A Christmas Carol - The DV Review

So, I'm back home at Davies Towers in the warmth after a long but massively enjoyable day at Bradford. I hope those of you who went had a good time. I'll put some pictures up on the blog (don't worry you won't be in any) some time tomorrow. Anyway, I thought I'd pass on my thoughts about the movie; Disney's A Christmas Carol. But not just the movie, you see I think there were two parts to the experience today: 1 - the movie and 2 - the IMAX.

So here's my feelings about the movie; I liked it. But then you'd have to do a pretty horrible job to get a story that good, wrong. It really is a classic, but that does lead to some problems. How many versions of A Christmas Carol do we need? Goodness knows how many there is (I could check imdb but I really can't be bothered), and so the director has to make his version feel fresh. Zemeckis (our director) has tried to do this with CGI and motion capture, much like with his Beowulf from a few years back. Now I'm not sure about this. There's something, well, a bit weird looking about some of these characters.

Today it was Fred, Scrooge's nephew; he sounded like Colin Firth and he looked a bit like Colin Firth, but like Colin Firth would if you soaked him in brandy for six weeks and put him in a Christmas pudding. I think its the eyes; they seem weirdly dead - a bit still. Which is surprising because some of the other animation was superb (Scrooge's lip twitching with unease when he has to spend money) and at times breathtaking. So overall, I liked this version, but then I like most versions of this (especially the Muppet version - "We're Marley and Marley, woooooohhhh"), there were funny bits (Carey does a good job), scary bits (those horses) and good old fashioned soppy Christmassy bits ("God bless us everyone!") and so at the end of it, I'm happy to have seen it.

And how we saw it. The IMAX! My first IMAX movie and I have to say I loved it. I was surprised at how small the cinema was, but also how BIG the screen was. At times it really did feel as if you were having the action squashed into your face! The 3D stuff worked well, especially the flying sequences (some felt really fast and exhilerating). On the down side, at times the screen did feel blurry, especially around the periphery of the screen and if I moved my head I sometimes got a shadowing, or double lines. Having said all that I thought the whole IMAX 3D experience really added extra entertainment value to the film and that some shots were breathtaking. I don't know if I would want all my cinema experiences to be in 3D IMAX (but maybe Avatar!), but for today and for that film it worked a treat.

Add your reviews below using the comment box.

Edensor's Favourite Film

As you may have seen in the display board by A5 Edensor's Favourite film is Twilight. Yup, Twilight. Is this surprising? No. After all it was a popular movie, and the book, well the boki swhat they call a phenomenon. So, no it wasn't surprising. Add to this that the new one (New Moon) came out this weekend and there you have it. I rather suspect that if we did a poll next term, we'd have a different result (what chance 2012 would make the list?).

This doesn't mean that the people who voted for Twilight don't love that movie, they do, ask them, them REALLY do. Its just that with film we tend to have a connection to recently seen films, naturally. However it was nice to see some older films on the list. Some films had just been on TV, and so they appeared and films like Dirty Dancing and Ghost, whilst always popular, probably got mre votes because of the news of Patrick Swayze's death just a few days before.

The list is below for you to look at and feel free to comment. Whilst you're at it vote for your favourite Christmas movie from the list on the right.

