Blogger of the Week

Well done this week to Jess at A2, who uploaded the final, perfected version of her interrogation script. And in Year 12 it's Alainah this week, who has done some particularly strong audience research, justifying why her film opening will appeal to her target audience.

Blogger of the Week

Dear Bloggers, winner this week at A2 is Lizzy for updating her exam blog with some fantastic analysis of the representation of women and men in lifestyle magazines. It was worth that afternoon in WHSmith and all those perfume samples!

In Year 12, joint winners are Grace and Lauren M for blogging so enthusiastically and reaching 35 posts! A close runner-up is Isadora for posting a fantastic six times this week. Blog on!

Blogger of the Week

Well done to Jess this week at A2 for re-jigging her whole blog to suit her new film idea. It's all coming together now! And also at AS to Lauren Beer, who posted no fewer than EIGHT times last night in a desperate (but successful) bid to win the chocolate this week. Blog on!

Blogger of the Week

Well done to Lauren M for keeping up with the blogging tasks and posting great-quality information. And congratulations to CP for blogging the concept images for her characters. Keep up the good work, everyone. Coursework is worth 50% and your 20 marks for Research and Planning are easily won if you keep your blog posts up to date.

Career Options

Dear Bloggers,

If you're interested in a career in film or the creative industries, it's worth taking a look at Skillset at http://creativeskillset.org/who_we_help/young_creative_talent. They have lots of information, advice and training available, and a personality test you can take to see what sort of job might suit you.

Calling all film buffs...

Don't miss the new series of 'Cinema's Secret History' on BBC Radio 4 starting tomorrow (16th November) but of course available on BBC iPlayer. See the website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b083vsj4/episodes/guide. The first episode is about The Script Supervisor.

Blogger of the Week

Congratulations to Lizzy for the second week running at A2 for keeping her exam blog up to date with a post on theorist Judith Butler.

And well done to Grace in Year 12, who did two really great PowerPoint presentations on Slideshare on key camera shots and conventions of romantic crime, plus an informative post on iconic sounds in the romantic crime genre. Great progress!

Midweek Blogger Prize

After a quiet half term holiday, the blogsophere has been buzzing this week, so much so that at A2 we have had to insert a one-off  Midweek Blogger Prize awarded jointly to Jess and Lizzy for creating new exam blogs and writing posts on Todorov, Propp, Levi-Strauss and Barthes after yesterday's lesson. Blogtastic!

Blogger of the Week

Welcome to the new half term, Bloggers. The blogsphere has been quite quiet over the half term holiday, but joint AS winners are Isadora and Kathryn, who both blogged a film review connected to their chosen genre. Blog it up, everyone!

Social Realism

Dear Bloggers,
Since some of you expressed curiosity about the genre of Social Realism, a timely episode of The Film Programme popped up on Radio 4 this week with a discussion about two of my favourite British directors, Andrea Arnold (of 'Fish Tank', Lizzy) and Ken Loach. They both have new films out this month - 'American Honey' (Andrea Arnold) and 'I, Daniel Blake' (Ken Loach). Have a listen to their discussion - it's something you can write about in the AS Audiences and Institutions exam essay, and in the A2 Collective Identity essay!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r5jt

There's even a tutorial on the BBC website on how to make a Ken Loach film: http://howtomakeakenloachfilm.com/en/ios

These two films are definitely worth watching at the cinema this month. Here are their trailers:





Then, listen to the 'Woman's Hour' podcast from 18th October, from 15 minutes in, with an interview on 'I, Daniel Blake' http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z3cb1#play:

Blogger of the Week

Well done this week to Isadora, who is up to date with all her blog posts and used an interesting media - PowerPoint online - embedded in her blog for one of her posts. The competition was very tricky this week. At A2, it's Lizzy, who has completed a magnificent 42 posts and filmed some fabulous shots for her short film. Blog on, everyone!

Blogger of the Week

Huge well done to Lauren B at AS this week for being the first to reach 20 blog posts and for blogging really well about our cameraman visit, foley sound and the Harry Potter Tour. And at A2, well done to Charlotte for getting to 40 blog posts (half way there!) and keeping us completely up to date with her planning decisions so far. Blog on!

Warner Bros Tour

Thank you to all those who made the Warner Bros Tour such a pleasure this week. Art, Business, ICT and Media students combined to learn all about Movie Marketing and actually handle the costumes and props used in the film - in a locked room for security!

