Interview Critique

Today in class we watched each others films that we had made. Once we watched them, we evaluated them and gave them two targets to work on. Unfortunately I was not able to go on the trip so I did not have a film to evaluate. So instead I am going to evaluate Gina and Cheyenne's.

In class we talked about the different things that we would be looking for when we evaluated the performances. These were:

• Eye contact
• Steady camera
• Camera angles: over-the-shoulder, Medium close up, Establishing shot, cut aways.
• Editing that flows
• Well-organised camera work
• Clear sound with no interference.

In Gina and Cheyenne's interview I thought that the following things went well:
- Use of cutaways to help the interview flow better
- Steady camera work

Targets:
- Consider sound interference when filming
- Add a music track over the establishing shot

I think that their interview went very well however, considering all the problems that they had and the fact that they weren't able to finish.

Sadler's Wells

On the 3rd December, our Diploma class went on a trip to Sadler's Wells. Once we got there we went into a small meeting room and met three people who worked at Sadler's Wells and they told us about their jobs. After that we met three different people. A Web manager, Project manager and a Financial worker. They all told us about the different jobs they do and what types of skills you would need to do that particular job. I think the hardest job to do was the Financial worker because you have to control all the money that goes out and what money comes in. You also have to control how much you spend on different things and have to give all the different departments a budget that they have to stick to.

What I learnt on that day was the theatre can have all sorts of different jobs. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes and a lot of work is put into running it. You have to think about a lot of different details and there are lots of different aspects that need controlling. Some of these jobs are:

• Stage lighting
• Box Office
• Concessionary
• Actors
• Dancers
• Directors
• Cleaners
• Manager
• Musicians
• Sound Technician

I think that the day was very productive and I learnt quite a lot about the different jobs. It could've been a bit more active, but overall it was quite a good day.

Tate Britain

On the 18th November 2008, our art class went to the Tate Britain. Once we got there, we put our coats and bags down and went over to the Turner Prize Exhibition. in the exhibition, we looked at the art of four different artists and had to sketch some of their work. My favourite artist was Cathy Wilkes because I liked the way she took found objects and made it into art.

After we finished in the Turner Prize exhibition, we went over to the Francis Bacon exhibition. The Francis Bacon exhibition had 10 different rooms and we had to go to each of them and sketch one of his paintings. I found this part particularly hard to do because Francis Bacon's paintings are very complicated and hard to understand. Fortunately though, I managed to do a few.

What I learnt on that day was that art can come in all different forms and that it doesn't have to be a simple structured drawing. Overall, I enjoyed the day, and even though I found Francis Bacon's paintings quite strange and contorted, they were quite interesting to look. The only thing that could've been better was the fact that I don't think that I took much away from it as I don't tend to think too much about the painting that I'm looking at.

M&C Saatchi

On the 21st October, Rob, a representative from M&C Saatchi came in to talk to use about his job and what he does. he showed us a few advertisements and got us to talk about why they were effective. Then he told us that we would be making an advertisement for TFL. We had to make it about how dangerous crossing the road is for teenagers, and that they should be more careful. We could make it however we wanted but we had to make sure that we used the phrase "Don't die before you've lived."

Once we had finished discussing what we had to do we got into groups and started to plan our advert.

After break, we came back and watched some more adverts. This time when we watched them we had to look out for what different techniques were used in order to make it interesting. Then we went back to making our presentations and at the end of the lesson, presented it to the class.

The thing that went successfully was our presentation. We were able to get our ideas across very clearly and it was also really interesting and fun to make.

I learnt that creating an advertisement is a lot harder than I thought it would be. First you have to come with the idea and then you have to decide whether the idea is going to get your point across. Then you need to think where the ad could be displayed. there are a lot of different techniques needed and the process can take very long.

The thing I found the hardest was coming up with an idea.

Overall i think the day was really fun and enjoyable and the experience really helped me.

Media Lesson 16th October 2008

In today's lesson we investigated what techniques would make a good interview. We came up with several points like:

• Eye contact
• Open ended questions
• Prepare your questions before hand
  
• Chat with the interviewee before hand to make him feel at ease
• Respond to the answers given
• Be friendly and encouraging but at the same time get your point across
• Projection and confidence

After we discussed what would make a good interview, we got some students to choose roles( such as sound technician, camera man and director) and we created our own interview. I had the role of the sound technician which was quite fun to do. We then used the points we had discussed and played around with the set to get the effect we wanted.
Then we did the interview. When we had finished we discussed what went well and what could have gone better. Then we used the new ideas that we had come up with and did the interview over again.
Personally I feel that the first interview was better because it was more spontaneous and more interesting because it wasn't so rehearsed.

Today i learnt more about how to use the camera and what shots would look the best such as over the shoulder.

Art posters

Today in art we took our posters that we had created in Art and uploaded them onto Photoshop. We then changed the images around and created a different poster in the style of Jamie Reid. The poster had to be about what different art galleries there are in Hackney or London. my poster was centered around Hackney.

At first it was hard to use Photoshop but I soon learnt how to manipulate my pictures to suit my poster.