100 Feet
2 Fast 2 Furious
28 Days Later
30 Days of Night
A Bridge Too Far
A Night at the Museum
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Adulthood
Alien Vs Predator
Aliens in the Attic
Alvin and the Chipmunks
American Pie 2
Annie
Armageddon
Baby’s Day Out
Bad Boys
Bad Boys 2
Bambi
Beauty and the Beast
Big Momma’s House
Blade
Blood Diamond
Borat
Calamity Jane
Carry On Camping
Casino Royale
Cast Away
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Death Race (2008)
Die Hard
Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Dirty Dancing
Disaster Movie
District 9
Don’t Be a Menace to South Central…
Drag Me to Hell
Eagle Eye
East is East
Fame
Fast and Furious
Final Destination
Final Destination 2
Final Destination 3
Finding Nemo
Football Factory
Forrest Gump
Friday
Friday After Next
G.I. Jane
G.I. Joe
Ghost
Ghost Rider
Ghost Town
Grease 2
Green Street
Grosse Point Plank
Hancock
Hannah Montana
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Herbie
High School Musical
Hot Fuzz
Hotel for Dogs
How High?
I Am Legend
Jaws
Just Friends
KIdulthood
Kung Fu Panda
Lesbian Vampire Killers
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Mamma Mia!
Marley and Me
Matilda
Mean Girls
Meet the Spartans
Men In Black
Million Dollar Baby
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Moulin Rouge
Murder By Numbers
My Bloody Valentine
Never Back Down
Next Friday
Orphan
P.S. I Love You
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Pineapple Express
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Pretty Woman
Pulp Fiction
Purely Belter
Quantum of Solace
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Rise of the Footsoldier
Saving Private Ryan
Saw III
Saw IV
Saw V
Scary Movie
Scary Movie
Scary Movie 2
School of Rock
Shaolin Soccer
Shaun of the Dead
Shawshank Redemption
Shrek 2
Simpsons Movie
Sleepy Hollow
Slumdog Millionaire
Sorority Row
South Park
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 3
Spirited Away
Spongebob Squarepants
Star Wars
Starship Troopers
Step Brothers
Step Up
Step Up 2
Terminator
Terminator Salvation
The Cable Guy
The Corpse Bride
The Dark is Rising
The Dark Knight
The Exorcist
The Final Destination: 3D
The Goonies
The Hangover
The Holiday
The Housebunny
The Italian Job (2003)
The Mask
The Matrix
The Parent Trap
The Princess Diaries
The Sound of Music
The Transporter
The Unborn
The Wedding Singer
The Wizard of Oz
This Is England
Titanic
Toy Story
Transformers 2
Tropic Thunder
Twilight
Up
V For Vendetta
Waist Deep
Wanted
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
What a Girl Wants
White Chicks
White Men Can’t Jump
Wild Child
Without a Paddle
Wrong Turn
X-Men
Year One
Yes Man
Zombieland

Today's Lesson - 17/11/09

Loglines - Today we started on our second unit of work; Pitch and Pre-production. As you can probably tell from the name that there are two main parts to this task. We started looking at the first part wich is the Pitch. We'll look in more detail in the next lesson about how to write a whole pitch but for now we were looking log lines.

So what is a logline? A logline is pretty much this: a single sentence summarising the main story of a film. We looked at a few examples (see below) but then tried to improve our loglines by using carefully chosen adjectives. This is important because a successful pitch needs to grab the audience's (usually the studio or producer who will make your film) straight away.

Read through the example of The Wizard of Oz to see how it works.

After a twister transports a lonely Kansas farm girl to a magical land, she sets out on a dangerous journey to find a wizard with the power to send her home.

Here's the examples from the board to help you:
1. A giant shark terrorizes a seaside community, only a police officer afraid of the sea can save the day.
2. A masked serial killer returns to his childhood town to reek havoc and spread terror.
3. A roguish pirate seeks to recapture his ship from the hands of a mysteriously cursed crew.
4. An elderly man heads off for adventure in memory of his wife, unaware that he has company in the shape of an annoying young boy.

You then had a go at writing your own and I was really pleased with the results.

In other news, firstly there is nothing wrong NOTHING AT ALL with crying at Pixar's Up. OK? You've got to remember that this is one of the best movies of the year (second at the moment only behind Star Trek, which I'm rewatching soon, so I'll let you know if it stands up), and it's meant to be emotional. And funny. It really is very good. Talking of things that are good (well lets hope so), you really need to see the 'Where the Wild Things' trailer (go here: http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/), now how good does that look? Very, is the simple answer.

Today's Lesson - 07/10/09

You should now have finished the analysis sheet for the clip you have chosen. This is really important because it will help when you write your essay. If you haven't finished this it'll need doing before next week's lessons. Remember, you have to write a 350+ word essay on your sequence, I'll put the help sheet on the samples drive and have copies of the A* essay available for you next week.

I was expecting your research sheets today but unfortunately no-one had theirs with them. Just to remind you, you should have completed your research (use the sheets on the samples drive) BEFORE next lesson, because I'd like to give you some feedback before I see you as a class. If you are not sure what to do or can't find information come and see me, email me or leave a comment on the blog.

Also, if you still haven't brought your trip money into me can I have it ASAP so that I can book the seats at the IMAX.

Today's Lesson - 30/09/09

More research today. Can I remind you that this needs to be completed for next Wednesday. Use the example form the samples drive to help you. Can I also remind you that you need a DVD of whichever film you have chosen to analyse. This needs to be with you next Tuesday and Wednesday in class. If you haven't got a copy then let me know and I'll try to sort you a copy (don't leave it until Monday to mention this, please!). Can I further remind you that reply slips for our jaunt to Bradford need to be with me by Friday 16th so that I can book the tickets with the museum.

