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MDA1400: Campaign Film

Our 3rd assignment for MDA1400 was to create a campaign video between 30 seconds and 2 minutes in length. We got to choose our own partners for this project, so I contacted Jess about working together over a week before our first workshop with Eddie and she agreed to work with me. Jess came up with the idea of a body image campaign and after talking about it and watching some previous works for this issue, we decided to stick with it. I am the producer and Jess is the director.

Jess researched some existing companies who already have anti-eating disorder websites and helplines, as well as statistics of the highest ages affected by eating disorders.

For example:

Hospital Admissions: 3,800 people under 18 were admitted in the last 4 years. Cases over the 4 years increased by almost 10%. 270 boys and 163 girls under 10 included.

The UK has the highest rates of ED’s and self-harm in Europe.

http://www.anorexiabulimiacare.org.uk

  17% of children felt they could talk to a doctor/nurse

9% of children felt they could talk to someone at school

1% of children felt they could talk to their parents

http://www.b-eat.co.uk

  1.6 million people affected across the UK

1 in every 10 hospital admissions was a 15 year old girl (June 2011-June 2012)

Highest number of admissions: 5.8 per 100,000 (North East England)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19908688

  June 2011-June 2012: 2,290 admission across England. 55% of those aged between 10-19.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/as-eating-disorders-are-on-the-rise-its-important-to-remember-that-theres-more-to-it-than-anorexia-8207526.html

  Types of ED’s: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, atypical.

Complications:

Emotional: anxiety, depression, other mood related disorders

Social: self esteem, body image disturbance, relationship difficulties

Physical: muscoskeletal, endocrine, cardiovascular, etc.

https://www.evidence.nhs.uk

  (A study of 1,200 10-17 year olds around the world)

72% of girls felt ‘tremendous pressure’ to be beautiful

11% of girls felt they could comfortably use the word ‘beautiful’ about themselves

http://www.dove.us/social-mission/campaign-for-real-beauty.aspx

  We have also looked into the pro-anorexia blogs that people run; anonymous people online are promoting eating disorders and giving teenage girls tips on how to develop their eating disorder. On ‘Tumblr’ there is a search bar and when someone tries to search any word associated with eating disorders (e.g. ‘thin’) a warning appears on-screen; there needs to be more of this on the internet to prevent teenagers from searching for these websites.

At our production meeting with Eddie, I was the only one allowed to talk because I was the producer and Jess would only have been allowed to talk if I got all the answer right, but I didn't. I was underprepared and did not bring any paperwork. I felt really bad for letting my partner down like that. After the meeting we discussed the changes we would have to make to the audience, aim, and message.

An overview of the campaign video project:

  What are you presenting?

  Our campaign film is to advise teenage girls to speak out, and to push forward body image positivity. This campaign film is to inform teenage girls that it is acceptable to speak up if they are worried, or feel pressured to look different in any way.

  How did you approach the campaign?

  I researched the issue of body image and looked at videos previously made about body image and issues similar to this.

  What were your aims for the film and did you achieve them?

  Our main aim for this film was to get the girls who have body confidence issues to talk to people they know.

  What was the key message for the film and did you get it right?

  Our key message was “Don’t be afraid to talk”. I think the message of our campaign is clear and simple. Even though it is not so simple to talk about this for the girls who are experiencing body confidence issues, I think our film gives the gentle push that the girls need to start talking, because we are only asking them to speak to the people they trust.

  Who was your target audience? How do you intend to reach them? Why should they watch your video?

  The audience for this campaign film are teenage girls aged 15-18; all of the girls used in my film are aged 15, 16, 17, and 18.

We have posted our video on Jess’s blog and so far it has gotten 51 ‘notes’, which means 51 people have shared our video onto their blogs; the view count on YouTube is currently 460+.

Teenage girls should watch our video as it is a simple film with a simple message; there is nothing confusing or overwhelming, there is no particular company that is asking teens to talk to them or to visit a website. In this case, we are simply asking girls to find someone they feel comfortable enough to talk to, and not to keep all their issues and worries about body image inside.

