If you plan to film or fancy practising some filming over Xmas you CAN borrow equipment over the holidays. The sheets are up on the cupboards in ENG4. A2 students have priority as their deadline is 27th Feb whereas the AS one is Fri 6th March.
Please make sure you do not take more equipment than you need and you plan carefully when you take the equipment for. If others wish to use the equipment over the break then swap numbers and ensure you stick to the dates you booked it for.
Lastly, take care of the equipment and yourselves and take loads of footage! More is better.
Monday 15 December 2014
Sunday 7 December 2014
A touch of frost: Disability
Sound is used in this specific clip to represent one way in which disabled characters are represented. In this particular clip, the different characters use different dialogue and have different attitudes when speaking to the disabled character.
Firstly the inspector describes the character with down syndrome as "mentally subnormal", this is quite a rude an insensitive way in which to describe a human being, as we then hear his dad say "handicapped" which shows he has a more sensitive and understanding attitude towards his son. By the inspector using the word subnormal, it presents the character as different to others and is describing him as not normal. Different audiences would respond to this statement in different ways. Certain people who have been brought up on the belief that people with down syndrome are abnormal would have a passive attitude towards this statement, However others who believe that is wrong to discriminate and describe a regular human as abnormal because of a condition they have no control over, may become quite irritated by this statement and will question it and question the intentions of the scene or director.
The investigator also uses quite child like and simple language in order to converse with our victimised character, he repeats words like "hurt" and "fallen down". This presents that the investigator thinks that the character will not understand him unless he treats him like a child when he is actually a grown man. He is patronised and belittled by his family and the inspector as he is constantly spoken to and about as a young child.
Firstly the inspector describes the character with down syndrome as "mentally subnormal", this is quite a rude an insensitive way in which to describe a human being, as we then hear his dad say "handicapped" which shows he has a more sensitive and understanding attitude towards his son. By the inspector using the word subnormal, it presents the character as different to others and is describing him as not normal. Different audiences would respond to this statement in different ways. Certain people who have been brought up on the belief that people with down syndrome are abnormal would have a passive attitude towards this statement, However others who believe that is wrong to discriminate and describe a regular human as abnormal because of a condition they have no control over, may become quite irritated by this statement and will question it and question the intentions of the scene or director.
The investigator also uses quite child like and simple language in order to converse with our victimised character, he repeats words like "hurt" and "fallen down". This presents that the investigator thinks that the character will not understand him unless he treats him like a child when he is actually a grown man. He is patronised and belittled by his family and the inspector as he is constantly spoken to and about as a young child.
Friday 5 December 2014
What does a great blog look like at this point in the course?
You should be checking both the 'Research and Planning' checklist in your handbook and the feedback sheet you've been given.
Here's what a great blog looks like at this point in the course.
Friday 28 November 2014
Representation of Disability in Touch of frost
In the TV drama, Touch of Frost, they use camera angles to
help represent a disability that a character has within the show. First, they
use a long shot that shows the character of ‘Billy’ walking through the woods
at night. This seems to be suspicious, because the audience doesn’t know why
someone would be walking through the woods late at night. Meanwhile, they also
use low-key lighting to help aid the audience see the character as sinister and
that they think that he has been up to some sort of trouble. This may also make
the audience see this clip as a sort of horror genre, as it looks very wary and
menacing.
After this a close up of Billy is show when the police spot
him in the woods, the close up shows him to look scared and vulnerable. Nevertheless,
at the end of the clip when Billy is talking to the inspector, Billy becomes
quite aggressive because the inspector is accusing him. Billy replies with ‘I
didn’t see her… I didn’t see Trisha!’ This shows that Billy isn’t always seen
as childlike because of his disability, now he shows that he can stick up for
himself.
Thursday 27 November 2014
A touch of Frost-SOUND
Sound
Opening scene… “I didn’t think there was anything strange
about Billy” this implies that her mind has changed and now she thinks that he
is. The sound over the top gives a deviant feel; this type of sound is usually associated
with horror and crime drama. The non-diegetic sound stops shortly followed by diegetic
sounds like barking dogs, leaves crunching, police shouting and cars driving by.
Giving a feel that what is happening is real and that he was quickly caught out
and stopped of his deviant ways. Billy shouts “I haven’t done anything wrong”
the fact that he feels the need to express this shows that he immediately feels
intimidated and vulnerable. The
inspector refers to him as ‘sub-normal’ which is corrected by the father as ‘handicapped’.
