Year 12 - Sound Terminology this week

This week we have focussed on these terms related to sound:

Soundbridge - this is where the (usually) non-diegetic sound continues from one sequence to another. It is often used to link the sequences together with one similar meaning. A good example in The Street was where the three sequences of 'getting in the van', 'at the building site' and 'getting ready for a beer' all had the same piece of music underscoring them showing they were all part of the day's work and all were heightened emotionally by the strong bluesy mood of the music. A different example was in Criminal Justice where the sound of the telephone ringing bridged the cross cuts from the lawyer's sequences to the wife's sequences.

Ambient sound - this is a sound belonging to the diegesis (what we can see in the frame) but not necessarily coming from a person or object in the frame. Juke box music coming from another room or the sound of passing traffic or the muted conversations of a crowd in the background are all examples of ambient sound.

Year 12 - Editing terminology this week

This week we have focused on these editing terms:

Montage - a succession of shots, varied distance and take length, that condense a period of time into a short and watchable package. They often show background information (as in The Street or Criminal Justice) or character development that would take too long to show in real time. They are often accompanied by music to heighten their significance. They often finish when the music fades or stops.

Ellipsis - where time is left out and we have moved forward several hours, days, months or years. There is an ellipsis cut in the bedroom scene in The Street signified by the change in ambient sound from the faint juke box to near silence broken by a single distant car.

Parallel editing or parallel action - where two stories are happening at the same time but in different places. This was seen in Criminal Justice and there was a very good example in the whole structure of this week's new BBC drama Paradox.

Crosscutting - is the type of cut that moves the action from one parallel action sequence to the other - and back again.

Year 12 - Guide To Note Taking The TV Drama Extract

This is the sheet we have used in class. You can download or print it from here.

Guide To Note Taking The Tv Drama Extract

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Year 11 - Exam Question 4

I have asked you to look at question 4 for homework. Here are some suggestions of ways that advertising is used to promote live coverage of sport. Web sites are a good example click here here or here

Also try finding magazine ads, tv ads, billboards and hoardings, web pop-ups or promotions that are linked to sponsorship deals - packaging on products like Guinness that advertises live coverage on Sky Sports or web pages that do the same (here).

This kind of advertising is very similar to what you studied for film promotion.

Year 12 Questions on TV/Film terminology

If you have a question about any of the terms on the sheet I have given you for revising ready for your trial exam (12D - Tuesday 1st December pd 1&2; 12E - Wednesday 2nd December pd 1&2) please add them as comments here and I will answer via another comment.

You can also find a very good advanced guide to the terminology or grammar of Film/TV here

The 180 degree Rule

Here is an excellent diagram to illustrate the 180 degree rule. All of your different camera angles must remain on the same side of the 180 degree line.


If you watch the edit pattern we have discussed in class for when the gymnast makes her jump, you will notice how all the cameras are placed on the side of the run up nearest the centre of the stadium. This is a good example because the 180 degree line is down the middle of the run up to the vault. If we saw the action from a camera set on the other side of the track, it would appear to the viewer that the gymnast was running in the opposite direction - which would be very confusing.

Year 11 - Create a Mood Board

This week, try to create a mood board for your folder. A mood board is a collection of images that all share the mood and genre features of your film poster. They are intended to give a rough idea of the style in which you will be designing your work (or reflect the style you were intending to achieve). They can be arranged how you like - collage, 9 image grid etc. They are simple to do. Take a blank page in Word, turn the page to landscape then google for posters of films in a similar genre to your film poster. Print the result and bring it in for your poster. If you want to get really advanced, upload it to your blog!

A good example of a horror mood board by one of our Y13 students can be found here

Here is a mood board for a 'Teen High' genre film. It is the work of a student called Yasmin from Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge:

Year 11 - Are any of these missing from your folder?

These Are the Features That Appear Across All the Folders

YEAR 11A Media Pre-Production Coursework Folders

Your coursework folders have been checked by myself and Mr. Page. Some have been finished off very well - but not all of them. We have also been able to see what all four Media groups have included in their folders and I will post a list of possible additional contents for you on this site (see below).

We will now keep your actual folder in school and you will receive an A4 comment sheet later this week that will detail what has been included in the folder.

You still have time to improve on what you have now handed in. Although we will not let you take your large folder home now, you may add any of the missing features or add anything from the list of ideas that other groups have included between now and the February half term. The more you include and the better the presentation, the higher your final grade is likely to be.

If you want to improve on the way your work is presented within the actual folder, you will need to do that after school. There is usually a teacher in the Media dept between 3.00pm and 4.00pm most days and Monday is always our 'Media Extra' slot at this time.

Y11 Blogs now on site

Scroll down on the right hand side...

Year 13 - Remember Remember the Criteria

Reminder to all Y 13 that the coursework criteria for your films/videos is posted on posters at the back of my classroom and on the Media Department blog. you must check your plans against this criteria to check you are including everything!