We'll be watching Disney's new version of A Christmas Carol (I'm guessing it'll end happily and that the third ghost, you know the scary one, doesn't whip a machine gun out from under his robes and kill EVERYBODY!!). Remember folks this is in 3D! (anyone seen 3D yet? Any good?) and in IMAX! So its all very exciting indeed. See the trailer here:

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/a-christmas-carol/trailer

This of course is another attempt at Mo-Cap (motion capture) that the director, Zemeckis, used on both The Polar Express and Beowulf. I'm still not sure that this is the future of cinema, as some of it looks ace whilst other bits (the eyes, their dead eyes!) are a bit ho-hum.

If I get chance I'll put another example of a research sheet, that I've done this time, on the samples drive. I will, of course, let you know when I've done this.

Today's Lesson - 29/09/09

Today we started on our first piece of coursework; your research on a film of your choice. We will continue this tomorrow. There are three parts to the research you need to do.

1. Production - who made the film, when and where.
2. Distribution - who put the film into cinemas and how did they advertise the movie
3. Exhibition - which cinemas was the film shown in (did the locals show it?), how long for and how much money did it make?

Like I say, we'll finish the research tomorrow (and at home if needed). I'll put up an example to show you after tomorrow's lesson.

Keep thinking about which are the worst films you ever seen. See the comments on the last post for some suggestions!

Today's Lesson - 22/09/09

Today we talked a bit about what you will have to do for your first coursework piece. There are two parts to the assignment:

1. Research the production and distribution of a film of your choice.
2. Analyse a key sequence from your film

I'm going to ask you again tomorrow for your choice. Choose carefully, think about a film that you know well and feel happy talking about. In preparation for this, we spent the lesson analysing a scene from 'Titanic' (1997, James Cameron). We looked at the sequence when the boat starts to tip up and Rose and Jack have to make their way to the top of the boat. We're going to practice with another scene tomorrow, not from 'Titanic' but 'Poseidon' (2006, Wolfgang Petersen), just to keep the whole soggy theme going!

The other thing we briefly talked about was the worst films you've ever seen. We're going to play a little game to see what is the worst film any of us has seen. Now I'm not talking about the rubbish and the shoddy, I'm talking about films that are so bad, so utterly terrible they make your eyes itch! So woeful that you can no longer watch. Maybe you've walked out on a film, maybe you've sat through a right old load of dreck with friends or family. I'm not interested in films that you don't like - that's a matter of opinion, I may have not liked Transformers 2, but its not a BAD film, just not very good. In my opinion. No, I want to hear from you about the films that looked like they've been put together over a weekend by a bunch of people who did not have a clue what they were doing. My nomination? 'Domino' (Tony Scott, 2005). Cor its rough, really rough. The whole thing is a mess and, as far as I can see utterly pointless. Its shot like the cameraman was having an epileptic fit and edited so fast that it becomes very difficult to say what is happening. In fact this may be the point, nothing IS happening and the director is merely trying to hide this fact. Dreadful.

Anyway let me know what are the worst things you've seen, either in class or post a comment on the blog.

Today's Lesson - 15/09/09

Today we started doing some research into what people like and dislike about films and going to the cinema. I asked you to write ten questions to ask to ten people. Research like this is important as it allows the studios who make the films (and films cost a LOT of money, so they have to get it right!) to understand what films people are watching and what they like. They will do market research to find this out, but the most useful information for the studios is the 'box office'. This records the amount of money a film has made from ticket sales in a week. You can go to www.boxofficemojo.com to find out the weekly and all-time charts.

Next lesson you will be summarising your results.

HP 6... Finally

So, last night I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and very good it was too. As far as I can see this installment is up there with Azkaban in terms of the series' best. I thought the first half was excellent with loads of laughs, mostly at Ron's expense. This got me thinking, a lot of the humour in the first half comes from teenage awkwardness surrounding burgeoning relationships and in many ways it felt like an American teen-comedy, but how many British comedies like this do we see? I can't think of one, sign Ron up for one quick!

The second half of the film was just as good but does seem to take more liberties with the book. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing, films 1 and 2 are the most direct adaptations and are really slow, whereas Azkaban manages to find a clear path through the plot to deliver a strong film. So, back to 6: I don't mind the screenwriter and director changing things if it makes sense, so we'll have to wait and see why the Weasley's house gets torched and why Harry CHOSE not to intervene in the unfortunate event whilst in the book he CAN'T. We'll have to wait and see.

Finally, I saw the film in an single screen independent cinema in the Lake District (the Alhambra in Keswick http://www.keswick-alhambra.co.uk/). Small cinemas like this only get the prints a week or so after the big chains (Vue, Odeon, Cineworld) have finished with them. However, they are important because they allow people in smaller towns to see films they wouldn't otherwise get the chance to see. For instance yesterday's programme was: Ice Age 3 at 2pm, HP6 at 6pm and Bruno at 9pm. They also try to cater for their local area, sometimes showing older films, classics and often running films by local filmmakers too. More than just this, the tickets were cheap as was the coke and popcorn!

