Intro to Stills Camera

In this lesson we were introduced to a still camera. Our task was to venture round school and take photos of things which interested us, and to use for our thriller poster. The camera was quite straight forward to use, point and click, however we were reminded to click save after taking a photo, otherwise it would be lost. Before just randomly taking photos, we were told different ways of taking photos to represent different things. Firstly we learnt about the rule of thirds, this is when the frame is divided with intersecting lines, to create the four hot spots. These hot spots are where the eye is normally drawn to. Therefore it is a good idea to put the main objects of the poster or picture into these hot spots to make them the dominant element on the page, and refrain from putting them in the centre where amateurs think the eye is drawn to. By putting the object, usually a person, into one of the hot spots, it creates a head space, this is when there is enough space around the persons head and there should be some looking space, of which the person will be looking onto. Another thing to consider is in which direction the objects should be facing, sometimes if the evil character is facing in one direction, they could actually look much more evil in the other direction, and this is the same with the good character. Also if you want to create a hierachy, putting a character higher up in the frame, it will immediately make them look more powerful, thus creating a hero, for example in the Gladiator when Maximus is bigger than the roman colliseum. This is the same with creating a weak character, making them lower in the frame.

Intro to Video Camera

In this lesson, we were introduced to the camera and all its parts. We were shown how to put it together careful and also take it apart. We were reminded to be careful when removing the camera off the tripod stand because the area of the centre of gravity has changed and therefore could hit the tripod and damage the camera. Then we were shown how to put the microphone and the pan handle on. After learning this, we were then told how the camera actually worked. There were many different buttons to use, like the zoom and the lighting. We were shown where each button was, what it did, and how to operate it. On the top right hand of the screen on the camera, there was an area where the number of frames were shown, 0-27, and seconds, minutes and hours.

Thriller Poster

We took lots of photos around school, and I decided to use this photo because I think its really interesting how it can be interpreted in different ways. It could be shown as romantic, with the couple hugging eachother, however I used it in a violent manner that the girl is ripping the boys head off. I also used a knife to go into his head to show that there could be lots of different forms of violence in the movie. The background I think represented blood, suggesting it will be a gorey film. I titled the film "silence" because I think the girl is silencing the boy by beheading him. I used the font because it looks quite creepy and therefore gives a good impression for the film. I decided to lay it out with the main picture, of the boy and girl, in hot spot one, this is where the audience's immediate attention goes. In the second hot spot in the hand with the knife, and this is connected to the boy and girl so putting then in the first two hot spots I think works best. I put the title at the top of the poster because I think it fits in well with the rest of the layout, plus it is in a large font and therefore is easy to see without being in a hot spot. I put the release date on the bottom of the poster because I think the use of "..." going off the end of the poster shows it is coming soon.