This shows he doesn’t know the correct way to deal with a disabled person
showing that they need specialist help and need to be treated with care. The
inspector says he needs someone else in the room to “make sure he doesn’t do
anything wrong” implying that he doesn’t know how to treat him but also emphasising
his vulnerability. This could also imply that he cannot be treated like any
other person or that there are too many rules and regulations surrounding this
which the inspector feels is unnecessary. Talking to him as if he is a child that
needs everything explaining to him, the inspector is giving him various options
to try and trip him up, almost telling him how he feels. Inspector Frost keeps checking
with the father to get an elaborate and more complex answer; only asking the
simple questions to Billy and then seeking the father out for detail and
confirmation. We stereotypically see him as ‘childish’ and unable to lie and manipulate.
Billy who we think is ‘stupid’ is trying able to protect himself but is unable
to keep a sophisticated and fool proof alibi for long. Billy’s lies begin to
stack up and he becomes aggressive showing how his seemingly vulnerable
character can change in a moment suggesting further that he knows more about 8
year old Trisha’s whereabouts. The tone
of the inspector’s voice changes to a patient tone when Billy stops telling the
truth and begins answering with the answer of “I don’t know”. Frost is talking
through the father to Billy showing that he is untrustworthy. Billy is the more
dominant and is telling his father what he was doing rather than accepting what
believes is correct. This could show that he is desperate to hide the truth as
he becomes more aggressive and frustrated. The dad nods from behind Billy when he is questioned, either
showing that Billy is the more dominant and the dad just agrees with whatever
Billy says or that the inspector does not trust Billy and wants confirmation
from someone ‘normal’.
How is Billy represented?
·
Less dominant
·
Appearance is vulnerable
·
Personally is fairly clever.
·
Treated like a child by everybody, he is very childlike
·
Untrustworthy
A Touch of Frost ~ representation of disabilities
How was Billy
represented?
Throughout the clip sound was used to represent the disabled
character (Billy) in various ways. Firstly it was the use of dialogue, in the
clip Billy slurs his speech regularly and struggles to say certain words, this
shows the audience that he has some sort of mental disability. He also pauses
before he speaks, this suggests that he really has to think about what he’s
saying and he struggles to have normal conversations. Before meeting Billy,
Inspector Frost refers to Billy as being “mentally abnormal” which differentiates
him from other ‘normal’ people. Further on
in the clip Billy’s father speaks for him, this shows that he must be there to
support Billy which suggests Billy isn’t capable of answering for himself or
simply doesn’t know the answer. Furthermore, Billy also lies in the clip which
breaks the stereotype that disabled people are more trust worthy as they
haven't got the metal capacity or are manipulative enough to tell lies. When talking
to Billy Inspector Frost is quite calm and he speaks to Billy as if he is a
child which is very patronising. This suggests that disabled are weak,
powerless and more vulnerable than the able-bodied and have to be supported by
others. However, once inspector Frost realises that Billy is lying he becomes angrier
and starts to put pressure on Billy to get the truth. Frost knows for certain
that Billy is lying as he has information that Billy was seen with the girl but
due to regulations Frost could not be as direct as he would be with an
able-bodies/minded person. This makes the audience feel like disabled people
are weak and are unable to deal with stuff.
Sound Anaylsis of Disability in A Touch of Frost
Sound
Diegetic Sounding that can be heard during the short clip of " A Touch of Frost" of disability when Billy is speaking during the clip. The language of Billy, is sometimes not that all clear and understandable to other character, take for example when Inspector Frost is talking to Billy in his parent's living room with his father being in the room at the time supporting Billy. The inspector knows that he is getting simple words out of him although its very child-like. Also the inspector could mannered to understand what he is saying; implying that some disabled people with speak problems can't be understood clearly enough unlike normal speaking people.
Furthermore, Billy's language represents that disabled people with speak problems can be seen to be sinister as they are trying to act incident with a hidden thoughts within them.
Even more another example of diegetic sounding is heard in the clip is when the police are shouting to Billy at the start of the clip, forcing him to stop. In the clip, the police shouts "Oh stop!". This implies that modern day's police treated everyone even if they are disabled or not the same, showing that everyone can be capable of doing the wrong things in today's world.
Diegetic Sounding that can be heard during the short clip of " A Touch of Frost" of disability when Billy is speaking during the clip. The language of Billy, is sometimes not that all clear and understandable to other character, take for example when Inspector Frost is talking to Billy in his parent's living room with his father being in the room at the time supporting Billy. The inspector knows that he is getting simple words out of him although its very child-like. Also the inspector could mannered to understand what he is saying; implying that some disabled people with speak problems can't be understood clearly enough unlike normal speaking people.