So here's to HP 6 (four stars me reckons) and also here's to independent cinemas, for offering a different choice.

Today's Lesson - 07/07/09: Genre

Today we talked about genre and how we can identify genres. This could be through particular types of characters (I was joking when I said that Gandalf, Dumbledore and Obi Wan Kenobi were the same person, but they are remarkably similar!) , settings, stories even down to types of camera movement and music. It is important that we can identify these genres but more importantly how film makers make the audience aware of the sort of film they are watching.

If an audience doesn't feel as if they know what type of film they are watching they can become a bit twitchy and feel uncomfortable. It may seem like a criticism but it is very rare when we can't guess what is happening in a film. This is because films tend to stick to well worn stories. We still watch them because we like the idea of familiarity. This is also true as to why we like sequels - we actually want them to be the same as what we've already seen!

A couple of things more: I found this tonight (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aLzh3gmCoWdo) which has worked out what the most successful films are if you tweak the prices so that they're all the same (eg. a ticket in 1939 would cost the same as one in 2009). Just take a look at how different the films are!

Lastly, I'm planning on taking you lot to Bradford on 24th November to the National Media Museum (http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/), while we're there I hope we can catch A Christmas Carol in 3D at the IMAX. I'll get more details to you in September.

Today's Lesson 01/07/09 - Sound

Today we talked about the importance of sound. We noted down the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The main part of the lesson was built around the importance of sound in a horror sequence. We looked at a few minutes from near the end of Halloween.(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/)

What became clear was that the film is much, much less scary if you only see it. The sounds, especially the music really add to the tension of the scene. Oliver noticed how the score sounded a bit like Psycho (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/).

What also interesting is, that with only hearing the sound we could still tell what was going on. Seathera noted that she could imagine a tracking shot being used as Laurie (the main character) searched the house. She was right. In fact it a lot of horror movies use tracking shots and POV to great effect.

One other point; we briefly mentioned the difference between scary and gross. 'Halloween' is scary, whilst something like Saw is gross (another term used for these films is 'torture-porn' because they sort of enjoy, and ask the audience to enjoy watching the really gross-stuff). But which is scarier? The scariest bit in the 'Halloween' clip is when the villain's mask appears from the shadows.

Homework: watch a sequence from a film you know well with the sound off. How does it affect your viewing of the scene? Write some notes in your blue film diaries.

Today's Lesson 30/06/09 - Storyboarding

Today we practised storyboarding. The exam board say that this is one of the hardest things to get right. So, we going to do a lot f storyboarding over the next few months. You had to storyboard a short sequence from a thriller (no, not that one). Some things to remember:

• practice
• you are telling a story through pictures
• use a range of camera angles
• choose your angles carefully - what are you trying to show
• if you get time add colour to show the lighting
• try to add a description of the shot
• always say what the audience will hear (diegetic and non-diegetic)

Right, I'm off to see Transformers 2 (all 150 minutes of it!). But before I do; the last film I watched was Tropic Thunder. Which was good. Well, I laughed a lot especially at Robert Downey Junior. Would like to have seen more Jack Black and a little less Stiller, I thought his character was a bit dull. A good Saturday nighter, but be warned: loads of blood and nastiness. A 15 for a reason. 3 stars.

Today's Lesson - 24/06/09 - Film Language

Today we started to look at the different camera angles and what they are used for. The main angles we named were:

Close-Up (CU)
Extreme Close-Up (ECU)
Mid-Shot (MS)
Long Shot (LS)
High Angle
Low Angle

We also talked briefly about tracking and panning camera movements. We used the camcorder (and Ismail - thanks again, your Oscar's in the post!) to experiment with shot types. We decided that we could shoot a conversation between two characters in a number of ways. One of these is an 'over-the-shoulder' type shot so that we can see who a person is talking to.

We then looked at some examples from Steven Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) before moving on to a clip from the Spielberg's 'Minority Report' (2002) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181689/.

You had to look at the type of shots used. Some of you noticed that a lot of the shots combine more than one type, for instance a tracking shot may settle on a mid-shot of two characters talking. This is very common and used by directors to keep their scenes interesting. Few directors today keep their camera still for that long (see Michael Bay's 'Transformers 2' as an extreme example).

I've marked your books and so far so good, everyone seems to have settled in to the course well and is giving 100%. Keep up the good work!