Campaign paperwork:

Call Sheet – Campaign

Campaign Script

Risk Assessment – Campaign

Campaign – Time Schedule

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Anti anorexia

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Beauty Pressure

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"Don’t Be Afraid To Talk" - Body Image Campaign Film Directed & Edited by Jess Pardoe & Produced by Andrija Petkeviciute

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The Oscars Diversity Problem In Infographic Form (It’s Really Bad)

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List of films that I saw throughout the first year

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht [Cinema BFI Southbank]

Ghostwatch [mdx]

The Naked Kiss

We Are the Best! [Cinema Odeon West End 2]

The Naked Kiss [mdx]

Psycho [mdx]

Philomena [Cinema Odeon Leicester Square]

The Night of the Hunter [mdx]

Sleepy Hollow [mdx]

Chungking Express [mdx]

Legend of Apollo [4D Science Museum]

A Matter of Life and Death [mdx]

56 Up – Episode 1 [1, 1] [mdx]

Mary Poppins

We're the Millers

Imagine Me & You

Butter

Winter’s Bone

Silver Linings Playbook

The Sweet Hereafter [mdx]

Battleship Potemkin [mdx]

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire [Cinema Odeon Swiss Cottage 1 IMAX]

Admission

Drinking Buddies

Stagecoach [mdx]

A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies

The Guilt Trip

Killing Kennedy

Parkland

The Cove

To Be a Woman

Night Mail

Triumph of the Will

Winged Migration

Creating the Music for Winged Migration

Following

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

Black Ice

Slumdog Millionaire [mdx]

Gimme Shelter (1970)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

2001: A Space Odyssey

Notorious (1946)

A Colour Box

Tusalava

Un Chien Andalou

Meshes of the Afternoon

Steamboat Bill, Jr.

Blow-Up

The Circle

Citizen Kane

Jingle All the Way [HomeBuddies]

Gone with the Wind

Rear Window

Night and Fog

Vertigo [mdx] [didn’t see the end because of the fire alarm]

The Role of a Lifetime [Tate Modern]

Kaip pavogti žmoną [Cinema]

Tooth Fairy

Paskutiniai Brėmeno muzikantai

Larry Crowne

Gnomeo and Juliet

What to Expect When You're Expecting

Captain Phillips

Don Jon

Blue Jasmine

Blue Jasmine

I Am Sam

Blue Jasmine

4 Little Girls [mdx]

Rome, Open City [mdx]

Dallas Buyers Club

Bachelorette

Girl Most Likely

Grizzly Man [mdx]

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [mdx]

Gravity [Cinema BFI IMAX 3D]

Capturing the Friedmans [mdx]

Breathless [mdx]

Concussion

Silkwood

Thor: The Dark World

The Monuments Men [Cinema Odeon Leicester Square]

La Jetée [mdx]

Camp Takota

The Making of Camp Takota

In the Mood for Love [mdx]

Jessica Lange: On Her Own Terms

12 Years a Slave

Camp Takota

Nebraska

American Hustle

Bridesmaids

Saving Mr. Banks

The Wolf of Wall Street [Empire Cinema screen 9]

Rashomon [mdx kind of]

Gabbeh [mdx]

The Bread and Alley [mdx]

Last Year at Marienbad

Nanook of the North

Vivre Sa Vie [mdx]

The War Game [mdx]

Scum (1977) [mdx]

Timecode [mdx]

Moolaadé [mdx]

Dirty Laundry [mdx]

Waterlollies [mdx]

The Time Machine [mdx]

Daisies [mdx]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier [Cinema Vue 3D]

Dumplings [mdx]

The Muppets

Noah [Cinema BFI IMAX]

I will keep updating this until the end of the first year.

[andrijamdx]

MDA1700

Week 3 Mise-en-scene – composition

In the seminar we watched the first 44 shots from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” and had to discuss its mise-en-scene.

  Week 4 Cinematography – time, space, narrative

Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994)

From Roger Ebert’s review of “Chungking Express”: “What happens to the character is not really the point; the movie is about their journeys, not their destinations.”

