Week 6

Grant from Med107 took this lecture to discuss sound. We looked at the various microphones used on TV and in particular, talk/reality shows, where in groups, we discussed how many microphones we think would be needed for various TV shows.

Week 5

During this lecture, we watched the ending to the film Seven (Se7en). In the sequence, David Mills (Brad Pitt), discovers that the killer they have arrested named Doe, has murdered his wife and finds her head in a box Doe has delivered to him. Mills is unable to control himself and kills Doe. We then analysed the key shots of the sequence and how they help portray the scene and make it interesting, for example cutting between shots faster to help portray the frustration of Mills.

Week 4

This week, although we wouldn't necessarily be using them all the time, we were introduced to the DSLR cameras. Although I had experience of using these in high school, we spent this lecture going into them in a lot more depth of how they actually work, such as how the mirror prism flips up to switch between previewing an image and taking one, and how the image is then flipped to display the correct way round. We were also introduced to the various lenses available.

Week 3

This week, we read through the script for an existing short film. Working in groups, we then had to come up with an genre for this script, as well as a location and present our idea to the class.

Week 2

This week's lecture was all about getting familiar with some of the equipment we would be using for the next 3 years. In particular, we were introduced to the Sony EX1 camera which was different to the usual DSLRs I was familiar with. We learnt the basics such as inserting a battery and powering it up, and the various controls on the camera. Something interesting I learnt was that it is better to underexpose a shot and correct it in editing, than to overexpose a shot and try to fix it in editing.