A lecture by a Pakistani documentary maker.

As the time for our shoot is coming closer, the students are going through the final details and credentials of the constructions of their respected media texts in order to avoid any dilemmas during the shoot. A director/documentary maker, (name), was called to school for our assistance.

At first, he gave a little briefing on the key components that will be required during the shoot, such as camera, lights, sound, tripods etc. Later, he individually discussed the ideas with all the students.

Different models of camera suit different media texts. Not one camera can be used for all purposes, as the picture quality varies. A video camera is more suitable for shooting a documentary considering that it is a continuous tool. The camera must be adjusted according to different lights. For example, when you go beyond, suppose, working in a low light the camera starts to 'gain’, this always decreases the resolution of the footage and compromises the quality of the image. Tungsten or lights omitted from a bulb and natural light were suggested by him then fluorescent light, reason being that tube light flickers which is not noticeable to the naked eye but the flickering appears in the image captured by the camera which distorts the footage. Moreover, we were asked to avoid shooting our documentary in harsh light as it will be difficult to balance it out, and it will at some point 'burn' the object. However, we are shooting some kind of a suspense a murder scene etc. then it could be used complimenting the harshness of the ideology of the scene itself. Furthermore, a camera must be placed at the eye level of the character to make it a 'fair shot'

In the end we were told that ' a film is not complete until the director puts in his own point of view' which I believe is the most element of the entire product as this will distinguish the product from those of the other of the same nature and make it unique. 

 

Story and Plot

PLOT AND STORY:

In today's class we were given an introductory lesson about script writing. During the lecture we were explained about the a PLOT and a STORY, also the difference between them.

A story could be defined as a series of events which have a beginning, middle and an end, this is the basic structure of a story. Whereas, a plot answers 5 main questions being, what, how, why, when and where. A plot defines event with  more detail, however, a story is written with brevity. This should be known that a plot is based on a story. It emphasizes the concept of the story in detail. An example of these two terms could be:

Story: Aiman and Sabaina went for lunch after which they watched a movie together.

Plot: Aiman and Sabaina decided to go for lunch at a restaurant. Later, as they had nothing to do, they watched a movie together.

I did a detailed assignment on these two terms on a cartoon film Beauty and The Beast by Disney Channel, which was later checked by my media studies teacher. It is as follows:

Beauty and the Beast:

STORY: 

Beauty and the Beast is a tale of a beautiful young woman who gets imprisoned by a Beast in a mysterious castle in an attempt to free her father from the Beast. Days pass by and she finds herself the support of enchanted friends who work their way to develop a connection between Belle and the Beast. With time, the two get to know each other due to which a very soft and romantic relationship takes birth between them, which leads to a happy ending in which the Beast gets his normal life back, by breaking the spell casted on him many years ago, because of Belle.

PLOT: 

Beauty and the Beast is the tale of a beautiful young woman named Belle who lives in a small French town. One day her father goes on a business expedition and promises to return in a few days. However, many days go by and her father does not return home due to which she decides to go after him. During her search for her father Belle makes her way in a mysterious castle in the woods. There she meets a strange Beast, formerly a Prince who was cursed by an Enchantress into a beast due to prince’s arrogant nature. The only way he could get his real appearance back was to earn love of another person before the final petal of the magical rose fell. Belle finds her father imprisoned in the castle by the beast. The Beast demands her to live forever in the castle with him if she wants her father to be free. Belle accepts the demand and gets trapped in the castle for eternity. As the days pass by Belle finds support of some enchanted people living in the castle. In the beginning the beast and Belle find many disagreements among themselves. However, with the passage of time they get to know each other better and develop a very strong and romantic relationship between them which later becomes the source of the Beast’s survival.

Important points.

I got to learn some very important details today which would aid me in producing a good blog. While creating my own blog I need to make sure that I :

• lay emphasis on the Codes and Conventions.
• never produce bland reports.
• give details on each and every thing that I do while making my own short film.
• use media related technical terms
• give references!