    Week 5

“56 Up” [Seven Up!]

The Up Series is a series of documentary films produced by Granada Television that have followed the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old. I found this one very interesting and I wish that I could do something like this myself. It is always interesting to look back and see how much you have changed and how different things were when you were younger.

Week 7 Editing

Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein, 1925)

One of the most celebrated scenes in “Battleship Potemkin” is the massacre of civilians on the Odessa Steps. This scene has been described as one of the most influential in the history of cinema, because it introduced concepts of film editing and montage to cinema.

In the seminar we learned about soviet montage and that time and space is not important in this type of editing. Soviet montage is more about the idea and is more abstract.

Some terminology from the seminar:

Shot transitions: cut, fade in & out, dissolves, wipes, iris in & out.

Cross cutting (also known as parallel editing) – when two events are happening at the same time

Flashbacks, flash forwards – to determine chronology

Close-ups, establishing shots, etc – to determine space

Shot reverse shots and eye-line matches – to determine points of view

  Week 8 Sound and Image

Cathy Come Home

Sound can complement the image or it can complicate it.

In the seminar we watched Al Jolson sing “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face” in “The Jazz Singer” and an extract from the first British sound film, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Blackmail”.

   Subjective sound – when it doesn’t go with the image.

  Week 9 Documentary

"Creative treatment of actuality" – John Grierson’s definition of what is documentary.

In seminar we watched Jill Craige’s “To Be a Woman” (1951) and a documentary about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway mail train from London to Scotland “Night Mail” (1936).

“Nanook of the North” (Flaherty, 1922)

How is this film a documentary or how is it not?

It looks like it’s a documentary but because most of the things were staged and scripted, it’s not? Well, but a lot of documentaries are like that. There are so many different opinions and explanations about that ‘documentary’ is, that I don’t know how can I judge if this is a documentary or not.

Even before reading the comments on YouTube, articles about the movie and information provided on Wikipedia, I saw that some of the scenes couldn’t have possibly been filmed in those conditions. I guess all of that would have been fine if the film stated true facts, but look at this: “Flaherty also exaggerated the peril to Inuit hunters with his claim, often repeated, that Allakariallak had died of starvation two years after the film was completed, whereas in fact he died at home, likely of tuberculosis.”

So I don’t really know is it still considered a documentary or is it not. I think I could answer this better next year because I chose the documentary module, which hopefully will finally explain to me what exactly a documentary film is.

    Week 10 Experimental films – making meaning, unconscious desires

The Singing Detective; The Trip

   What we watched in the seminar:

Len Lye’s “A Colour Box” (1935)

Len Lye’s “Tusalava” (1929)

Luis Buñuel and artist Salvador Dalí’s “Un Chien Andalou” (1929)

Maya Deren’s “Meshes of the Afternoon” (1943)

Week 11 Tate Modern

Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)

Paintings of Salvador Dali in Tate Modern:

“Metamorphosis of Narcissus�� 1937

Naked men and women, a dog or puma or something is eating a piece of flesh, cracked eggs held in hands, ants on the hand, blue skies, canyons, water, a flower (narcissus) is growing out of the egg. Some parts are painted to be disturbing, but the whole painting is beautiful.

“Mountain Lake” 1938

Much darker than “Metamorphosis of Narcissus”, dark sky [it looks quite different in the picture here than in real life], mountains, again water and reflection on it, disconnected phone, snails crawling up the pole and the phone. Is that suppose to be a human figure?

“Autumnal Cannibalism” 1936

A couple with their faces connected together. Seems like the skin is peeling off of the woman’s face and ants (again) are crawling out of it. They’re both holding silverware, like they’re eating each other. Sky in this one is like dirty bright blue (if that makes sense). Mountains (again). The woman seems to be on a plate and the man is in a box. There’s food around them.

That was how I described the painting for myself in my notebook so I would remember later on.

