Research

            To begin with, the materials used to record action on were plastic. By 1889, US inventor George Eastman developed the first role of film made of celluloid. A few years later William Dickson invented the Kinetoscope, this projected perforated celluloid at the rate of forty pictures per second. The celluloid is flexible so it could go round a reel and the images shown would appear to move. Only one person could view it at a time. In France 1895, the Lumiere brothers created a machine called the Cinematographe which recorded moving images and projected them on to a screen. This was very popular and the films were very short. In 1896, Georges Melies was the first to show stories through film. They were mainly based on fairy tales and science fiction; some included special effects they were said to be very beautiful.

            Early full length films had no sound but sometimes a piano or organ was played during the film to provide music. In 1927, a ‘talkie’ was released which is sound recorded onto discs and played at the same time as the film. For the first time, actor’s voices and sound effects could be heard. By 1950’s, most films were made in colour by a Technicolour 3 colour camera. By the late 1980’s, multiplex cinemas spread which are multiple screens within the same building.
Bibliography:
Film and Televison by Louise Wordsworth

Creativity

When being creative, we are limited by the form of media we choose. For example, if you were making a film of a certain genre, you cannot copy another film as they would be the same, but you cannot be very different as you would not recognize the genre. Creativity can also be limited by time. If you have a lot of time before you have to film, you would be able to think of more ideas and create a more complex concept. When working in a group you have to combine ideas which is ‘collective’ creativity. This limits your own creativity as you cannot design the whole idea you have to let others input their thoughts. Creativity is also limited by the audience you are making ideas for. You have to take into account the audiences expectations by either submitting to them or defying them, the age, gender, class, race and sexuality. Ideas have to include diverse people in order to enforce equality throughout all categories. So depending on the audience you aim to film for, you have to consider them when being creative and thinking of ideas. I think the biggest problem would be sorting ideas out between a group as everyone wants there own idea to be used and some may not fit with the other things that need to be considered.

Roles

This year for our A2 project the roles of the group have been changed around a bit. I was the Editor at AS, however, I am staying as the Editor again as I really enjoyed putting the film together and I feel that I now have some experience so I can push myself to do better in A2. I will try to improve by doing research in the library and on the internet. Adele was the Director at AS but she has changed groups for the A2. Paige was previously the Storyboard Artist as she is artistic, but as a challenge she is going to push herself and become the Director. Karlene was the Script Writer she did well in writing the lyrics for our song, but now she is going to be the Storyboard Artist. We are all going to try and perform well in our roles and make the best possible outcome for this project.

Review

For my AS project I made a film opening which lasted approximately two minutes. The genre of our film is a horror musical. I really enjoyed filming our film with my group Adele, Paige and Karlene. We got to experiment with different ideas and had a lot of footage. It took a while to get organised with what shots to keep or to lose, eventually we picked out the best shots to edit together. I was the editor of the group which was hard work but very rewarding, as me and Adele gradually built up the film so it flowed and carried tension and suspense. It was great to experience the creation of a film; you see how much hard work goes into the making of a film. Since I made my film I appreciate films more, as I know the extent of work that goes into them. I think that if we had to do it again, we would have to do a bit more planning before filming, and when we do the filming we need to focus more. Also, when doing the editing we should have more input from the whole group.

Brief

I have been given Brief 10 for my A2 Media Studies course. I have been asked to make a short film that should last roughly five minutes. It should contain live action or animation. I am excited to film again as I enjoyed making my film opening in AS Media Studies. I also must complete a poster for the film, a radio trailer for the film or a film magazine review page featuring the film.