 

transferable skills in the Media Industry

In media today we learnt different skills that were essential in the media industry. We also talked about different skills that were transferable (this means skills that can be used in lots of different jobs) these were:

• People skills 
• presentation skills 
• Precise deadlines and time keeping
• Management ability
  

the job that i thought was most suited to me was T.V producer because o thought that I had the certain skills that were needed to become one. Such as:

• management ability
• People skills 
• precise deadlines and time keeping

Evaluation of our presentation

Tuesday 7th October 2008
Reflecting on my filmed performance

1. I presented information to my target audience by using a catchy jingle that told you what website to go on to get more information. We also used a visual aid. This was necessary as our target audience was little children. This meant that we had to make it easy to understand, and interesting to watch. I felt that this would be quite fun to do as acting as children can be really interesting. I did worry a bit though because I wasn’t sure how we were going to present it. But then we came up with the idea of being bored children and asking our teacher if we can go to the theatre. This turned out to be a really good idea.

2. To make things more informative for my target audience, I could’ve maybe given the times of the performances given exact details. Though I didn’t want to put too much information into the performance, as our target audience was little children.

3. Using Drama as a way of presenting information was very fun and effective. I felt it was more effective than a leaflet or poster because most people prefer to watch something than they do to read something. It also got across the information in a more clear and interesting way. Doing our performance as a drama was really fun! It was a great way for us to get our information across in a way that people would understand. I was a bit nervous when we got up in front of he class to perform, but it went really well!

4. In my presentation I will use the techniques such as voice projection and movement. When you use movement in a presentation, its keeps your audience captured. I will also try to make sure that I use the language associated to my target audience. After watching my performance I realised that a good performance needs these different techniques.

5. In terms of what is going on in my area, I learnt that there are more interesting theatres that offer a lot of plays for varied ages than I thought. I never realised that there were so many theatres.


6. To improve my presentation I could’ve made it more informative. This would maybe have captured a more carried audience. But seeing as our presentation was targeted at young children, I didn’t want to put too much information in it because then it would became too heavy.

7. My acting in the presentation was quite realistic and I think it related to children very well. When we created a jingle to use in the performance, I felt that this was very effective. This was proven right when the class couldn’t stop singing it! We needed to work on our voice projection and our filming. Sometimes the light would not shine through properly so it was hard to see us. This created a vital problem. So next time I will make sure that we are prepared when we perform a presentation.

In todays lesson Corey and I created a mind map of all the different jobs in the Media industry.

Presentation Preparation

Today in Drama, we got into the groups that we were doing our presentations in, and created a small drama. In the drama we had to make sure that we gave information on the different plays and performances that were going on in our area. Miss Cornish told us what audience we would be targeting, and we had to make our presentation based around that. Our target audience was little children.

Once we knew what audience we would be targeting, we got together and shared our ideas. Then we used the research we had done to create a presentation. Once we had decided what to do, we work shopped our ideas. Our presentation was about The Little Angel Theatre and what plays and performances are going on there.

Seeing as our target audience was little children we decided to have two little girls telling their teacher that they would like to go to the theatre. Then we had two "little helpers" that told the audience what plays were happening and at what times. Then we had a catchy song that told everybody what website you could go to, to see the prices.

The positive aspects of our performance was that it was precise and to the point, and it also gave clear information. It was also interesting to watch( I hope!!) Also, it represented our target audience very well.
To make our play better we could've maybe been slightly more confident. But overall i think it went very well.

Our Presentation

For the Creative and Media Diploma, we are creating a presentation of what is going in Hackney in terms of Dramas, comedy's and dances. Today we started to plan our presentations.

We got into groups and decided how we were going to present our information to the class. We then decided what jobs each of us would be doing and then we got onto the computers and researched more information on our chosen theatre.
For our presentation we decided that we would create a programme, but on the computer. We would list the different theatres in our areas, and then create links to the different web pages.

My job was to research information on the Hackney Empire and find out what was going on. Kitty's job was to find out information from the Arcola Theatre and see what performances were happening there. Farah's job was to see what would happen at Sadler Wells. Gina's job was to see what was going on at Chats Palace.

My worries for this project is that I may not finish the presentation on time, or that I may not do what is required of me in order to pass the course. Hopefully, that won't be the case.
xxxxxxx

The BBC

On the 11th of September 2008, we visited the BBC. The purpose of the visit was so that we could do some filming and a get a feel of what we would be doing for the rest of our time in the Diploma.

Once we got there, we were taught how to use the camera, and different shots would look good. We learnt where the eyes should go when we're filming, and that we should use over-the-shoulder shots when filming, to make it look more professional. After, we got into groups and interviewed each other so that we could get some practice with the cameras. Once we had had enough practice, we got together and created a short movie based on one of the titles that we were given. Our group chose to do a movie about a girl who spoke too much. We then learnt how to edit our movies and learnt a few techniques about how to make them look more professional.

At the end of our day there, we watched each others movies and discussed what went well and what could've been better. Overall, I think it was a very enjoyable and productive day.

All about the new and improved RiRi

My name is Rianna Etienne and I am a student at Stoke Newington Media Arts and Science College. I chose the Creative and Media Diploma because I am creative and find the subjects Art, Drama and photography very enjoyable as well as working with computers. The reasons for creating the blog is to draft and present my thoughts and ideas that are part of my course work. I will also be using this blog to show case many videos and photographs throughout my two years as a creative and Media student. These will include photos of my work and videos of various events that I have been involved in.
These photos will also be a chance to present my creative side, and a chance to present my work.