Borne Ultimaitum

In last weeks media lesson, we watched the opening few minutes to the film Borne Ultimaitum. Before we watched the film, we discussed what we expected from an action film.
What I expected from a action film:

• Male hero
• Guns
• Explosions
• Chases
• Large city
• Romantic side plot
• Fast pace
• Good guy wins in the end
• Good vs evil
• fight scenes, stunts
• Ticking clock senario

We were then introduced to the Crash Boom Bang theory. This is a theory which basically says that an 'action' film does not contain any crashes, explosions or fights, then it is not technically an action film. 

I think that after viewing the opening of the film Borne Ultimatum that it does fit my expectations of an action film. In the first few minutes we saw a number of fight scenes, and the use of weapons. These scenes were created using a lot of jump cuts and this created the fast pace that I expected. We then find out that there is an underlying love story, where our hero's girlfriend has been killed and he is looking for revenge. This underlying story causes the audience to be sympathetic to our hero. We also establish within the opening who the evil people in the film are. In conclusion I feel that the opening of the film Bourne Ultimatum displays all the typical conventions of a generic action film. 

"Digital technology turns media consumers into media producers." In your own experience, how has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your coursework productions?

• GCSE Media - sitcom's 
• AS coursework - film opening
• AS exam - drama analysis & music industry

When I was first introduced to media studies it was through my GCSE media lessons in year 10. In these lessons I firstly learnt about the devices of newspapers and magazines and I also learnt about television sitcoms & drama. I learnt the basics of newspapers and magazines, and for our coursework, in a group, we created a front cover and our own two page spreads for a magazine which we had created ourselves from scratch. This taught us about how important research can be, we had to look at other existing magazines and then decide which direction we wanted our own magazine to go in. We then had to decide which material we wanted to include in our magazine. Through out the coursework process we all developed our teamwork skills, and also our individual working skills. For the GCSE exams we also had to study sitcoms. For this we watched programmes such a Friends and Gavin and Stacy and focused on the conventions and stereotypes which feature throughout these genre of programmes. Through this we built on our analytical skills.
For my AS coursework last year we had to create a film opening for a thriller film which we had again created from scratch. We again had to preform some initial research to find out which direction we wanted our opening to go in. Once we had decided this we then had to consider location, cast, plot, and from this we gained a lot of various skills. We learnt about how thoroughly plans need to be made and considered. We also learnt a lot more about working in a team, and how important communication within a team can be. From this coursework I gained a lot of skills, such as camera skills, editing skills, analytical skills and presentation skills.
For the AS exam we looked at drama analysis and the music industry. I had previously looked at drama analysis in my GCSE work and this helped me to progress easier. The drama analysis in year 12 was a lot more deeper than what we had done at GCSE level. We also looked at the music industry, which involved a lot of researching into record companies and artists.Through this I learnt about using the correct terminology for both topics, and I also learnt a lot about both of the subjects generally and broadened my knowledge further.

Inception

For this weeks homework we were asked to write a blog stating our opinions on something new involving the media. I have decided to write my blog on the recent film 'Inception' starring Leonado Di Caprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Ellen Page.
What first prevoked me into seeing this film was the cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Ellen Page are two of my favourite actors as I have enjoyed their previous films 500 Day Of Summer and Juno. I think that this genre of film is typical of Di Caprio's style, as he often stars in films with a deep, thought-prevoking story line, for example Shutter Island.
I also thought that this would be a good films to see because I enjoy the genre of films which are throught-prevoking, and aren't about everyday life with happy endings.
What I thought was best about the film Inception was the way that the story line seems so realistic to the audience even though it was a subject which is inconcievable in the real world.
I liked how the film left you in confusion at the end, it was a film which you had to continuously pay attention to, if you didn't you would have lost track and have been confused, which is an aspect that I enjoyed.
I think that this film was a Pluralist Model, as I think that recently films have started to take a different shape and have created a new genre that challenges the audience's mind and thoughts instead of the basic films story lines that we have been presented for years.