Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

Is a highly well thought of Thriller of the mind from Working Title. The trailer seen above shows very little of the film itself, but it does portray a very strong image of what the film is about. Some trailers, like that of the 2010 film 'Monsters', do not show the film for what it truly is. This leads to many people sitting in the cinema waiting for the Smurfs to bring Dobby back to life.

In this trailer however, several very strong techniques are used. Firstly, the intense and jumpy music has been fitted to each segment of the trailer so that it flows effectively. I must admit to watching the trailer through several times just to intake nostalgia after watching the film in the cinema. This was mainly down to the fact that the trailer was so effective on the audience. Secondly I realised that text had been subtly used throughout the video at several points to add dramatic effect. This works well because it brings up many questions that the audience eventually ask themselves, whilst watching the film. The third interesting effect I noticed was the gaps between each snippet of film. The longest time within the trailer that the scene does not change was for 3 seconds. This added a very jumpy effect to the film which fitted well with the music, the change between scenes does not only keep the audiences attention, but it also entices them into watching the film to find out more. To conclude, this trailer is not only incredibly effective on the audience it also manages to do what very few trailers ever manage to do, which is to portray the idea that the film is a thriller in under 2 minutes. 

Camera shots

Here is the very fashionable 'over the shoulder' shot.
Apart from allowing the audience to see from a 3rd point of view it also adds an affect of seeing the shot from first person.
Apart from mentioning the strange man walking along in the front, which we could of panned in on to add effect there is very little that the photo can explain about the 'over the shoulder' shot.

Here is the extravagant low angle shot. In my opinion, shooting from low to high is quite depressing because it not only makes the audience feel small and insignificant, it also physically does not show detail on enough objects or people to be very useful.
The only time I would personally use this shot is either when somebody is walking down a slope of some kind, or just generally falling down some stairs.

Here is the infamous High angle, well known for its affects of adding dominance. When shooting down from a high angle, the audience feels like they are in power, and normally that they know more than the character themselves. For example, if a high angle shot was used to track a man walking down a street, you would feel that you knew more, because the man being watched had no idea you were watching his every move.
I can see how high angle shots are useful and prefer them to the tediously dull low angle shots.

Birds eye view
In my own opinion I do not believe that this is a perfect birds eye view photo. Not only is it because i slightly slipped whilst taking it, but also because the main object in the photo (Lyndsey) is not in the centre and therefore we get slightly more of her left than her right. This really doesn't matter when it comes down to the photo itself, but being picky about this kind of thing just makes me feel better when I make mistakes.

And last but not least, my favourite of all, the worm angle. I would like to nickname this angle "The audience at my mercy" but i feel that it would be a waste of my time getting everyone to call it that swell. I say this because the angle itself shows that the persona is very vulnerable because they are so low down. This would be a very useful shot in any thriller or horror because, with a corridor like this, a character could proceed towards the camera before walking over it, this would not only induce fear upon all children watching the age certificate 18 film but would also make a very mysterious and effective scene.


There are a few shots that are not included like 'Close up', 'Extreme close up', and 'tilt', these photos were sadly lost but I believed that anybody who is reading the blog would understand easily what these camera angles are.
If we were to practice camera filming angles I would like to use the dolly technique. where the camera is wheeled on a dolly through the scene, this can be by tacking or by moving backwards through a scene as the character moves upon the camera.

I would also like to mention that the titles to each post have brackets including information because I originally used them in my first post to take some of my anger out on 3D films, which have in many ways ruined the beauty of old fashioned 2D films. Since the original post had brackets I decided that it would be morally wrong of me not to assign brackets to every other post.

