Television Production

Week 1- This week I've been watching The Office (US). I watched this on Netflix and I chose to watch the US version and not the UK version because I prefer the actors in the US version. I find it funnier, whereas I personally find Ricky Gervais quite crude. In the episode Christmas Party , Michael hosts a Christmas party in the office with a game of Secret Santa, but it all goes wrong when he changes the game to "Yankee Swap", where everyone gives their pre-bought presents to a different, random worker. I've enjoyed all of the episodes of The Office (U.S.) that I've seen because I really enjoy the mockumentary style. Overall I enjoyed this episode and I know I will continue to watch The Office. Week 2- This week I've been watching Skins on Netflix. I used to watch Skins very regularly a year ago but had to stop for a while, and then picked it back up again this week. I'm on season 7 episode 5 Rise Part One. This episode is the second to last episode o...

Constructive Analysis. Key Terms Appointment TV- watching TV when it's 'live' on the channel, as opposed to catch-up TV. Visual Grammar- What you see on screen- communicating without words Mise En Scene- Setting, design, lighting, costume, and staging and how they help us interpret what's on screen Genre- How it is categorised Cinematography- shots (i.e. mid shot, close up) and camera movement Editing- How meaning and context are visually constructed Sound- Aesthetic use of voice, music and audio effects Documentary- Critical issues of representation, authenticity and 'cinema truth' Read and Write Gold- Will read back work to you so you can ensure your work makes sense Matchware Mindview- Mindmapping software Critical Approaches There are 3 main kinds of critical approaches that can be taken, and these can be broken down into more specific themes, as colour-coded (duplicates are multicoloured). Aesthetic Aesthetic refers to the style o...

Turning up the Volume. Today we had a workshop with Steve Coombes, a screenwriter, who gave us invaluable tips for developing our stories and communicating with the viewer. Think of the moment He made a point of thinking about the moments that will stick with the viewer, and then write the script around that moment. This pinnacle moment is what the viewer will remember about your production, no matter what the production is. The audience is easily distracted, and so you should only tell them what they need to know. If you start writing a conversation about how the character's day was, no viewers would be interested or remember the story. However if you include too many 'moments' (i.e. too many explosions) there will be no specific moment that the viewer will remember. Dunkirk (2017) Dunkirk is a very popular film of 2017, released in July but still with viewings showing in October. This film is great because it has those memorable moments that stay with the vi...

This House Has People In It. This video is one of my favourite short films by YouTube channel Adult Swim. The video consists of (fiction) surveillance footage from an American family home. The shots show different angles from throughout the house and the production is edited in a format that is much like a security camera scroll- it goes from camera to camera as the scene unfolds. The parents are talking in the kitchen with the daughter lying face down on the floor. Eventually the parents turn the conversation to the daughter on the floor and try to get her up. They believed she was throwing a tantrum but soon realise she's stuck. As the family get more and more panicked she begins to sink into the floor and chaos unfolds as the cameras continue to flick between one another showing the rest of the house. Adult Swim The YouTube channel Adult Swim joined YouTube on March 2nd, 2006. Channel stats from Social Blade . Since then, they have made 8,302 public videos and ga...

Camera, Action, Edit. This week we did workshops on the use of camera and coverage, and Adobe Premier Pro. Camera We went over how to use the cameras for coverage of a scene and had a trial and error practice session with them so we have a chance to get used to using them when it comes to actually filming our projects. Our first session was to make a short production based on 'The Chair', which could be any interpretation we wanted, it just had to be a scene with someone sitting in a chair. This video is what I came up with as it was simple but had a basic plot to it. We had to focus on coverage; getting different angles in order to give us more options when it came to editing so that we could create more of a dynamic story. It keeps the viewers eye moving around the screen and keeps it interesting, however too many movements or cuts can be confusing and hard to keep up with. Positives I was happy with the plot that I came up with for this as it was easy to film and...