1. Can you see any similarities between any on Dali’s paintings here and un chien andelou?

I feel like “Metamorphosis of Narcissus” resembles the film in a way that both could disturb the viewer. In the painting we see naked people, an animal eating flesh, a lot of different things that would look like it all doesn’t make much sense when put together. Also, both have ants on a hand

2. Apart from Dali's paintings, pick out two other art works that have made an impression on you. How have they engaged your interest and curiosity? How do they convey meaning? How are ideas communicated in these surrealist works?

“A Mi-Voix” by Dorithea Tanning 1958

I think it caught my attention due to its colours. From a far it may look like it’s just shades of grey, but when you come closer, you can see pink and yellow, even orange and maybe blue. I like things that appear dark but also bright. That probably doesn’t make sense, but it does for me. The painting is not clear on what it shows. I think different people could see different things. What I think I see in this is two woman maybe sitting by a table or looking at a fountain. At the same time I see human bones: the spine and hips and those bones look like the table and the fountain that I imagine. I’m not sure what meaning this painting conveys.

“The Invisibles” (Les Transparents) by Yves Tanguy 1951

Again, the painting looks (at first glance), like it’s just shades of grey and blue but up close – pink and yellow colours are visible. I think mostly these colour schemes are what brings my attention to these art pieces. It looks like the painting shows mechanical metal pieces but also (little) human forms. I see people working, constructing something up high in the sky. The sky looks as though a storm is approaching. It’s grey with blue, yellow and pink.

Not sure about the meaning either, maybe it shows people working in factories, their dangerous work?

“Azure Day” (La Journee Bleue) by Yves Tanguy 1937

When I chose this, I didn’t realize that it’s by the same artist as “The Invisibles”. I guess I just like the strange forms that he paints. Again it’s mostly grey and black with a shade of blue at the top, but this one has more colours. The strange figures are blue, pink, green, sort of yellow, purple. I like how forms are clear in the front and it looks as though maybe there’s a fog behind them because we can’t see what’s further in the back of the painting. The foreground in “Azure Day” is occupied by grouped and piled forms that defy rational explanation. 

3. In addition, think about Hitchcock's “Vertigo” that was screened on Tuesday. Do you find that the film has any association with what you looked at in the exhibition?

I think there are associations because there were some strange and colourful parts where it looked like hallucinations or something like that and other strange things that could be associated with surrealism.

I really enjoyed coming to Tate Modern, I haven’t been here before, but I’m sure that I will come back here a lot whenever I can.

  Week 13 Italian neo-realism

Rome, Open City (Rossellini, 1958)

Italian Neo-realism is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class, filmed on location, frequently using non-professional actors. Italian Neorealist films mostly contend with the difficult economic and moral conditions of Italian post–World War II, representing changes in the Italian psyche and conditions of everyday life, including poverty, oppression, injustice and desperation. “Rome, Open City” is considered the start of Italian neo-realism.

We also watched an extract from “Bicycle Theves” and I really need to watch the whole film because, and I’m going off topic, this is apparently Jennifer Morrison’s favourite movie.

What is the relationship between art and politics? Is there one?

There is always a relationship between art and politics, I think. Like, if you want people to care about something, get a famous celebrity to talk about it and support it. That always brings attention to the issue. Why do you think politicians get celebrities to spend time with them or promote them before, let’s say, presidential elections? To get votes. And this is only one of the examples.

  Week 14 German Expressionism

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920)

After watching this film in the seminar, we got some questions, and this is what I write down.

Describe the set design – Unreal, looked like a doll house. Walls looked wonky. Everything looked like a stage play, even plants were fake.

Purpose of such set design? – To emphasize the imagination. To make it look unreal maybe. The character that tells the story imagined everything, so that’s the purpose, I guess.

Realist aspects of the film – The end was realistic. The people in the asylum.

Non-realist aspect of the film – The scenery, the words appearing in the air that Dr. Caligari sees.

Compare German expressionism (Dr. Caligari – made in 1920)

This film had a clear story…

With surrealism (Un chien andalou – made in 1929)

...and this did not.