Remember to add some notes in your blue books, anything you watch make a note of. On these lines I'm going to go and watch the end of Jurassic Park 3. I don't think its as good as the first two (check out the bit on the windscreen of the bus as it hangs over a cliff in number 2, an excellent scene) and some of the effects don't quite work, but its good fun and so far I'm enjoying it. Three stars at the moment.

Today's Lesson - 23/06/09 - What is Film?

OK, so today was all about getting you to understand the course and what you'll gave to do. However, I also got to see what you know already (lots by the way) and also about your favourite films (which I've listed below). You got your books and folder, but also your Film Diary. The idea is that whenever you watch a film write down a few ideas. I won't read your film diary but I may ask you to read out a review or something so make sure you have it with you in lessons.

We went through the GOAL idea (as Dean said "To make a film you have to score a goal").
G - Genre (horror, thriller, action, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy etc)
O - Organisation - or who makes and releases a film (Paramount, Fox, WB, Dreamworks, New Line, Disney etc)
A - Audience - who will watch the film
L - Language - how the film is made. This is the most important that we understand at this point - before we can make our own films (and we will), we have to know how professional film makers make theirs.

Lastly we talked about our favourite films (mine are on the right hand side). Notice I said 'favourite' not 'best'. I know that Raiders of the Lost Ark is not the best film ever, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it probably more than any other.

So, your list was:

Alien vs Predator
Crank 2
Fast and the Furious 4 (twice)
Resident Evil 2
Death Race (2008)
Transformers
Beethoven 2
The Big Lebowski
Final Destination 4
Rush Hour 3
Scary Movie 5 (which must be good as it ain't even been made yet - its out in 2011!)
The Simpsons Movie
Aliens Vs Predator 2
Resident Evil: Extinction
American Pie
The Godfather
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

We noticed that almost all of these films come from series and that these are popular because people like the characters and they sort of know what to expect.

The very last thing we talked about was the visit to New Zealand in 2010. Remember, if you want to visit the places where Lord of the Rings was shot see Mrs Belt for an application form.

The last film I watched was 'Raising Arizona' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093822/). Directed by Joel Coen in 1987 and starring Nic Cage and Holly Hunter. I really liked this, it was funny and quick and really quite weird in places, full of typical Coen brother quirky humour. The film is about a couple who, unable to have children of their own, steal a baby from a couple who have had quintuplets (5 babies in one go!). Of course things go wrong, things that involve a pair of escaped convicts, a fight with a boss and a huge hairy guy on a motorbike. God fun. 3.5 stars.

A Few Changes...

You may (or may not) have noticed that there have been a few changes on the blog recently. This is in readiness for the start of GCSE Film Studies being launched on Tuesday! This is a brand new GCSE at Edensor, indeed it only started last year. It's gonna be really exciting and cover loads of topics. As such the blog will be covering all the lessons that Year 10 will be involved with but also other topics as and when, you know, whatever...

So, the next post will be ALL NEW FILM STUDIES STUFF!! but until then enjoy Transformers 2 (you are going aren't you?)

Some Suitable Clips

Below you should find some clips suitable for revising with. Remember you will get to see the clip 3 times in the exam and have a ten minute slot to write notes. Use this time carefully - think about:

• who made the clip
• who's in the clip and how are they shown (dialogue, music, costume, lighting, relationship with other characters)
• camera angles used
• mis-en-scene
• who is the target audience

When revising use the headings on the sheets you've been using in class.

The clips:

1. Cel animation - Spirited Away

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9LDbV65oVI

2. Mo-Cap - The Polar Express

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RjWOoBR8_M

On each one use the first 5 minutes or so.

Hope this helps.

The Exam!

The exam is getting closer, so I thought I'd give a few bits of advice on how it works and how to deal with it.

The exam is long - 2.5 hours. But don't worry! The first 30 minutes or so is watching a clip!

First you get 5 minutes just to read the question, then you watch the clip. Having read the questions carefully you should know what to look out for in the clip.
The clip you will see will be about 3-5 minutes long and will be taken from an animated film (we don't know which so get on youtube and watch loads).
The first time you see the clip you're NOT allowed to make notes. Watch t carefully, thinking about those questions.
The second time you CAN make notes. Think about the headings we have used in mock exam tasks. You then get 10 minutes to reflect on what you have seen and make even more notes. Use this time well, it will help loads when it comes to writing your answers and save you time later on.
The clip then gets played a third time.

Then spend an hour on the animation questions.

In Section 2 you will get photocopies of two news texts. Annotate this - think about layout, language, who's published it (institution), who's it for (audience) and what/who it shows (representation).

Then spend the remaining time answering the news questions and checking all your answers.

Just to remind you that the exam is on Tuesday 16th June in the afternoon.

