Our first practical excersise.

Our practical exercise consisted of filming a ruff and ready twenty minute sequence. We were instructed to make it simple, and to film each action from different shots for editing purposes. The idea we had in my group was to do a short sequence of shots, entailing of a man running from an invisible foe, slamming into a room, writing something and then chocking on his chair. We also planned a delightfully cliché ending; by a close up shot of what he wrote, which would read “virus”. Unfortunately our piece did not go as well as planned, due to the fact that we did not follow our orders precisely and our composition may have been slightly warped. Despite all this I am happy with our first attempt for mans greatest teacher is failure.

Introduction to video camera.

In our next practical lesson, my classmates and I were introduced to the mechanics of a professional camera and a tripod. It was necessary to learn some of the basics in order to continue with the Media Studies course. We learnt about the general technical operation of the camera paying attention to composition, exposure, controlling lighting, focus, tripod mechanics and shutter speed. This was preparing us for a practical exercise in the upcoming week.

Our introduction to Photoshop.

pIn our accumulation of necessary skills to explore in Media Studies; Photoshop (apart from a few technical terms) was the first mystery we attempted to unravel. We were given an introduction on the programme and then left to our own devices. Photoshop is incredibly important for it allows you to warp any image to your liking. Film posters (which we have looked at) are a very small field in proportion to the gargantuan amount of things you can do with it. Basic skills with Photoshop will be necessary for the course and generally a great skill to have.

Introduction to working in the studio.

Starting Media Studies we were first introduced to a small simulation of work in the studio. Several of my class mates volunteered to either manage the lighting, camera or even be the interviewer. My other classmates and I were then selected to answer a list of simple questions and tell a joke on camera in a TV interview representation.
The idea was to give us a modest idea of either on screen or behind the scenes work that Media Studies would entail. I thoroughly enjoyed it and relished the opportunity to tell a joke on screen. Because the exercise was a rather precise simulation, I learnt that most celebrities when being interviewed will be given second or even third takes if they are not happy with the footage; unless of course it’s live. This has taught me that when observing a TV interview, I must acknowledge that the normally smooth and quick witted answers are not improvised and are possibly even prepared before hand by assistants and other such employees.

Processed deconstruction of my poster

My poster was a taster for a vague story line I created named “Watcher”. The narrative entails a group of students being stalked by a silent and watchful tormenter lurking in the shadows, never far away. They would not be aware of his/her presence until near the end of the film. Hopefully building an eerie tension. It is important to get this idea across in the poster yet in a subtle and possibly insidious way.
Due to the movies concept, I thought it very important to focus on a pair of brooding yet sinister eyes in the poster. Silent, watchful and mysterious; a pair of eyes would be perfect for the job. I put a camera on self timer and after several attempts, finally had a decent close up shot.

For the posters background, I took another close up. Yet this time of a classmates cheek, hoping to create the effect that the underlying tone of the poster is human flesh. I felt this would add a very chilling effect to the piece. I blurred the edges on Adobe Photo-Shop to give a stretch-like affect. Hopefully the piece would appear to be a close up of a face, yet stretched and disfigured, with no mouth, nose or ears. Giving the viewer an idea of a twisted creature; and the horror that is to come. The poster should feel like its watching you. This works well with the title.

The title is meant to look like fabricated lettering (possibly cut out from clothes etc.) which has been stitched into the forehead. This should really give the viewer a sense of horrific gore which should attract many movie buffs of the genre by giving a terrifying taster of the atrocities that are to come.
This is a technique many film makers like to use in their poster to attract the fans of the genre. An example would be the “Saw” saga.

The tagline was supposed to be the words “I see you” etched into the flesh where the mouth should be. Though it is a conspicuous line, I thought the effect would be an interesting example of juxtaposition with the Films title. One word Stitched above, and one word etched in, this would be another taster of the abhorrent things to come in the film. Something that will initiate a certain craving in the genre’s fans to see the movie. The juxtaposition was also important due to the fact that the poster is fairly simple. Without the violence which is insinuated and the contrast in the lettering, the poster would be surly dull. That is why I believe these effects to be a necessity.

Hard at work...

Even though my head has been photo-shopped to Seth Rogans body (poorly), i still enjoy this picture for Seth is a hero of mine and in my opinion a fantastic film writer/actor.