Furthermore, Billy's language represents that disabled people with speak problems can be seen to be sinister as they are trying to act incident with a hidden thoughts within them.
Even more another example of diegetic sounding is heard in the clip is when the police are shouting to Billy at the start of the clip, forcing him to stop. In the clip, the police shouts "Oh stop!". This implies that modern day's police treated everyone even if they are disabled or not the same, showing that everyone can be capable of doing the wrong things in today's world.
Disabillity - Representation of Billy in "Touch of Frost"- Ryan Parsons
In the clip from the TV drama series "A Touch of Frost" we see the inspector talking to Billy who has Down syndrome and show how disability is represented. By the use of sound in this clip the viewers can decide on what Billy is like. When we first see Billy we see him walking and wipes his hands, The non-diegetic sound which is playing has an eerie music which could be related to the genre of horror. This could symbolise that he has done something bad such as murder. When Inspector Frost speaks to the parents of Billy the way that Frost speaks is very ignorant when Frost says "Mentally abnormal" and shows that he does not fully understand Billy's situation. When Frost begins to interview Billy, he speaks to Billy childlike with the slow speech and describing the situation in not much depth and little description. This is used when speaking to smaller children who do not understand. This shows that Billy has a limited mental processing when being spoke to and needs help to understand. When speaking to the Father and when he is speaking to Frost they are patronising Billy using a patronising tone of voice but when Billy speaks he is louder than the other characters and shows that Billy is in control. Through This we can see that billy has been represented as a typical disabled person but he has some power over the two characters.
Analysis of Disability Representation: A Touch of Frost
The Touch of Frost clip represents disability in a variety of ways. I have looked at the way it is shown through camera shots and sound, and analysed the effects upon the audience.
The clip begins with a long shot of a dark woods, of the character we can infers name is Billy, as it was aforementioned.Billy begins to brush himself off, which hints that he has done wrong, shown through the shot to give the audience a perception of what is happening, without revealing too much. The shot is then cut to a mid shot of a police dog, which immediately gives the audience a feeling of urgency and worry, as it is clear someone is in the wrong. Billy is revealed after to have downs syndrome, leading the audience to understand he has a disability in the mid shot of him. As the police dog is shown straight after Billy, we can understand that there is a connection. This may lead the audience to think that disability is represented as dangerous, as police dogs tend to investigate serious cases and appear to be within the same woods that Billy was shown in previously. There is then a shot of Billy's reaction as he hears the noise of the police officers and dogs - he is depicted as vulnerable and weak, which aids the audience to view Billy at this moment, as a scared victim. The scene quickly gets fast-paced, with a panoramic shot, showing Billy running away from the police officers, this helps the audience understand the scene and makes his apprehension that he feels a lot more dramatic. The police officers tackle Billy to the ground, which is shown using a low-angle shot, with the police officer clearly having force over him whilst Billy struggles furthermore showing him as overpowered.
The clip begins with a long shot of a dark woods, of the character we can infers name is Billy, as it was aforementioned.Billy begins to brush himself off, which hints that he has done wrong, shown through the shot to give the audience a perception of what is happening, without revealing too much. The shot is then cut to a mid shot of a police dog, which immediately gives the audience a feeling of urgency and worry, as it is clear someone is in the wrong. Billy is revealed after to have downs syndrome, leading the audience to understand he has a disability in the mid shot of him. As the police dog is shown straight after Billy, we can understand that there is a connection. This may lead the audience to think that disability is represented as dangerous, as police dogs tend to investigate serious cases and appear to be within the same woods that Billy was shown in previously. There is then a shot of Billy's reaction as he hears the noise of the police officers and dogs - he is depicted as vulnerable and weak, which aids the audience to view Billy at this moment, as a scared victim. The scene quickly gets fast-paced, with a panoramic shot, showing Billy running away from the police officers, this helps the audience understand the scene and makes his apprehension that he feels a lot more dramatic. The police officers tackle Billy to the ground, which is shown using a low-angle shot, with the police officer clearly having force over him whilst Billy struggles furthermore showing him as overpowered.