2D Animation

2D animation?! Miss hasn't talked about 2D animation! Yeah she has, but she called cel animation and you shold stick to that. I only bring it up because with just a few weeks to go until the exam, I read that Disney are releasing a brand new cel animated film; The Princess and the Frog. Now, I'd forgot about this and so was surprised to learn that the trailer was released today (see it here: http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/princessandthefrog/).

So will anyone go and see it? The trailer makes a lot out of the fact that Disney have been doing this stuff for 75 years, but is that a good thing? If the same people are releasing films like Bolt in 3-D cgi who will want to watch 2D cel animation? We'll have to wait and see how it does at the box office.

As for the trailer, well its OK. I imagine that the target audience (Under 10's?) will like the fairy tale aspect of the story and the frog looks like he may have the best lines for anyone older to enjoy.

Add a comment to the blog and let me know what you think.

What is Animated Film?

Animated films can be made in loads of different ways;

• cel


• CGI


• stop motion

All of these work on the basic idea that each frame of film is made up of a still image and, slowly, these still images when put together (each one is slightly different to the one that came before it) create the sensation of movement and is therefore animated.

As technology moves forward filmmakers have always sought new ways to make films (sound, colour, 3D, special effects, CGI). The latest method to be tried is Motion Capture. Motion Capture (or Mo-Cap as we'll call it from now on) uses the technique of dressing an actor in a lycra suit, sticking censors all over them (including their faces) and using computers to track their movements (thus capturing their motion - clever, no?).

So far, the most famous example of this is Andy Serkis' performance as Gollum in Lord of the Rings, but this isn't an animated film. Maybe a better example would be Beowulf or The Polar Express. See below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9qpqyO_dmU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVfB6GhlwIM

Both of these were directed by Robert Zemeckis, famous for the Back to the Future trilogy and Forrest Gump. One criticism of these movies is that the faces (and especially the eyes) seem slightly creepy or 'soulless', whereas the rest of the film is incredibly realistic (see backgrounds and clothes).

Another criticism is that there seems little point in animating characters to look super-realistically human. Why not just film the actors themselves? The picture below shows Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis (yes, him again) on the 'set' of the new Tintin movie, with Peter Jackson (LOTR) and director Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, Indiana Jones).

This picture shows just how much extra 'stuff' the artists and animators will have to add to this film. The filming of the actors is only one small step on the way to making this film. So, is this animation? What do you think? Is this the future of animated film? Or would you prefer to see real actors on screen? What will be the main factor on whether Hollywood goes along this road much further? The fact the Hollywood big shots like Jackson and Spielberg are having a go, suggest they think it will be popular.

Empire's Top 10 Cartoon Songs

Those lovely people at Empire have blogged on their favourite songs from cartoons. You can read it here:

http://www.empireonline.com/features/top10/cartoon-songs/10.asp

So it got me thinking why do so many cartoons have songs in them? Actually, scrap that. Why did they? I can't think of many modern animated films that have songs in them (they do, but tend to use pop songs already familiar to the audience. Often this is to add atmosphere to a scene; more romantic, more exciting etc).

The last one I can think of is Toy Story 2 and this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=natWIzL4gLg

Having checked this link you are now no doubt in floods of tears (admit it!) and so need cheering up. What better than The Jungle Book, probably the best of all Disney's movies in terms of songs (King of the Swingers!!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOcyYyxqN_g

So why WERE songs so common in these films? It probably has something to do with the fact that when animated feature films began (with Snow White in 1937) one of the most popular genres of films was the musical. And so, naturally, cartoons followed suit. Ironically the cartoon and its songs outlasted the musical, so much so that by the 1990s and films like The Lion King, cartoons were almost the only films that had songs woven into them.

The other reason may be that an associated album of original songs might be one of the few ways that the audience could own a part of the film (this is before DVD remember, even before VHS!).

Whatever the reason you should be aware that for a large part of their history songs have been important LANGUAGE FEATURE of animated films.

Dreamworks

My last post was all about Pixar, so this week I thought I'd follow that up with Dreamworks. Dreamworks are a more modern studio set up (in the 1990's) by director Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg (who used to run Disney) and music boss David Geffen.

Dreamworks' films are very popular, especially the three Shrek movies. Other Dreamworks movies include:

Madagascar (and number 2 - they like sequels)
Kung Fu Panda
Over the Hedge
Bee Movie
Shark Tale

They also distributed Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Were Rabbit. This means that they paid to put it in cinemas and to advertise it. This costs a lot of money, about 60% again of the budget. So if a film cost $100 million to make (which is usual) then a studio may spend $60 million on advertising or MARKETING.