The Life Aquatic

I recently watched another Wes Anderson film and because I own a media blog I thought I might as well write about it.
The film is based around Bill Murray playing a character called Steve Zissou. Steve makes some form of documentary out at sea. The point of why they make movies is never really mentioned and is therefore quite vague.
Throughout the film Steve Zissou hunts down a large shark that killed his friend called 'The Jaguar Shark'.
A young reporter joins the Zissou team (Which is made up of several people dressed in red hats and blue suits) so she can document Zissou's life.
Owen Wilson plays Ned, who is Steve's potential son, but it is never specified whether or not he really is Zissou's own child.
As with most of Wes Anderson's films the constant small quirky details add a lot of humour and effect. The film follows the 180 degree rule by creating the entire set in one piece. This means that when a character moves through the boat, the camera can follow them walking up stairs and through doors, in one continuos shot. This is amazing to watch and every time a scene like this takes place it becomes very effective on the audience.
At one scene in the film Ned and Zissou are talking and Steve mentions that if Ned was in fact his real son he would of called him Kingsley. Zissou then keeps mentioning to Ned about the idea of changing his name to Kingsley Zissou. A little while later in the film a small card is pushed under Neds door, we then see a point of view camera shot as Ned looks at the card. It is informing Ned that he has had his name changed to 'Kingsley (Ned) Zissou'. Not only is the build up executed brilliantly, it also a classic style of Wes Anderson, to add up small detail to create a quirky joke. This is shown in almost all of his films. For example, in the film Rushmore (1998) the main character, Max, has two small badges, one for perfect attendance and the other for punctuality. After moving schools he awkwardly allows a friend to choose a badge. The way in which the scene is executed makes the situation more realistic and entertaining.
Throughout the film Zissou seems to be very different from Ned's memories of watching him in earlier life, as time goes on Zissou slowly changes from being a slightly arrogant and jealous, to becoming true, pure and happy. This is shown at the end of the film (after Ned has died in a helicopter crash) when Zissou gives Ned's team zissou ring to a small boy. The credits then roll and the Zissou team walk nostalgically onto their boat (which is partially destroyed from a pirate attack and because it is quite tacky and old anyway).
So many scenes in the film involve small and funny detail, but it is hard to describe them to an audience who may not have watched the film. For me to easily explain why this film was amazing it would take every human in the world to first watch it with me, and then for them to all listen to me perform a presentation on it.
I have posted a link to the film below and hope that out of the zero people who read this blog, that at least one of you decides to watch it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362270/

Film Consumption and its a effects (Also available in 3D)

But it doesn’t stop there, as time goes on everybody’s televisions seemed to become squashed into a large tablet on a stand. Then of course they sprouted extra channels and a high definition mode for those lucky few who have previously blinded themselves at the cinema watching 3D films to finish off the job.  Now the commonly used ways of film consumption have already been stated, but let us not forget the many other ways for humanity to diverge upon a film. There is of course ‘Apples’ large contribution to the film industry, not only does I-Tunes sell an over powering amount of films but the iPhone and iPod touch have now become the best way to watch films on the go. I once owned an iPod touch and after wasting £50 on iTunes cards and films I came to the conclusion that it was a massive waste of my money and time. But for many months I was happily sitting staring at a tiny 3” screen, there is obviously a very good marketing technique for portable film devices because my addictive personality soon became under threat by the large expanse of films that I could watch all day long. Luckily enough I sold my iPod so as to not fall prey to film marketing. For the first time in my life I realised that technology had affected the love I had for watching films to the extent of making me spend excessive amounts of money on films that would soon be on television anyway. To conclude, the technology for watching films is of course always improving, so I really wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years I was watching a film in 5D with a fan blasting the smells and whether conditions of the film at me. It may seem like a strange idea to us now but looking back thirty years people would not of expected us to be watching films in 3D*.

New technology is the most interesting part of modern society; without technology adapting constantly we would not be able to progress. Films and the ways we watch films change together, one affects the other and they both change together. When 3D films first entered our lives the majority of people jumped to the occasion and blinded themselves with blue and red glasses. Because of the sudden excitement surrounding 3D films, directors decided to start making films based entirely around the 3D aspect of viewing. I remember watching “Spy Kids” in 3D when I was younger and not caring at all about the plot, only the 3D effects managed to keep me entertained.

This just shows how easily and audience is entertained, we all suck in whatever new technology there is in a search for more enjoyment. But what happens when 3D has become so mainstream that it no longer has any influence on customers? Probably just another even more ludicrous attempt to grab the public’s attention, like 4D, or films where the audience votes for the outcome (this would most likely work because an audience normally only wants to see what they like). As time moves on so does film technology and its attempts at marketing itself. Since 2009 the sales for 3D films have repetitively increased, this is probably due to the fact that not all films have yet to be consumed by the 3D world. However, not all films are 3D obviously, the majority of people in fact have been sitting at home and watching films on there own televisions. Since 2003 the amount of money that has been spent on T.V and DVD has gone up by over 80 million. As a large amount of the population enjoy staying at home with the lights dimmed and the curtains closed it is obvious why showing films on television is such a successful idea, even online films have shot up in the last 3 years to an astonishing amount. The fact that television is doing so well is all down to the technology of course.  With the computers and laptops that are available today who wouldn’t stay at home watching films and avoiding work? The large expanse of online streaming websites means that people can download a video for free (and slightly illegally) and watch it a few minutes later. The other reason that home cinema entertainment has become so loved is down to the fact that we literally can have home cinemas. When we turn our 28” plasma 3D screen T.V there is no need to leave the house for a few days.

Over the years televisions have had there own stylish evolution. Starting off as a partially wooden box with 3 channels and quickly gaining mass to allow the whole family to all enjoy BBC news together.