  Week 15 French New Wave

Breathless (Godard, 1960)

French New Wave is a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s. Truffaut, with “The 400 Blows” (1959) and Godard, with “Breathless” (1960) had unexpected international successes, both critical and financial, that turned the world's attention to the activities of the New Wave and enabled the movement to flourish. Part of their technique was to portray characters not readily labeled as protagonists in the classic sense of audience identification.

French New Wave's significance:

Independence from studio system

Disavowal of the Tradition of Quality, literary adaptations and theatrical influences

As a social phenomenon – constructing a youth culture and a film culture

I haven’t watched “The 400 Blows” yet, but I plan on doing that very soon.

  Week 16 French New Wave – Left Bank filmmakers

 “La Jetee” (Marker, 1962).

French New Wave associated with:

Notion of film culture

Looked at film differently (as an art form in its own right)

Rise of the author

Film as personal expression

Emphasis on film form

Context of, and ideas explored in, Left Bank filmmaking:

World War II

Trauma, memory

Psychology, interiority

Film as personal expression; used to explore the world

Mistrust of history and external truths

Foregrounding of film form

Movement-image, time-image (Deleuze)

Three questions about “La Jetee”:

What is unusual or special about the film?

It’s special because it uses still images and no moving pictures.

What is the film about?

The film is about how Germans did experiments on French people after the supposedly won the World War II after bombarding Paris. It’s science fiction, has time traveling in it.

How does it reflect on film form?

It’s interesting and unusual even for these times.

 “Last Year in Marienbad” (Resnais, 1961)

The film was quite confusing. It seemed like it might have been a dream, but I’m not exactly sure whose it was. It seemed at times like it was all just the main guy’s (Giorgio Albertazzi) imagination and nothing with that woman (Delphine Seyrig) really happened because she kept saying that he’s insane and that she doesn’t remember anything.

It could have been just a story, imagined by the guy (Sacha Pitoëff) who I understood was portrayed as the woman’s husband or boyfriend, so nothing was exactly clear to me.

The film itself is beautifully shot and the sound of the main guy’s voice fascinates throughout the film.

So to some it may look like a love story between the man and the woman, a holiday “fling” even. To others, maybe a story of a man who was insane and obsessed with the woman. I think each person could give a different version of what they thought the film was about. I for one am yet not sure what exactly it was all about.

  Week 17 Chinese Melodrama / Hong Kong New Wave

In the Mood for Love (Wong, 2000)

The film was really beautiful. The way that is was shot and all the costumes, especially the dresses worn by Maggie Cheung. I enjoyed the music in the beginning a lot, but when it started playing again and again, it became quite annoying.

Melodrama is characterised by:

Heightened emotions

Sentimentality

Romance / love story

Catering to female audiences (but not necessarily)

Characters facing certain social pressures

Requiring some sacrifices, endurance, hardship

  Week 19 Writing film criticism

What are the criteria to apply?

Expectations – Genres, Stars, Directors

Met

Modified

Rejected

A film's themes and structure

How does the film use visual and sound details to organise information flow?

Use of repetitions and difference

Motifs – details that take on significance through repetition

Lines of dialogue

gestures

costumes

locations

props

music

colour

composition

Parallels – comparison of two characters, events, or locations through narrative, visual or sound detail

Deconstructing structure

Compare beginning and end

Locate turning points (in narrative, tone, character)

Discerning repetition and difference

Creating Meaning (beyond diegesis)

Historical references and Cultural attitudes (whether references are of the past, in fantasy, as

metaphors)

Uses of stars and public figures as references for something

Intertextual references (to another film or art works)

Writing Criticism involves:

Description – making statements about a film's themes and meanings; plot summaries

Interpretation – presents arguments about a film's meanings and significance

Evaluation – deciding if a film is good, bad, mediocre (which must be backed up by discussion and analysis)

  Week 20 New Iranian Cinema

Gabbeh (Makhmalbaf, 1996)

  In the seminar we watched “The Bread and Alley” (1970) by Abbas Kiarostami

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MDA1300

On October 22nd our group for the 2nd Assignment went to record some sound samples for the hospital and night run scenes. Here’s what we presented:

https://vimeo.com/77518574

The next day we had a “Sound workshop” and we got feedback on our sound recordings. After that we got information about our 3rd assignment, which was to film the hospital and night run scenes. I got the role of the storyboard artist. That same day we also had a tech workshop that introduced us to Final Cut Pro 7.

