Lighting Workshop

During our last Media Studies lesson of the year, we were asked to carry out an experiment to test the two most common methods of lighting used by two artists, Caravaggio and Tim Walker. The two methods of lighting are to be used for different lighting scenarios when shooting a film. Caravaggio's lighting is very low-key and is meant to combine realistic observations of the humans state, as well as their true emotions. This method of lighting can be particularly useful when it comes to shooting very low key lighting scenes. This technique was the one which Alex and I had used for our AS film last year.    

Below is an example of Caravaggio's lighting technique he used when painting:

The photos below are some example shots of the Caravaggio technique. We shot our photos in a dark room with the light source we used was a candlestick to help create the low-key effect we wanted. This effect was useful in highlighting the shapes of the model's faces. 

The next lighting technique we played around with was Tim Walker's lighting technique. Tim Walker uses lanterns to create a natural lighting effect on his models when he shoots his photographs. His technique helps to illuminate his settings better with high-key lighting as the lantern lighting creates a softer effect than the industry standard photography lights. 

This here is an example of how Tim Walker uses his lighting in his photographs:

Below are some example shots I took using Tim Walker's technique. 

After experimenting  with these lighting techniques, it has now given me a perspective as well as inspiration for how I we can create lighting for our short film sequences. One aspect of lighting Alex and I wish to improve on was the use of low-key lighting as I believe this technique was overused in our short film at AS. So this is something to keep in mind when we shoot our short film.  

British vs American Films

After looking at the requirements for the short film, we both decided to go for the film poster and magazine review because of our mutual interest in graphic design. Deciding that we also wish to produce a short film as for our Main Task at A2, it is important for us to consider some key concepts about the differences in British and American films from the way they are shot, the way they are funded as well as their differences in the storylines. This first step of research can help Alex and I aim which direction we would like to take our short film into.  

Brainstorming Our Ideas

Since receiving the details about the requirements for our coursework productions at A2, Alex and I have decided to produce a 5 minute short film in the genre of our choice. This short film will be completed with our choice of digipacks as well. 

Once we both decided that we wanted to produce a short film instead of a music video, we began to brainstorm some initial ideas onto paper the factors we want to implement for this main task. We included ideas such as the preferred genre we wish to work around, the props we might use, camera angles, film equipment as well as the mise-en-scene.

In order to know how to shoot our short film around our preferred genre, it is vital that we both carry out sufficient research and planning which will help us develop a storyline and gather additional inspiration from these sources.  

Response to Brief

Response to brief - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Previous A2 blogs I have visited

After reviewing my A2 Media Studies Blog, I knew that I kept my blog looking very professional and appealing to everyone who visited my blog. Whenever visitors would click on a link to view a post on my blog, they would instantly be interested in viewing the next post which was suggested along the tabs. This was how I was able to gain a lot more traffic on my blog as the presentation of my blog was enough to keep visitors reading all of my posts. This kind of layout on my blog is a similar sort of structure I wish to follow in A2 as I will be producing more posts and in greater detail. 

To give me inspiration of what A2 media blogs are like, I decided to look at previous A2 Media Studies blogs to help me understand what I need to improve on for my A2 blog.

The first student blog I visited had written more blog posts at A2 then I did at AS (I wrote a total of 54 and this student wrote 69). This can instantly mean to me that posting more on my blog about all of my work at A2 will gain me more marks. That does not mean the posts should be of poor standard.

http://imogenmckaymedia13.blogspot.co.uk/

This next student's blog I viewed shows that she uses a variety of presentation devices in her blog posts. This is to show to the examiner that she is creative and is trying our different mediums to present her work. I believe on the other hand this will not be an issue due to the fact that I already attempted to use lots of different presentation methods in my AS blog to add variety in my posts.

http://bobbywilsonmedia13.blogspot.co.uk/

                                                                                                        

Although Alex and I only asked our audience to view our work when we released our Main Task, I still believe that adding questionnaires and asking for audiences' opinion for my media work can become very useful for Alex and I at A2 when we make our short film. This student never hesitates to ask her friends for feedback and advice on their work.

                                                             

               http://bethupchurchmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/          

After taking a view of the A2 student's blogs, it has now given me a perspective of what an A2 blog should look like. Therefore it is important for me to now update my blog as much as possible, continue to upload highly analytical blog posts, and to continue making my blog as openly as possible in order for more visitors to view my blog.                               

What am I expecting from A2 Media Studies?

AS Media Studies Coursework Overview

Introduction

Welcome to my A2 Media Studies blog. This blog will be used to post everything I get up to in Media Studies at A2 including my planning, research and preparation for my practical task, as well as a variety of other media related content which I find interesting or useful for my approach to Media Studies at A2.

The media in from what I know is a rapidly growing industry and also incredibly diverse as well as being very easy to access. I believe that the media which we consume every day of our lives has opened a new pathway for people to interact with one another but its also introducing to us all a new of sharing our ideas/beliefs through various texts.

Learning from AS Media Studies, I have learnt how to construct an opening sequence of a film using the codes and conventions of my chosen genre. I had also discovered the way different people are portrayed within the media which helped Alex and I to pick how our characters in our opening sequence were going to be portrayed. The attention to detail in our opening sequence was what made it incredibly successful and appealing for the audience to watch.

I am hoping to explore furthermore at A2 the additional codes and conventions surrounding our chosen genre as well as looking to adding more enigmas to our pieces too

Click Here to view my AS Media Studies Blog