About ME

Hey my name is Joanna
I go to Hurtwood House. I live in putney and i was born in Holland. So far i am enjoying media studies as i am excited as what has yet to follow. I am interested in films a lot. Some of my favourite would be the notebook, bridget jones diary and wanted. These are three different genres of film which shows i have a variety of interests in films. I have always wanted to know how they film these fantastic films and i have thought of doing a career in the filiming industry so media studies would be useful. My favourite thing i have done in media so far is the photoshop as i am creative and imaginative and i do a lot of editing photos with friends which we have a good laugh about and we have fun.

I hope you enjoy looking at my blog!

Intro to Video camera

In our lesson of learning about the video camera we got shown how to essemble the camera and we learnt how to put it on the tripod. We also learnt how to essemble the microphone. Our teacher then taught us the symbols on the camera screen. There was the battery symbol with how many minuites were left to tape in the top left hand corner. There was the time code . In the bottom right hand corner there is the mode that you choose to record in, for example DVCAM. There is also the white balance marker in the bottom left hand corner of the screen which you use to adjust the lighting, you can have it high so you can use it in night mode. In the same corner there is the DB which adjusts the picture quality, if you have it high so the picture is slower and more blury whereas if you have it low it is very fast capture so you barely see the detail so you have it at around 50DB which is normal pace. Ther is then the focus marker which is shown as a hand symbol which means the focus is in manuel and you adjust it with the focus toggle. We learnt about all the buttons and what they do such as the volume adjustment, the DB ajustment, the power button and the zoom. We learnt that there are more than one zooms however some people prefer different ones, for example they might find it easier to use one than the other.

Intro to stills camera:

I have learnt that there are many of different camera shots, for example Extreme wide shots, very wide shots, wide shots, mid shots, medium close ups, close ups and exteme close ups. Close ups have the most detail whereas wide shots have visible view of the subject or just takes up half the frame.There are also camera shots such as over the sholdour shots, point of view shots and two shots. An exampe of two shots would be in skins when Effy and Tony are in the same frame which we learn represnts their closeness in relationship. An over-the-shoulder shot is similar to a point of view shot as you see the view of the figure which the camera is behind.

The picture at the top right would be an example of a very wide shot so the subject is barely visible. The picture on the left is an example of a mid shot so the subject shows some part of detail but you can still see the rest of the subject in less detail.

We have learnt about hot spots which you use on posters etc which is the places on your poster which attracts the person's eyes. You would usually have four hot spots on each corner. So you would have something for the person to view on each hot spot, for exampe text or the subject, e.g a face or building.

Another shot is a hero shot. This is when you have a person looking up at "the hero" so that hero has the power over the person who is weak and has no control. This is used in posters for action films when they want to show who is meant to be the bigger figure, for example in the gladiator poster. Also to make this effect you can have the camera at a high angle to make it look like the subject is weak and the opposite when the camera is low as it makes the subject look high in importance and powerful.

We had a lesson on a photoshop which we learnt how to edit photos for example making them change colour or make them have a black eye and even making parts of their body enlarge or decrease, for example making the horror poster. I made her face change colour to make it look more scary and also adding text to the poster i did on photoshop.

We have also learnt about camera movements such as tracking shots when the camera moves on tracks to follow the subject, for example on a platform on wheels called a "dolly". If not a dolly you can also use a steadicam whch uses weights and balances for smooth movement. We learnt other movements such as:

tilt - whch is a subtle movement on vertical

crab - which is also a subtle movement on horizontal

crane - which the camera is mounted on a crane and can move dramatically up or down and from left to right

handheld - this makes a feel of reality as the movement can be shaky but creates a good point of view

zoom lens - illusion of movement by alternating the lens length

Horror Poster

I got a picture of the woman from the internet and edited her face with photoshop to make her look as scary as i could, e.g. making her face look white, changing the colour of her eyes, adding dark makeup, changing the size of her face and then moving it to where i thought it would be appropriate. I then put the writing in with red to add to the atmosphere. I liked the background how the light shined on a certain place and how everything else is black which makes it look mysterious...
I wanted to achieve a thriller with a killer (the white woman) and i wanted to make the poster seem intreging with the dark background. I got the idea of the woman from other horror films i have seen, for example the grudge.