On October 30th we had a workshop on “Continuity editing “rules””.

Our work for the 3rd assignment did not go smooth and we had quite a lot of problems. I only received the script the day before shooting and it was not what the whole group had decided on, so I sort of became the director for the hospital scene and drew the storyboard consulting with our producer Jess Pardoe. Shooting everything the next day went okay. The day after that I, Fred Iyeh [co-director, storyboard artist and actor for the night run scene] and Mantas Beginskas [editor] went to edit the scenes. Things went quite well in there. Here are both scenes:

https://vimeo.com/78688907

On November 6th we got the feedback on our assignment and it was not very good. But we weren’t expecting anything other than that really. The hospital scene passed, but the night run didn’t. We learned a lot for the feedback. That day we also had a workshop on “3 point lighting” and received information for our 4th assignment, which was to recreate a scene from a film. We were put into groups and I got the role of the director of photography [DOP].

After a few days we decided to do a diner scene from “Silver Linings Playbook”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFb6BtSUqdU

The shooting went well and even though my hand was numb from holding the camera for almost 2 hours, I loved it. I also found the songs that were used in that scene. Here’s our work:

https://vimeo.com/79819620

On November 20th we got the feedback and of course it wasn’t perfect but our group did good and it was better than the last time. We also had “Producer workshop” that day and we learned what about what producer and director are responsible for. Then we got information about our 5th assignment – the final project for this module.

When I finally got into a group and we decided on what we were going to do, I took the role of the DOP.

On November 27th we had a “Director workshop” and discussed what director does and is in charge of. Then we each drew a floor plan and a storyboard for a script that we were given. After that we chose one and filmed as much as we could. I was in charge of sound and held the boom mic. It’s not as easy as it may look.

On December 3rd we had a tech workshop on Pro Tools. The next day, because of a strike that our university was a part of, we had a shorter workshop than usual and it was on “Location sound recording”.

While working on our final project we encountered quite a lot of problems but the production meeting helped us and eventually we worked everything out. We had most troubles with location and we didn’t have one almost till the shooting day. Then I stepped in and offered the house I live in now as a possible location and even though it wasn’t perfect and there’s not much space, we decided to shoot it there. The shooting went okay and I can’t wait to see the final version.

[andrijamdx]

This appeared on my tumblr dashboard and I thought I could share it on here.

New York Film Academy’s study of gender inequality in the film industry.

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October 18th – This day was full of events and I started it with waiting by the red carpet of “Drinking Buddies”. There I met and got autographs of director and screenwriter Joe Swanberg and actress Anna Kendrick. After a while the Accenture Gala took place with the film “12 Years a Slave”. All the interviews happened not by the cinema so we had to wait for quite a while for people to start showing up. I met and got autographs of the film’s director Steve McQueen, actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and director Tom Hooper. I also saw actresses Lily Cole and Lupita Nyong'o. After that I heard that the screening of a film “Locke” was taking place at the Odeon West End so I went there and got an autograph of Tom Hardy. It was quite hard to get it, but thankfully I’m tall and have long arms so I got it.

On October 20th it was time for the Closing Gala of the BFI London Film Festival with the film “Saving Mr. Banks” and of course, I was there. The red carpet was decorated with cherry blossom trees to resemble the “Mary Poppins” premiere that took place on August 27th in 1964 and it looked beautiful. I met and got autographs of screenwriter Kelly Marcel, director John Lee Hancock, actors Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell and singer Lily Allen. Also saw actors Tom Hardy and Ruth Wilson and, again, director Tom Hooper.

[andrijamdx]

I didn't write for such a long time, that I can no longer remember every detail of what I did in the past 23 days. I don’t even know what to write about and how to do it because so many things happened and this post would probably be five pages long if I went into every detail of every day. I’ll try to keep this as short as possible, I think, but we’ll see what happens [as usual].