Analysis of 'A touch of Frost' Sound usage
Sound was used a lot in effect in the extract. This was mainly done with the use of dialogue. Billy, (the disabled), slurs his speech to indicate his disability, and also delays before every piece of speech. His father clarifies Billy's speech for Frost, showing he must be there to support Billy. Billy also lies in the extract, showing not all disabled people are going to tell the truth as they haven't the capacity to tell lies. Before meeting Billy, Frost talks about Billy as 'abnormal'; differentiating him from other people. Frost begins quite calm, and speaks to Billy like a child; patronising him. This makes the audience believe that disabled are quite weak, and have to be supported by others; Billy's dad. However, once Billy lies, Frost becomes much more angry; putting pressure on Billy for the truth. This is also because Frost has information that Billy was seen with the girl, but due to regulations unmentioned, Frost could not be as direct. This makes disabled people much weaker as certain regulations must be set against them.
Bradley Roberts
Bradley Roberts
Textual analysis of seven.
I will be looking at a popular thriller/crime film that was released in 1996. The film gained a huge amount of praise due to its mass fan base and diverse subculture. It tells a story of a serial killer basing his murders around the seven deadly sins.
Directed by: David Fincher
Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt & Gwyneth Paltrow
Release date: 5th January 1996
The textual analysis of the film seven
Monday 17 November 2014
A Touch of Frost - Disability discussion
Please post your paragraphs below by responding to this post.
Thursday 13 November 2014
Some excellent blog sites from last year
Have a look at how some of the students from last year who achieved the highest marks in research and planning (16 out of 20) did theirs. The later posts are to do with the evaluation (which comes later in the year).
Tom Flaxman
Emma Laird
Remember - it's for inspiration not for nicking!! (which would be a bit stupid as I marked these last year....)
Tom Flaxman
Emma Laird
Remember - it's for inspiration not for nicking!! (which would be a bit stupid as I marked these last year....)
Wednesday 12 November 2014
How to use Prezi
As an educational institution you can all sign up for FREE Prezi accounts.
Start here:
Each student needs to create an account using their SCHOOL EMAIL ADDRESS. Then enter the school name, city and website address when prompted.
A verification email is then sent. Once confirmed by clicking the link, you are ready to get started.
Friday 24 October 2014
Drama case studies
These are useful pieces of research so I would strongly suggest putting them on your blog sites. However, they need to be made relevant to the coursework side of the course. I would suggest something along the lines of this as an opening paragraph.
'Although, this was a task for the exam part of the course I think there are many aspects that I researched that are useful for the coursework task. For example, some of the filming techniques; how different groups are represented; how film-makers create meaning and the challenges presented by the changing media climate and increasing convergence. All of this will be useful when planning and preparing our thriller opening.'
Some of these are truly excellent - well done! They will all be stored in students/curriculum/English/MediaStudies/AS Drama Case Studies
'Although, this was a task for the exam part of the course I think there are many aspects that I researched that are useful for the coursework task. For example, some of the filming techniques; how different groups are represented; how film-makers create meaning and the challenges presented by the changing media climate and increasing convergence. All of this will be useful when planning and preparing our thriller opening.'
Some of these are truly excellent - well done! They will all be stored in students/curriculum/English/MediaStudies/AS Drama Case Studies
Thursday 16 October 2014
Preliminary Task Deadline 17th October for 12AMS1 and 2
Hello,
This is a Learning for Life period tomorrow. However, your deadline still applies. I will come along to open the door to ENF3 and also leave an USB which says 'Final Videos' in ENF3. This is what you need to do once you have finished with your final edit:
Go to Sequence then Render entire work area or Render from In to Out
You should then see a green line above your sequence when it has been rendered.
Then you need to export it. Go to File then Export then Media.
When the next box comes up you just need to change the Output Name part so it exports the file to your folder.
This is a Learning for Life period tomorrow. However, your deadline still applies. I will come along to open the door to ENF3 and also leave an USB which says 'Final Videos' in ENF3. This is what you need to do once you have finished with your final edit:
Go to Sequence then Render entire work area or Render from In to Out
You should then see a green line above your sequence when it has been rendered.
Then you need to export it. Go to File then Export then Media.
When the next box comes up you just need to change the Output Name part so it exports the file to your folder.
Once it has exported remember to drop it into AS Preliminary Pieces 2014 folder on the USB. The file will appear with an orange cone icon.
Friday 10 October 2014
Reminders: Preliminary Task etc...
-Needs to be completed, exported,
submitted to your teacher and put on YouTube (either your page or the Tupton Hall
Media one) by Friday 17th
October.
You don't have to add titles at this point as we will be doing some work on titling the week after the deadline.
If you complete the task before the deadline then there is a short evaluation to be completed.
-Reminder:
anyone
who was given an ATL of 3 or more for their blog needs to make sure you are up
to date with the tasks by the end of today.
