Half Term Horror

Never work with children or animals? Well, both were quite happy on the set of Georgia's horror trailer:

'Motion' SFX

OCR have recommended a piece of software compatible with Final Cut Pro if you are interested in creating any effects in your music video or film opening. A quick overview of it yesterday was very promising. It looks great for creating interesting title sequences, much easier to use than LiveType. Only problem is, it costs about £35 to download from the App Store.

Here's a YouTube tutorial if you are thinking about getting it:



And a website http://www.rippletraining.com/category/motion-5/ with a whole host of 5-minute tutorials such as 'How to add snow to a scene': http://www.rippletraining.com/categories/motion/
http://www.rippletraining.com/free-videos/how-to-add-snow-to-a-scene/

Opening night of 'Suffragette'

My daughter said she'd never been to a film before where the audience didn't start getting up to leave as soon as the closing credits began to roll. On the contrary, last night on the opening night of 'Suffragette' at the Odeon, Uxbridge, the entire audience stayed sitting in a kind of respectful silence right up until the camera operators' credits. That was the case the whole way through the film.

It's one of those films that everyone should see - our daughters and our sons. Perhaps particularly our sons. Apart from the stunning performances of the likes of Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan, the film is edited to provide just the right balance of horror - there are some harrowing moments - and historical resonance. So many different perspectives of the time from 1912 until the sacrifice of Emily Wilding Davison in 1913 are represented here - from the factory owner to the protagonist's husband, the police and the government.

Go see it - it's a keeper!

Blogger of the Week

Year 12 surpassed themselves this week with the blogtastic research and planning, uploading their presentations for their film ideas as well as some excellent audience research videos. Just first past the post at AS this week was Lizzie, who has 28 very detailed and relevant posts so far, including excellent audience research.

At A2, Blogger of the Week is Georgia, who has uploaded her completed storyboard for her film trailer. Let the filming commence!

Media Open Day

I've put together a medley of triumphs from the Media students over the years:

Bugsy Malone Promo Praised

Following terrific response to the request for volunteers to film a promotional video for the latest school musical, exactly a month before opening night, Year 12 came up trumps with a well-filmed and expertly-edited product. Our Head of Drama was delighted, saying it was "amazing" and perfectly suited the brief we were given. Our Headteacher said it was "Fantastic - love the bit with the hat!" Well done to CP, Jess and Katriona who filmed and edited.

Suffragette News

With the film 'Suffragette' premiering at the opening of the London Film Festival last night, the issue of the representation of women in the media has come to the fore. Meryl Streep in an interview with 'The Today Programme' expressed how 'enraged' she is about the lack of females in top jobs, not just in film, but everywhere. Carey Mulligan said "our industry is sexist. It's taken 100 years to make a film about this enormous human rights movement, and that's incredible to me."

The interviewer quoted some shocking statistics:

In 2014, the top 10 female actors earned just over half what the top 10 male actors did.
In 2014, only two out of the top 100 films were directed by women.
In 2014 there was no female actor over 45 in the lead or co-lead of any of the top 100 films.

Meryl Streep said, "It has to do with the distribution of films, the way films are financed. Of the 10 top buyers for films in the United States across all territories, there's not one woman. If the people who are choosing what goes out into the multiplexes are all of one persuasion, the choice will be limited and then that will be a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Feminist protesters used the occasion to stage a 'die-in' at the premiere to raise awareness about domestic violence.

Blogger of the Month

Well done, Bloggers, for entering into the spirit of the competition. Our very first Bloggers of the Month are, this month, at AS, Jessie, for her inspiring research and going the extra mile with creating a hologram. At A2, Chaya and Emily are next and neck, so this month they share the Blogger of the Month.

Bloggers of the Week this week are, at AS, Nikita, for her adventures into the world of Prezi. At A2, it's Emily.