So back on the 15th of October my day started with watching one of the most famous film of Alfred Hitchcock – “Psycho”.

I haven’t seen it before, so I was very excited to finally watch it and apparently it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. You know, the most famous scene is of the actress Janet Leigh screaming in the shower and I basically didn’t know anything else about the movie. I liked it and it surprised me in a good way.

After that I went to Leicester Square but on my way there I stopped at Camden Town because I had to film something interesting with the JVC HM100 camera for the MDA1300 module assignment. There I found this homeless girl whose name is Taylor and I filmed a little around her but I didn’t use those clips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXEWKAwRdJ0&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCWcFrRpuCg&feature=youtu.be

The clip I used was of a guy playing the Jew’s harp.

https://vimeo.com/76995893

When I finally got to Leicester Square I started waiting for the Centrepiece Gala screening of “Inside Llewyn Davis”. [I filmed a little there too, click for the clip] On the red carpet I saw the directors of the film the Coen Brothers, Ethan and Joel, and the lead actor Oscar Isaac. I also met and got autographs of actors Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Xavier Samuel, Emily Browning and Imogen Poots, and an English filmmaker Ken Loach.

The next day in the MDA1300 module we watched our clips and then started working in a group on our next assignment which involved two scenes: hospital and night jogging. I took the role of the storyboard artist.

A bit later I once again went to Leicester Square and my first stop was by the Odeon West End where the film “Don Jon” was chosen for this year’s Laugh Gala. I saw the film director and lead actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the red carpet and also met a youtuber Alfie Deyes [PointlessBlog] and got his autograph. Right after that I went to wait by the Odeon Leicester Square for the American Express Gala and the European premiere of “Philomena”. I met and got autographs of actors Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Finty Williams and Sean Mahon, BBC News presenter Sophie Raworth, the real life Philomena Lee and the director of “Philomena” Stephen Frears [he’s one of my favourite directors, by the way]. I of course also saw Dame Judi Dench. After everyone went inside, I was just standing by the barricade with my posters of the two films and a man came to where I and a few other women were and asked us if we wanted two tickets to the film and when other women said no, I took them. When he gave me the tickets, the girl that was next to me asked me if I could give one ticket to her friend and of course I did because I was there by myself. Before the film there was a short introduction, as usual, and I filmed a part of it but I did it with my little Maginon SZ 10 camera, so the quality is not very good and at the same time I was taking pictures with my Pentax K-r camera so the clip is very shaky. [click for the clip] The film was amazing. We laughed and then we cried and at the end we gave it a standing ovation. I feel like I should write more about the movie, but I think that the last sentence describes it perfectly.

On the 17th my waiting again started by the Odeon West End. Festival Gala and the European premiere of “The Invisible Woman” was first. I got autographs of the director and lead actor Ralph Fiennes, actor Tom Hollander, composer Ilan Eshkeri and I also saw actress Joanna Scanlan. Later was the screening of “Kill Your Darlings”. I saw the director and screenwriter John Krokidas and got autographs of actors Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan and Jack Huston.

I think it’ll be enough for this time and hopefully I’ll make myself write more in the next few days.

[andrijamdx]

I don't even know where to start! I just want to express all of my FEELS [you will probably encounter many of the tumblr terms, that have grown into my blood, on the blog, I apologize in advance] but this has to be a kind of formal portrayal of my days at the university and other things that are related to my course.

So, let's go back to yesterday. It was around 7:30 PM when I finally got to the Odeon West End cinema and stood in the cold waiting for people who contributed in the making of "The Zero Theorem". I stood right behind the "BFI Player" people so I saw everything that the cameraman did and watching him work was very interesting. One of the things that I love the most about going to these premieres is seeing what's happening behind the scenes of all the interviews and the red carpet.

That evening I met and got autographs from Lily Cole, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Gwendoline Christie and of course the director Terry Gilliam who appeared to be in a very fun mood. He also jokingly called the London Film Festival the "Tom Hanks Festival" which I thought was quite funny. I also saw actress Noomi Repace walking alongside Lily Cole on the red carpet.

