea for an animation, Phoebe and I came up with an idea of two shoes battling each other. For the next lecture we had to have our animation created, so I found two types of shoes also a shoe boxes I took a number of shots for the animation. Once I had all the shots needed I then uploaded the images and added them into Flash, we adjusted the frame per minute to make the shoes look like they were moving on their own. Once we had all the images in a sequence me and Phoebe had to decide which song we should add to the animation, we finally decided to add Paolo Nutini New Shoes to the animation. But because the animation is so short we had to use audio software to cut the song down to fit with our animation, once we had we then added it to the animation which made it final.

I found creating the animation fun but it takes a lot of time to get all the shots needed even for a short clip. Then having to cut and edit sound to fit the animation, but once it was created it was well worth the time and effort used.

www.flickr.com/

Contemporary Media Issues

During October each person in our MPS group we placed into groups, we were asked to pick a piece of paper from a hat, which would tell us what book we would be studying and creating a wiki on my groups was; “The Language of New Media” Lev Manovich (2001) Section 2; The Interface. We were asked to discuss what is meant by the term, Cultural Interface. We had to use the wiki to answer the question; we had to use different ways of presenting the information as a group we decided that we would split up the different parts of the interface. I used Prezi and threads to show and explain the part of the interface I was talking about. Over a number of lectures we had time to create the wiki and also to add comments to other group’s wiki’s.

Once we had met our deadline we were then introduced to our next assignment about creating a game. In our first lecture for the game assignment we were allowed to play with a number of different games, some of the games I played with were; Da Vinci Code the Game, who am I. There were also other games available to play they included; Nintendo Wii, Xbox games, Chest, Ker plunk. Out of all the games who am I had the most people playing it. When playing Da Vinci Code I thought it looked confusing, but once I had read the rules it was easy, once I had played the game a number of times me and my team members joined in play who am I. Playing the games helped us understand and come up with ideas for our own games.

The next few lectures we discussed as a group ‘fun’ and what we think it is and also how games and play are fun in different ways. Once we had a discussion we then split into groups my group members were Phoebe and Megan, we were asked to come up with an idea of a game. The idea that me and Phoebe came up was a lift game, the main part of the game was that users would have to answer a question right to move up levels in the lift, the users goal is to get out on your correct floor by playing the games and answering questions. With two lifts users could compete with other users to try and get to a certain level first. The next lecture we had we user tested our game idea to see if it would work. Once we had user tested our idea we had to create a presentation to present our idea, we then received feedback from other groups, and they gave us ideas to maybe improve the whole game by adding and removing certain items.

When introduced to wiki assignment I was slightly confused, even when I started adding information to the wiki I was unsure if I was doing it right adding the correct information etc. When I was introduced to the game assignment the first thing that came to my head was this will be fun. The only problems were trying to think outside the box to come up with a game that would be unique and different from others. Out of the two assignments I enjoyed the game assignment much more.

http://prezi.com/xomhzqe24taj/the-lift-game/