The ways in which technology have effected film consumption are that it has made people more aware of films and it has aloud larger amounts of people to access films cheaply and in many different environments. One day films may die off because the nostalgia that comes with watching a film you enjoyed has been corrupted by new technologies and extravagant business plans. But at this current date technology is merely allowing people to watch films in easier or more interesting situations, and in my eyes there is nothing wrong with that.

*Thirty years ago they may not of thought that we would be watching films in 3D but they did think that we would be driving around in hover cars...

Robin Lubach

My opinion on blogging so far

I do not dislike the idea of blogging at all, I rather like the idea that our coursework is on the internet, and not under my bed in a disorganised pile. But I do however dislike several aspects of this blog. Not only does it make adding pictures a life time chore it also manages to combine paragraphs when posting. On three occasions already, I have had to repost, because my work has suddenly become a mangled mess of letters, pictures and numbers. I suppose, given time I will find it easier to use and work with, and I am sure that every student who has used a blog has disliked in some way. But that doesn't make blogging any easier right now, the majority of the time I try and post I feel like an infant trying to control the Hubble-Telescope by tapping buttons in the hope that the end product looks pleasing.
I do however have some Non-Negative points for blogging, which I suppose makes this post more acceptable to read. Firstly, after hours of attempting to move a photo 10 pixels to the right and unscrambling 4000 letters, the end product can look very appealing, and is much easier to read than 4000 letters of varying size in a font normally refereed to as 'Robin's awful handwriting'. Another good point is that in society today it is quite hard to escape technology and the internet, so wherever I find myself at 2am I can usually update my blog with some attempt at brilliant literature. The third and final reason why Blogging can be and normally is quite good is the fact that it is much less time consuming than writing by hand or printing of work and waiting 3 weeks to hand it to the teacher in person.
Overall I do find that the blog is quite enjoyable to use, and although actually posting information is painfully tedious I suppose it can be seen as an obstacle that I must over come before failing in other aspects of online media consumption and production.

Introduction

Robin Lubach:

English Literature: A

English language: B

Maths: B

Philosophy and Ethics: B

Maths with statistics: C

Graphics: C

Sociology: C

Science: C

Additional Science: C

Drama: D (after failing the first section of coursework it slowly became harder and harder to drag my grade back up, after spending half my life at drama clubs and acting I found that coursework had infact killed everything I enjoyed about Acting)

I.C.T: F

Hobbies: Fencing and Watching as many films as humanly possible are my only real hobbies, one involves a large amount of physical strain and the other involves slightly blinding myself at 2am.

Print Media: I normally do not read the newspaper, I don't think I have ever touched an edition of the sun, I don't want to open it up and find that I actually enjoy it, after seeing the cover from afar I have decided that a much less biased source of information would probably be best for me. If I ever want to find anything out I just look up BBC news online. Most of the time I open a magazine is when I am still in the shop and looking for the recent film releases.

Radio Media: Radio, I doubt if radio left my life I would be effected at all. What I have picked up from radio over the years is one fact, It never stops airing, I don't have a favourite radio channel because I'm not ready for that kind of commitment, I know that in later life it will probably become a very good source of mass media and I will be very glad to own one in my car.

Music industry: Most children know a large amount of music because it is always surrounding them, my childhood sadly was not full of the musical industry, I was always quite surprised to find that I was so musically illiterate, in recent years I have started to listen to a few bands, and because of this I know longer feel like a dunce when someones iTunes library is turned up to full volume nearby. 

I do not belong to a Band but I have tried to learn an instrument from time to time, sadly every attempt at becoming a musical prodigy has ended with a quick trip to cash converters to see how much I can get for selling a clarinet, guitar ect.

The main way to access music is either by renting a cd from the forum or by rifling through internet sites until I find a cheap or free album. 

I know a large amount of people say that illegal downloading from the internet is morally wrong but from time to time it is the only way, I myself have never actually downloaded anything from the internet, but if I ever was put in a situation were it was an option I wouldn't stop to think "oh no, this is wrong, I'll just wait until I can pay 25p for this track". Many people claim that illegally downloading a bands music is disrespecting the band, but I think it is merely a way to cheaply listen to the music that they enjoy.

Belonging to a certain genre means you respect them, some people respect bands that dress in leather and because of this they intake a large amount of the culture and style, they then sew themselves there own leather suit to tell the word "yeah, I'm a fan of that band, you know the one, its called 'leather, pain, death and leather", I don't disagree with this at all, it allows people to become part of something and to give their lives a tiny bit more purpose, I myself don't follow a musical trend, but in a small way I wish I did.

Video Games: I know of a large amount of games and I know that they are quite highly thought of, but I do not play any of them, I don't play any games set in 1944 shooting nazis, and I don't like to hunt aliens in the future, In my opinion the best games will always be the originals, my favourite game by far would be Pacman, nothing will ever beat a sandwich in one hand and a joystick for Pacman in the other.