-Fri P2 next week is L4L but Y12s
have an extra non-contact. You can use this time to complete your films.
Monday’s lesson: how to add music to your
film using Mixcraft. For your main project, you
are not allowed to use copyrighted material but can either compose your own music or use copyright free music from websites such as these. These can also be useful for sound effects. I also have a copy of the BBC sound effects library which hopefully will be put on all of the computers in ENF3.
(Note: not all music is free to download from copyright free sites – there are download fees)
- http://copyrightfriendly.wikispaces.com/Copyright-friendly+music+and+sound
- http://www.shockwave-sound.com/
- http://audiojungle.net/
- http://www.musicmediatracks.com/?gclid=CK6V-r7ZiJgCFUse3god7XQJCw
- http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/free.html
- http://freeplaymusic.com/ (free downloads)
- http://www.trackline.com/acatalog/Tracks.html
- http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/documentary-general-production.html
- http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Music/Sound_Files/Samples_and_Loops/
- www.freesound.org (free music)
- http://www.mobygratis.com/film-music.html (teacher needs to register for this one)
Free Sound Effects from PartnersInRhyme.com:
- http://www.ljudo.com/default.asp?lang=tEnglish&do=it
- http://www.jamendo.com/en
- http://derekaudette.ottawaarts.com/
- http://www.acoustica.com/sounds.htm
- http://www.alcljudprod.se/english/ljud.php
Many, many more sites are available just search ‘copyright free music audio download’ or ‘free audio editor software’. If you find anymore let me know so I can update this list!
Monday 6 October 2014
Twitter Time!
If you've not signed up to Twitter, get on it!
Follow @thsmediastudies for heaps of info about your course, trips, events, relevant news articles, videos and top tips.
All A Level Media Studies sent tweets so it can also be a great way to get quick advice outside of school time.
You do not need an iPhone or huge data allowance to use Twitter: the website version works perfectly well! Check us out here: https://twitter.com/thsmediastudies
Mrs Spalding also tweets as @HeadofEnglish.
Friday 26 September 2014
Reminder of your preliminary task title!
Continuity task involving filming
and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a
chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of
lines of dialogue.
This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Tuesday 23 September 2014
Friday 19 September 2014
Blogger Confusion - please read!
There has been some confusion with blogger and how your site links to the main blog hub.
Hopefully this clarifiies it but if not please see me ASAP.
1. You should have set up your OWN blog site. You can do this by clicking 'create new blog' . Put your name, AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio and your candidate number (if you know it). Do not post directly to our blog hub, this acts just as a gateway for us and the examiner to find their way to your blog site. Also this is where Mr Hudson and myself will be posting advice ang guidance and you can also look at each others' blog sites.
2. You need to make sure your blog site is not a google + account otherwise the link on our hub page won't take us or the examiner directly to your blog - it will take them to your google + page which pulls together all of your googly ways. You can change this back by clicking on the link at the bottom of this...
https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/1375600?hl=en
Hopefully this clarifiies it but if not please see me ASAP.
1. You should have set up your OWN blog site. You can do this by clicking 'create new blog' . Put your name, AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio and your candidate number (if you know it). Do not post directly to our blog hub, this acts just as a gateway for us and the examiner to find their way to your blog site. Also this is where Mr Hudson and myself will be posting advice ang guidance and you can also look at each others' blog sites.
2. You need to make sure your blog site is not a google + account otherwise the link on our hub page won't take us or the examiner directly to your blog - it will take them to your google + page which pulls together all of your googly ways. You can change this back by clicking on the link at the bottom of this...
https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/1375600?hl=en
Monday 8 September 2014
Welcome to the THS Media Studies blog hub.
Greetings student people!
This will be the hub for your Media Studies portfolio work. You should be linked in the bottom corner, if not let me know as soon as possible. I will use the blog hub to monitor your work so it is essential that you are uploading/posting everything you have done.
I will be posting information regarding deadlines, course information, practical tips and anything else relevant!
You should be posting regularly and, as this Media Studies, using a variety of methods of presentation to make your blog suuuuuuper cooooool. Ahem.
Please see the list below to find out loads of different ways you can present your work on blogger. Let me know if there is anything you want to do, but can't access here, and I will ask IT to unblock it.
Credit to Andy Wallis, Teacher of Media (check out his presentations on Slideshare) for coming up with this list.
No excuses now, be creative...
Credit to Andy Wallis, Teacher of Media (check out his presentations on Slideshare) for coming up with this list.
No excuses now, be creative...
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