Dreamworks use a lot of famous actors in their films. This makes them more appealing to an older audience whilst still being attractive to children. Stars who have appeared in their films include; Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Renee Zellweger. Indeed they sometimes make the characters look like the actors (Will Smith in Shark Tale). This is something to look out for if you get a Dreamworks clip in the exam.

This month (March) they are releasing Monsters Vs Aliens starring Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen and Hugh Laurie. As well as releasing on normal screens, Dreamworks are distributing a 3D version (Disney did the same with Bolt earlier this year, Pixar are re-releasing Toy Story in 3D next year). This seems to be the new way that studios are getting people into cinemas (you can't download 3D or have a pirate 3D DVD - yet), and so you should expect more 3D films very soon. You could add this sort of info to a question about institution in the exam.

Go here for more information:

http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/

Pixar

Who doesn't like Pixar? I mean really? If someone says they do then there can only be one of two answers:

1. They're lying
2. They've never seen one of their films*

Pixar are a good example of a studio to analyse because not only do they make very popular and successful films they also have a definite style. I would argue that you can tell a Pixar movie even if you don't know that you are watching one. I'll explain:

Pixar films tend to have certain themes - childhood, innocence, growing up, friendships (think about which ones fit where, Toy Story 2 has them all and so is maybe THE typical Pixar movie)

They tend to have similar characters, especially the idea of the 'buddies'. This is an idea they seemed to have moved away from a bit but films like Toy Story, Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo are built around two characters who go an adventure together. One of these characters is usually more aware of what is going on than the other (Woody as opposed to Buzz, Marlin rather than Dory) and a lot of the humour comes from this friendship. This is representation and could easily be picked up on in a five minute clip (like in the exam).

They often sound similar, most of the music has been written by either Randy or Thomas Newman. This is a language feature of the films.

The design of their characters is also important. They are rarely realistic, especially the humans (if you've seen Wall-E, you'll know what I mean). This was seen at first as a weakness but is actually more to do with the style of animation they use. The characters often have large eyes (or eye in the case of Mike from Monsters Inc.), this helps them to appeal to children (they relate better to them) and gives them a more innocent look that appeals to older audiences.

The other thing to remember about Pixar characters is that they tend not to look like the actors providing the voices. Compare this to something like Shark Tale and Will Smith's character in that film. I would argue that this means that Pixar's films have a more timeless quality and that their characters are more memorable than most of Dreamworks' (apart from Shrek maybe - but that was based on a book donchaknow).

So, Pixar, and their 9 feature films are very successful. They've made more than $4 billion at the box office and show no sign of stopping (their next film Up is out this year). So what do you need to think about for the exam?

Pixar films deal with similar themes.
Pixar films have a certain style.
They appeal to both younger and older audiences (but in a different way to Dreamworks)

Go to www.pixar.com for more information (this page is really useful: http://www.pixar.com/howwedoit/index.html#)
Watch this and tell me you wouldn't like to work for 'em: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHPZMIAhpqs

Not sure about the shirts though!
And vote for your favourite Pixar film before you leave the blog.

* (or they may have no heart)

Animated Film Part 1

You might have started work on the first of this year's exam topics - animated film. Or cartoons as normal people call them. But we're not normal we are media students! To help you with this, I've put some slides on today's blog that contain some information on things like studios and so on. You might have seen some of the information in your lessons already but if not, I hope this helps. We'll start with some info on the main types of animation . Just click on the image for a bigger view.

Below is a bit of background information on some of the main studios who make animated films and also a list of the most successful films at the US box office.

Improving Your Coursework

Here's some tips for improving your coursework.

Firstly, check what it is you are being marked on (see below) are you covering the points you should be. If you've followed the essay plans given to your teacher then you should.

If the task is an analysis one, check that you are explaining and not just describing. The easy way to check this is to make sure you are using 'because'. To get the top grades you have to explain.

For production tasks get someone at home, who might not know what the task was, to look at what you've done. If your project makes sense to this audience then you must be doing something right.

Check your friends' work and get them to check yours. This is a good way of spotting if something is missing, and also a way of getting new ideas!

Ask your teacher. Get verbal feedback from them if there is something you don't understand.

Re-draft it. Don't be satisfied with the grade you got first time, re-work your essay until you are happy.

Use technical vocabulary. You have to show that you are comfortable using technical words (think camera angles and other key terms). It is not enough just to use them, you have to show that you know what they mean.

Hope this helps. Remember it is easy to get bogged down with coursework. It is VERY important but only worth half of your GCSE. To make sure you can concentrate fully on the exam work ahead, get the coursework done and dusted as soon as you can.

The Oscars!