All these factors would compliment my written text as the reader would be able to relate whatever I write with what inspired me into writing that particular context.

Education trip

  Paragon Academy of Performing Arts

Our media sir arranged a trip for us to one of the most renowned director's (Syed Noor) set. The reason behind this trip was to show us the props, lights, settings etc. for real, other than in theory. 

We were given a tour of the entire place. We were introduced with some information about the creation of the sets. The sets were made out of cardboard and we did not realize that until we were told about them. They looked so real and firm and none of us noticed the difference between a real building and those sets. We were then shown with a few professional lights. We were told about various techniques we could use indoors as well as outdoor. Outdoors shooting is comparatively simple than that done indoors. Reason being that the natural light is not available to us indoors. Furthermore, we asked Syed Noor about how they show rain in their movies and we were told that they have pipes and showers available with which they show rain in their movies. Lastly, we were taken to their dubbing room where we saw two men recoding their voices. Then we were taken to the room where the equipment with which they edit the voices was placed.

Overall, the entire trip was very enlightening. The things we have always heard about or read in theory were shown to us practically which made the trip even more interesting.

                                                   (Dubbing room)

(key lights) 

  

                                                                              (Set)

Things to do.

The schedule for the entire film making process has been made. In order to complete our products on time it's crucial for us to go according to that time table.

The first week was given to idea development of our media product. That is almost done. The ideas have been approved by one teacher and now we are waiting for the approval of the Head. Fingers crossed for that, hope she picks up the documentary!

As stated in the previous document, we came up with four ideas. 1 for a documentary, 2 for short film and 1 for a music video. The idea of music video was not carried further as the copy rights of the song we selected are not available to us. So the rest of the three ideas were taken further for selection. Two out of three have been chosen by our Media teacher for  our media product; which consists of documentary and a short film. The second short film was rejected as it did not have that appeal to it. It was monotonous in a way that the entire story revolved around just two characters and the idea itself was not as interesting as that of other two ideas. The ending was a bit too 'filmy' as well. I'm happy with the fact that the two ideas on which my team mate and I worked the most have been appreciated by the teacher.

Yesterday's class went really well. I needed the appreciation considering I got a C on an assignment which really DE-motivated me.

With that, we were taught about some of the key comportment of media studies. The information we need to put in our blogs divided into four categories.

• Research
• Planning
• Construction 
• Evaluation

All we need to do is to follow these points and make sure nothing gets overlooked. We have been provided with all the details and now, the next step is to combine all the suitable and relevant  information and put it under these headings.

Hoping for the best for future.

Class Discussion

In today's class we had a discussion over a blog posted by a student of A levels. It helped a lot, I did not know that blogs hold a very important place in the entire assignment and so, keeping my blog updated has made up to my 'to do list' :p

My team mate and I finally decided on what our final media product will be. We decided on making a short film. I reckon this is the right choice for both of us as we both hold an interest in TV&Drama etc. I realized today how quickly we get into making the final thing. So, i need to take things slow a bit especially when it comes to deciding upon the right idea to shoot the short film on.

Next step: Search for blogs and evaluate!

Introduction of A2 media studies,

My name is Aiman Farrukh. I just started off with the second year of A'levels. Today, after attending Media studies class after a long vacation, I learned a few very important things. Along with that I thought about what I will be making as part of my media examination. Given a limited choice i decided on making a documentary, reason being that I have already made a few documentaries before so, I am a bit familiar with the credentials of producing a good documentary.

Other than that, I realized that the time given to us to complete this task is not enough. Before coming to this level I always had this thing in mind that i have year to make a documentary, music video or short film etc, but today I realized this inst enough. So, in order to produce good results I need to come up with ideas for the documentary FAST. So that I get to have enough time to work on the construction of the documentary with a burdened free mind and avoid panicking when the dead line comes close.

Moreover, I understood how important it is to break down an idea into something unique and specific so that my documentary doesn't give a feeling to the viewer that it has been made on a very 'general' idea. I will surely try to keep my work simple yet interesting.

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