New technology: It will always be the most interesting part of any persons life, it is always improving in ways we would of never expected, even tribal villages deep in an unknown forest thrive on improving a spear into a bow and arrow. Every year we wait to see what the next iPod will do and look like and in a way I believe that technological improvement is probably the best thing that can happen to society. It can allow people who are giving up on life to blog about the puppy they lost as a child. It Allows everyone to meet people that feel the same way they do and it allows us to obtain large amounts of information from around the world, without technology and mass media, we would probably still be invading each other countries in a way to understand them and not googling it for 25 minutes as a bit of light reading. Bloggers and YouTubers have helped fill peoples lives for years and in a way bloggers are as influential as schools to some certain groups of people.

Television: It is always hard to decide what my favourite television channel is, normally I would say that Film4 is the best, because it is an easy way to watch films, but I recently realised that the best films are usually on ITV4 or E4 at midnight, for example 'The day of the Jackal" was on ITV4 last week. It was a very good thriller and it gave me a lot of ideas for how to successfully make a thriller of my own. Film4 barely ever shows a good thriller and is normally hurling top box office films from 2003 at you ever night.

From my childhood, very few TV shows stuck out at me. I don't watch much TV these days because the idea of tuning in every week to watch the next section of a characters life just seems so tedious. Pokemon is my fondest childhood television memory. To be able sit down with my brother and just receive an amazing image of a perfect world, was unforgettable. Of course the whole idea of Pokemon is animal cruelty, but that never influenced me in a way that made me want to kick my cat down a flight of stairs. 'The Moomins' is probably the only other television show that I think of as having a positive impact on my life, I don't know why I enjoyed it but it probably has something to do with the constant imagery of freedom.

Feature Films: My favourite genre is thriller but not because of the idea of the suspense. It is the aspect of a thriller that confuses me in such a way that only at the end of the film can a conclusion be made, that I like. This is because it usually means that the film stays with me for the next few days as I add everything up and makes sure that the film didn't have any loop holes.

Three Films that have stuck with me:

1) 'Triangle', quite a recent film, it wasn't particularly good, but its always stuck with me as a film to re-watch. The story is about a few people lost at sea who climb onto a boat and slowly get killed off. When all but one of them have been mysteriously killed, time jumps backwards and the crew lost at sea once again climb on board, as time goes on the only original survivor realises that in fact she killed the crew, and an eternal loop is created.

2) 'Groundhog Day' is probably one of the greatest films I have ever watched. Bill Murray plays a weather man who must constantly repeat the same day in a dull town blocked off by snow. At first he merely wrecks the town a few times, but in the end he realises that he just wants to make a fellow weather presenter love him. His constant attempts at connecting with her lead to him becoming so depressed that he kills himself repetitively. At the end of the film he does a good deed for everybody in town and creates the perfect day, the next morning he wakes up to find out that he is no longer living the same day and his life can continue. It is not just the story that is effective, it is Murry's reaction to every situation and how these change as things become more tedious.

3) 'Rushmore', it would be hard for me to not have a Wes Anderson film in my top three, once again a film where Bill Murray's droll facial expressions create most of the humour. A student and his adult friend both fall in love with a first school teacher and a small petty war is created so as to ruin the other friends life. after the student builds an aquarium on the school baseball pitch he is expelled and he must learn to let go of the teacher and school that he loved so much.

Film Consumption:
The best way of consuming films is by watching them alone on a computer, but I suppose Cinemas are very good for getting an all round experience. The Hollywood Cinema in Anglia Square would have to be my favourite due to the fact that it is so awful and cheap that nobody goes there but myself. The idea of sitting in the same room as loud irritable teenagers who throw popcorn and laugh at juvenile jokes normally means that the cinema is a last resort. I prefer to either be alone or with one other person when going to the cinema, when in large groups of people at the cinema I do not get to enjoy the film because I am having to pretend to find these tediously unfunny jokes hilarious as well. 

Media producer: I have never made a film before. I have of course spent a large amount of time acting and starring in films made by my brother but I have never actually made one. It has always been my dream however to either make a film or review somebody else's, This is the main reason I chose media studies, Not only do I constantly notice story lines that nobody has yet stumbled upon I am also pretty sure that there are genres that some people have not even discovered yet.

Conclusion: No film has ever offended me at all. The point of a film is the same point as that of book, to teach people about a possible situation and give them a better understanding on certain things. Films normally do not make me want to change who I am, they obviously have changed me subconsciously throughout my life because I have always been watching films and intaking the ideas they show. 

If I was ever to direct my own film it would hopefully be based on a philosophical idea. The idea of discovery and making the audience think through a situation that they are watching always has been an idea I wish to try.