Learning+Journal+11

In this lesson we looked at how Idependece day is a typical blockbuster and how it appeals to the audience and we wrote about what we must include in our wrighting like for exsample genre, representation,audience,camera angles, what you see and the effect/meaning behind it. We then watched the end of independence day and wrote a paragraph on how it is a typical blockbuster sci-fi like how the impossible situations are at the end solved and that there are often well known actors/directors in blockbusters. I found nothing difficult in this lesson. In this lesson we answered how the day after tomorrow is a typical sci-fi blockbuster some things I wrote were paralell naratives, a broken family, important buildings being destroyed. When important buildings like the statue of liberty, which represtents freedom are destroyed its makes it like the freedom has been taken away. I understood every thing in this lesson and did not find anything difficult. 7/9/11 In the lesson we two film clips and made some notes on the characters. Then we had to write a paragraph on war of the worlds including exsamples from Gattaca and other sci-fi movies. I didnt find this too hard but I couldn't decide how to start my paragraph. || 17-7-11 Today we laearnt about how a typical block buster sci-fi movie ends and for an exemple of that was Independence day so we watched the ending of it. while we were watching the ending of independence day we wrote notes on it about what made a good sci-fi ending and independence day had some relly good exemples of them. A block buster is a movie that expected to make a lot of money. They have famous actors in them and they are directed by a famous director. They have a lot of special effects in it. Independence Day, War of the worlds and The day after tomarrow are all block busters
 * ** Edwards, Jessica ** In the lesson we did about what makes a good blockbuster/ which 5 ingredience makes a successful sci-fi, how special effects are used and how the audiences attention is grabbed. We also watched a clip from the blockbuster independece day. We said that successful blockbusters had well known actors/directors, parallel naratives and impossible problems. We also said that big explosions and lazers grab the audieces attention. We also had a small discussion on why important buildings get destroyed in blockbusters/sci-fi like 2012 and the day the earth stood still. I understood every thing in the lesson and didnt find anything difficult.
 * ** Garratt, Samuel: ** Today we learnt about what makes a good block buster. the things we were told what made a good block buster were Special effects, action and tension. we also learnt about how to grab the audi ences attention. At the end of the lesson we watched a bit of independence day.

Today in the lesson we were wroiting small parograph on war of the worlds. i enjoyed it. but i foun the camar angle and the lighting the hardst to put in || I answered with: //**17/7/11**// Today in lesson we were asked the question 'how is independence day a typical blockbuster and how would it appeal to the audience' however first we wrote down what a piece of writing must include (camera angles, audience, representation and genre) we then watched the end of independence day and were asked 'How does the film end' and to answer it in notes. we then worked out that it conformed with sci-fi we then were asked to write a paragraph on one of these subjects I didn't find this difficult however I think I may have chosen the wrong topic as I ran out of things to say towards the end. I wrote 3/4 of a page. A block buster is a film that is expected to make millions and has a large budget examples of block busters are: Independence day and The day the Earth stood still.They also have lots of special effects, a happy ending, a range of camera angles and famous actors and director. In today's lesson we learnt and talked about metaphors in sci-fi films, we where then asked to discuss this in groups and give examples such as war of the worlds we also discussed whether they have a deeper meaning than just what you see on screen like some where connected to the gulf war, 9.11 bombings ect. we also watched part of independence day. Today we Worked on the question 'How is Independence Day a typical Blockbuster, and how would it appeal to the audience?' to answer this we where asked to list what would be included if we where to write a essay on this such as -Todorors Theory -Parallel narratives -Mise en scene - typical sci-Fi traits -Camera angles -audience -genre etc. we were then asked to write a paragraph on one of these topics.. i chose Todorors Theory. We Worked on Analyzing moving images in today's lesson and how to extend our sentences to make them more complex to a higher level, we also watched part of the day after tomorrow and made notes on the following question.. 'In what ways does the day after tomorrow conform to a typical Sci-fi blockbuster. in out notes we included: camera angles, special effects, the central protagonist family life, sound etc. Last lesion we were asked to write a paragraph on character analysis. I found it quite difficult to write as I'm not use to using that kind of language in my writing, If it's possible i would find it helpful to have some extra work on this or work I could do at home.
 * ** Harvey, Daniel **Today in lesson we did about the ingredients to a good sci-fi film e.g special effects, fast paced and action packed however Miss mentioned that they also need famous actors, impossible problems and a good trailer. We then watched a brief clip of a blockbuster (Independence day which has parallel narratives in(different story lines that join together in the end) )and answered the following questions in notes:
 * 1) How are special effects used?
 * 2) How is the audiences attention caught?
 * 1) lots of explosions, fire, guns, lights, smoke
 * 2) the music got slowly deeper drawing the audience in, lots of fast paced action, constant showing of a countdown clock also important buildings blown up e.g white house 'which represents power', the statue of liberty 'which represents unity between people/nations and country's'. I didn't find anything difficult in this lesson
 * //7/9/11//** today in lesson we had to write a paragraph on //war of the worlds// however we must include another film. I found this fairly easy however I found it hard to include camera angles because I couldn't think of a way to use them to properly. ||
 * ** Housley, Natasha **

