How did the understanding of the importance to research and planning skills improve from AS-A2?

At AS our task was to design an opening to a film of a genre of our choice, which we chose to call ‘Flashback’. We decided to use the ‘thriller/gangster/drama’ genre meaning that we needed analyse film openings of this genre. I analysed and researched films that would be beneficial to us; my blog shows that I examined ‘Green Street’ and ‘Football Factory’. I also researched films such as ‘Adulthood’ and ‘Kidulthood’ to help us with our project however our overall grade for this piece of coursework was disappointing as my group and me members came out with a C.

I also researched other media related topics that I thought would be beneficial to me such as the Hermeneutic Code and the relevant target audience such as stereotypical negative, violent teenagers between the ages of 14-24.

Our planning for this piece of coursework was reasonable as we met the deadline and managed to re-shoot when we really needed to although the way we communicated with each other was poor and could’ve been a lot better, as we rushed our product towards the end. The good parts to our planning was that we designed storyboards so we were aware of what shots wanted to use and the sounds in that shot.

We also created a costume, props and casting presentation that gave us an idea of what we wanted the characters to wear, what specific props we wanted, and what roles my group members and me played such as the cameraman, actors and editing.  Due to our overall grade for our final piece, it showed us that we didn’t perhaps put enough effort into our research and planning however we feel we produced a sensible amount in our first attempt of filming.

At A2 we were asked to create either a music video or a short film, however we chose to make a music video, as music was something we all had a desire for and something we thought we could get a good grade in. After getting a satisfactory C grade at AS for our film opening we were all determined to work harder, communicate better and try our best to improve our grade this time round.

Our research for A2 had improved a vast amount in comparison to AS as we analysed music videos that were more related to the genre of music that we chose for our music video, which was in this case, indie/rock. The textual analysis essays that we wrote show that we analysed a song called ‘Pyro’ by the band called ‘Kings of Leon’ which gave us a great understanding of what sort of music video that we wanted to make. We chose to cover the song ‘Undercover Martyn’ by a band called ‘Two Door Cinema Club’ and we thought it was a good choice to choose this song as we had seen them perform.

The communication within our group was much more efficient, which led to our planning being better organised too. Our target audience research contained more depth and detail as we managed to find information about the magazine our band featured in. Our shooting schedules were also a big improvement as it generated a clearer indication of what shots we wanted.

The negative factors to our A2 coursework was that our storyboards were very brief and that we again rushed to meet the deadline however overall we were very satisfied with our performance as we feel we made a significant improvement in many areas such as filming, editing skills but most importantly our research and planning, and it proved to show as we all came out with a strong B grade. 

How is 'Children Of Men' considered post-modern?

Post-modernism is considered to be a group of ideologies and theories that try to define the state of affairs in society through art, literature and the media. The movement can be self-reflexive and it can include a focus of low culture as art, which was revolutionary at the time. Children Of Men could be considered as post-modern because it borrows or appropriates from a range of different genres such as action, road movie, science fiction and many more. Another genre this film could be linked to is documentary because there aren’t many cuts throughout the duration of the film, which is also linked to cinematography. We could also say that it’s a sci-fi film because they show new pieces of technology however it is not a conventional sci-fi film because it doesn't utilise its typical conventions for example the clothing of the characters and it is realistic in terms of the setting and the fact that it could actually happen. Also, the film is based around a threat to humanity and infertility however beyond this point this isn’t really typical of sci-fi at all. A useful way to think about genre is to think about repetition and variation and this film uses this as it repeats the fact that its set in the future and the variable element is that it is quite realistic. 
Another reason why Children Of Men can be considered as post-modern is because there are many intertextual references, which argues with the culture and it challenges the distinction between high culture and popular culture, by deliberately contrasting graffiti, art and music. Some of the intertextual references used in this film are the Pink Floyd pig, which relates to ‘Animal Farm’ and the Battersby Power station, Opera, Banksy and Picasso. In this post-modern era, we live in a world where we are enclosed by all forms of media where different mediums make references to other mediums. The film is suggesting that all art is considered to be of equal value and it argues that popular culture such as graffiti produced by Banksy of the two policemen kissing and pop music is equally as valid and important as high culture such as the opera and Picasso’s famous painting of the Guernica. The first piece of art that we witness in the film produced by Banksy is typical of his ironic representations of unfair observation society that has raised the status of graffiti. We witness the Picasso painting of the Guernica in Theo’s friend’s dining room. This painting expresses horror linked to the Nazi bombing of civilians in Guernica, Spain.              

Modernism and Post Modernism

Modernism is a form of style/movement in the Arts:

- Painting
- Sculpture
- Architecture
- Literature
- Poetry

These all challenged traditional and classical forms.
This occurred between 1875 and the mid-1900's.

Put very simply, the argument is that Artists etc. believed that art needed to change to reflect the change in society:

Non-religous: Becoming more modern, industrial, secular.

Rational: Ideas based on reason and science as opposed to religion.