Enjoy the video:

Blogger of the Week

Well done at A2 to Lizzy, who has posted several excellent ideas about her protagonist's psychographic and demographic profile. And at AS, well done to all for fantastic blogging. |It was a difficult choice, but this week Alainah is the winner, especially for her accurate and clean presentation and lovely blogging style on mise en scene and sound in films.

Blogger of the Week

This week at A2 well done to CP, who at this early stage in the term is already at 31 quality posts, thoroughly reflecting the journey she is taking towards her final short film. And congrats to Kathryn at AS for keeping bang up to date with blogging and uploading an animated storyboard. Blogtastic!

Blogger of the Week

Well done to Lizzy at A2 for developing her idea substantially from last week and really taking on board the target of relating all research and planning to your final portfolio piece.

And congratulations to Grace and Lauren M for winning this week's AS prize for keeping up with the blogs and adding their three key rule explanations for Match on Action, Shot Reverse Shot and the 180 Degree Rule with embedded videos.

Final Blogger of the Week of this Academic Year!

Dear Bloggers

It has been a fantastic year for Media Studies at St Mary's, culminating in Jess's shortlisting for the Media Magazine Production Awards for her film opening. Well done, Jess, and we're off to the Awards tomorrow!

Also well done to Lizzy for achieving the last Blogger of the Week. Not only has she completed her Preliminary Task, but she has also created a separate blog for exam work and written a fab post on Laura Mulvey and the Male Gaze.

Have a great summer, everyone. Watch films and blog prolifically!

Blogger of the Week

Well done to Jess and CP for jointly winning Blogger of the Week, completing scripts and some detailed planning for their A2 short films. #gettingaheadwithcoursework

Moderators, Welcome

Dear Moderators

Welcome to Centre 52235 St Mary's School blog hub. You will see the links to all the AS and A2 candidate blogs in the top two sections of the sidebar to the right of this post.

Candidate 1501 has submitted her AS Foundation Portfolio Film Opening and some of her Evaluation answers separately by DVD, due to her chosen location requesting that footage not be posted on any social media. Her DVD is packaged with the Coursework Cover Sheets sent to OCR.

I hope that you find the work easy to navigate.

Yours sincerely
Helen Williams, Head of Media Studies

Blogger of the Week

At A2, well done to Chaya this week for four strong posts on the Advanced Portfolio. Almost there with the coursework now - well done!

Blogger of the Week

Huge round of applause for Katriona at AS this week for posting no less than nine quality posts, as well as editing her film. A huge progress step this week and an inspiration to us all! At A2, Georgia wins the title this week for exploring new digital media, including Graphic Springs to help her design a logo for her film company.

Blogger of the Week

Well done to this week's top bloggers - all of Year 12 collectively for their work on filming and evaluating; Chaya at A2 for bringing us up to date with the latest on filming and creating her website. Top blogging!

Blogger of the Week

Well done to CP this week, completing Evaluation 3. We're on the home strait now, bloggers, so keep going! Just a reminder of your deadline:

Friday 18th March - AS and A2 Coursework to be completed, including 7 evaluation questions (and audience feedback showing) for AS; including 2 ancillary task and 4 evaluation questions for A2.

Bloggers of Half Term

Well done to the three AS half term bloggers - a new hologram effect for Jess's film opening, an excellent evaluation answer for CP and some great planning and research from Tabitha. Blog on!

What We Did On Our Holidays

Check out the latest family music video:

BFI Audiences and Institutions Study Day

Thank you to the Year 12 Media students for being superb companions for the BFI Study Day yesterday!

Blogger of the Week

All ready for your half-term blogging, here's the choice of trophies up for grabs on the Monday back after half term:

or

or

Blogger of the Week

At AS this week it's Jessie for her AMAZING CGI work on her robot for her film opening. Top use of digital technology PLUS audience feedback.

Blogger of the Week

This week's top blogger at AS is Lizzy, for being the first to complete Evaluation Question 1. Close runner-up is Nikita for her cool video on Vertigo Films' 'Bill'. So far, Katriona and Charlotte are top bloggers numerically at 65 posts each to date. Blogtastic!!

Blogger of the Week

Wow! Much work has been going on with Motion5 this week, especially from Nikita, who is Blogger of the Week and has become the official St Mary's Media Motion Consultant - the go-to expert for all your Motion queries and concerns. Well done!

Blogger of the Week

Last week, Blogger of the Week was shared for over-Christmas-holiday blogging of Year 12. Well done. This week, congratulations to Katriona who blew everyone out of the water in the last four days with her extensive research and excellent blog posts. A shining example of blogtasticism!

New Media Title Logo

Check out the St Mary's Media Logo!