Last lesson we talked about christina agulera and what kind of image she was trying to portray though out different stages of her carer through looking at advertisements photos of her and a picture of her in a music video || 4/7/11 in today's lesson we learnt & talked about what a good blockbuster sci fi film needs - special effects & action packed. we also watched some of independents day. 11/7/11 this lesson we talked about how Independents day is a typical blockbuster & how it would apeal to the audience. We also discussed what we would need to include in our writing. Then we wrote a paragraph about how independants day interacts with the audience. 18/7/11 in this lesson we did about 1950's sci-fi films & how they are different to the modern day film & we pointed out the key differences. we also watched abit of war of the worlds. || In today's lesson we discussed what is needed to make a successful sci-fi blockbuster, for example: to use special effects (lots of explosions and fire) and also to use either a famous cast or have a famous director. We also talked about how there are often famous/important buildings that get destroyed, such as the white house in independence day. 08/09/11 Last lesson we did quite a bit on what the dress code of a character might suggest about their personality, for example ray ferrier in war of the worlds wears very casual clothes which makes him easy for the audience to relate to. I found this quite easy as i have done quite a bit on that sort of thing before. I sometimes struggle on remembering the names of the camera angles. || In today's lesson we were talking about using metaphors and how they are used in Independence Day. We watched some of the film and noted down the parallel narratives used in the film. Also we noted the special effects that were used in Independence Day. 11th July- In today's lesson we were tackling how is Independence day a typical blockbuster and we covered the key terms in films.We watched the end of the film and described how and why the drunk from earlier in the film was to be the hero at the end. Then I wrote a paragraph about how the tension is built up throughout the end of Independence day. 16th July- In today's lesson were looking at how the start of the day after tomorrow represents a typical blockbuster and we were writing down the examples in our books. We only see Todorovs theory in the start, when there was equilibrium in the opening scene. We could easily see how the film was a sci-fi film because of the special effects and a problem that needs to be solved. We also discussed how the high shot angles show the full scale of the wave and it helps the audience know how destructive the wave was. It makes the audience feel like the humans will never be able to stop the problem. 9th September- Last lesson we were starting on writing the opening paragraph of our practice essay. We were looking at character analysis and the mise en scene of Harrison Fords house. || In todays lesson we discussed the main ingredients that make a good sci-fi film i.e. - Special effects to grab the audiences attention - Have a well known director and especially famous actors so that they appeal to the audience and they will then be attracted to watch the film - Lots of Sci-fi films also have well known buildings such as in Independence Day (in which the White House was destroyed). - Special effects are used to replicate the disasters that have happened in real life such as the 9/11 bombing attack on the twin towers. - The parallel narrative is - we watched Independence Day and jotted down the parallel naratives used in the film. 11/7/11 in today's lesson we discussing how Independence Day was a good blockbuster and these are some of the reasons i used -It had parallel narratives in it -It has lots of special effects -imposable situations -Famous directors and actors extra Also today we watched the end of Independence day and talked about how the drunk man who appeared at the start of the film to be middle aged man that did not really have a clue what was going on. But near to the end of the film he was the person who blown up the mother ship and saved the world and sacrificed his life for others. After that i wrote a paragraph about the action in the film through Independence day. 16/7/11 In todays lesson we watched the first 15 minutes of the day after tomorrow and how it represents a typical Blockbuster and wrote down some examples in our books. These are some things that make it a typical Blockbuster. -A family broken down= most Blockbusters have a family that is broken down because when the family start worrying about the Father then the audience interacts with the film more as if it was happening in real life. -A well known city been destroyed in this case New York= Blockbusters have well known citys been destroyed because lots of people go there on holiday and lots of people live there to. Also New York has famous land marks such as the Empire States building that gets engulfed by the massive tidal wave. we also looked at the start of the film when we see Todorovs theroy when there was equilibrium in the opening scene of the film and did not see anymore of it through out the rest of the film. We also looked at why they used a high angle shot when the water was taking over the city= They used a high angle shot because you can then see the speed and destruction that it is leaving.Also it makes the audience feel that it is impossible to stop.
 * ** Hutchinson, Bethany **
 * ** Jackson, William **
 * ** Larkin, Daniel **
 * ** Larkin, Matthew **

9/9/11 In todays lesson we wrote a paragraph on war of the worlds and the dress code and mise en scene of Ray ferrier of war of the worlds and the camera angles of him at work and in his house. the dress code of a character might suggest about their personality of Ray in war of the worlds wears very casual clothes which makes him easy for the audience to relate to.I did not struggle in the lesson only a bit on the camera angles but apart from that i know what to do. || ** 4/7: In this lesson i learnt what a good Blockbuster Sci-fi film needs (Well known actors/good special effects) We also watched some of independance day and jotted down how 'Independance Day' was a typical blockbuster. **
 * ** Levitt-Coe, Ellie ** ||
 * ** Matthews Scott **

Got lost and couldn't find where to post it so i just posted it here 2/11:Today we mainly analyzed 2 separate adverts, one in the 1950's and a modern one where women in the 1950's were stereotyped as housewives who cooked and cleaned, while in the new adverts the women were stereotyped as 4 different types. I also learnt what Ideology means and anchorage text. ||