So, the Oscars and as we discussed in an earlier blog the point of these awards is to raise awareness of the films that are being celebrated. How many people in the UK had heard of Slumdog Millionaire before its nominations? But today everyone is talking about it. Expect it to go up in the box office charts this week as people catch up with it. This is all about INSTITUTION (who made it and who is selling it), but interestingly Warner Bros. whose logo appears on the trailer, didn't really want to pay to show it cinemas, it was going to go 'straight-to-video', usually this means that a film isn't very good - how wrong in this case!

For us though the other big story is that Wall-E won the Best Animated Feature Oscar (told you it would!). This wasn't a surprise and actually won't make much difference to the film - most of Wall-E's AUDIENCE (small children) aren't interested or don't know what the Oscars are - in terms of sales. Still, it deserved its Oscar.

As Media students you should be able to talk about all aspects of a media text so INSTITUTION is important, you should know who made a film (not just the studio, but the director as well) as well as be able to identify the LANGUAGE features (camera angles and so on). In terms of the Oscars think about the type of media coverage that they are given; how many Oscar news reports focus on the dresses being worn? Why is the AUDIENCE interested in this? How are the stars being REPRESENTED?

As well as Animated Film, the other exam topic this year is News in the Print and Electronic Media. A good exercise would be to see how news websites are using still images and video (interviews in particular) to cover the Oscars, and not just using text. These bits all together are called 'packages'.

So, the Oscars, done for this year but a useful example in how the Media industry works.

Awards Season!

We're well in to the awards season at the moment (we've had the Golden Globes and the Baftas and tonight, Wednesday, its the turn of the Brits), the big one however is the Oscars, held on Sunday night (Monday morning in the UK) in Hollywood. So why do we have awards ceremonies and why are they on our tellies?

Simple: they sell. The more nominations a film/pop star/actor/whatever gets the more PUBLICITY it gets. If it wins an award then it will get even more. This means we're more likely to hear about it and therefore more likely to spend money on the CD or seeing the film.



If Duffy wins British Breakthrough Act tonight does it mean she was the best newcomer (or was that the Ting Tings?)? No. It just means that she has been rewarded by the record industry for selling more CDs (4.5 million of 'em) than anyone else last year.

So what about the Oscars? Well, away from the big awards (expect Slumdog Millionaire to win a load - and rightly so) the one we should be interested in is Best Animated Feature. And the nominees are:

• Bolt
• Wall-E
• Kung-Fu Panda

So which should win? I reckon Wall-E should and will, at one point critics were suggesting it could win Best Film (Beauty and the Beast is the only animated film to get nominated for this,in 1992, it didn't win) but that never happened. I hope it does win as I thought it was the best thing I saw at the cinema all year (even better than Juno, and that's going some). But what do you think? I've put a poll up for the next week or so to say who you think should have won.

For more information on the Oscars go to: http://www.oscar.com/
and for the Brits, see here: http://www.brits.co.uk/

So, remember awards are all about INSTITUTION and raising the profile of a product, it's a way the INDUSTRY can help to SELL that product.

The Media Projects

Many of you will already be working on your Media Projects. This is an important piece of coursework but its easy to let it the whole thing get out of control! So here's a few tips for getting your project right.

• If you're working in a group make sure that everyone is given a resposnsibility. This is important for several reasons; one, everyone knows what they've got to do, it saves on arguments and also you get marked on what YOU did, not the group.


• Follow closely real examples of whatever it is you're making. So if its a film trailer watch loads (apple.com/trailers) or if its a magazine go into Tesco and study the covers; it might be worth buying a copy too!


• Get your teacher (or me) to look at what you've made. If not, ask someone in your class. A really good test is to get a family member to look at it; if you do this dn't explain what you've made - they should be able to tell if you've done a good job!


• Remember that its only worth 20% of your final mark, so shouldn't get in the way of preparing for the exam (worth 50%)


• Enjoy it! For most pupils this is the part of the course they enjoy most.

Below is the mark scheme for this piece of work. Ask your teacher if you're not sure what it all means!

Welcome to the new etc film and media blog!

Hi, this is the very first film and media blog. The blog is designed to be an extra source of help and advice for those of you studying Media Studies at Edensor.

So how's it going to work? Well, the idea is that as the exam gets ever closer I'll not only be adding useful links to websites to help you revise, but giving advice on how to get the best marks in the exam itself.

I'll be posting things that I've found interesting or useful and asking you to post reviews of any films, TV shows or websites that you have enjoyed.

You can post questions that I'll try to answer and also sum up any lessons that you might have missed.

So all in all I hope that you'll find the blog another way to get further ahead in Media Studies.