The nest premiere was of a Swedish movie "We Are the Best!" which was a part of the Sonic Gala. I wasn't actually planning on staying for it, but it happened right after and in the same cinema so I decided to stay. I met and got autographs from actresses Liv LeMoyne and Mira Barkhammar, and the director and screenwriter Lukas Moodysson.

When there were just a few minutes left till the start of the film and I was about to head back home, I walked past a man who was offering a ticked to the movie but I politely declined his offer because I don't have that much money to go and see movies that are part of the galas. I stopped by the cinema and after a moment the man came back and said "Even if it's for free?". He explained that his wife was in a hospital and that the money will just go to waste if nobody takes the ticket. Well I think you can guess what my answer was. I went to see the movie which would have costed me £20 and I greatly enjoyed it. I really liked the film and I would recommend it to everyone.

When I came back home at around 00:40 AM, one of the most anticipated parts of the week began - watching the new episode of my favourite TV show "Once Upon a Time" and reacting to it with other members of the fandom. But that's not for this blog...

In the MDA 1800 module today we watched Samuel Fuller's drama "The Naked Kiss". I already watched it on Saturday and I really liked the film both times. I think one of the main reasons was the lead actress Constance Towers. I would also like to quote the script, which I think describes Constance quite well: "her features are extraordinarily flawless". Other thing I'd like to mention is that the song "Little Children (Mon enfant)" has not stopped playing in my head since Saturday, but I'm not complaining.

After the seminar I rushed to Leicester Square, once again, to get there in time for the premiere of "Labor Day" which is a part of of the May Fair Hotel Gala. I met and got autographs from actors Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, and the director and screenwriter of the film Jason Reitman.

And now I will let myself have a fangirl moment for the end of this post. KATE WINSLET TOUCHED ME! I'm so happy I can't stop smiling!

[andrijamdx]

I know I should be writing things like "I watched this film and I noticed this and it made me feel like this" and so on, but Sandra Bullock said "Hi" to me tonight and now I'm in this bubble of excitement and tears of joy!

But the beginning of today was early, calm and cold. This morning was my first Film Language and Production workshop and I was very thrilled and pleased by it because we got to know how the JVC HM100 camera works and even tried it out ourselves. I love learning about the equipment and how to work with it.

Later today was MDA1700 module with a very interesting seminar from Peter Thomas. I even got a little excited about writing for the university and bear in mind that I almost never get excited for writing assignments.

After the seminar was over, I rushed to get on a bus towards the underground station to get to Leicester Square in time for the American Airlines Gala and the premiere of "Gravity". Even though it was considerably late when I got there, at about 6 PM, I still got a pretty good spot and awaited the arrival of the people involved with the film. Upon the arrival of Sandra Bullock, people started shouting for her to come over and sign their pictures, but she quickly calmed us down by promising to come back to us later and she kept her promise. Before she came to us, I got to meet the director, screenwriter and producer of the film Alfonso Cuarón and producer David Heyman. They both were very kind and I got their autographs. When Sandra finally came by us, she signed my BFI London Film Festival program and all I could manage to say was "Hi" to which she simply replied with a "Hi" of her own. It might seem silly to some people, but it meant a lot to me. I think it was very nice of her to go through all the people that were waiting by the cinema even though she was only wearing a short black dress and must have been freezing.

This evening ended even better because I made two friends after the event tonight and happily traveled back home. Score!

[andrijamdx]

My first post will be an attempt to write about the last three days, which were full of surprises. First of all, Monday was my official start at the university (the beginning of lectures, seminars and screenings) and I never could have thought that I would be watching and analyzing "Breaking Bad" as part of my university course. It was a very pleasant surprise and I am already planning on watching the rest of the show.

After my Storytelling and the Screen module seminar I explored the university and you can tell that I enjoyed it by the fact that I left only after 8:30 PM.

On Tuesday we had a screening of "Ghostwatch" for the Communicating in Film and Television module. I have to admit, I was quite confused through the whole film because I did not understand if it was meant to be funny or dramatic... Either way I was a bit irritated and I do not know if I should say this, but it is my honest opinion.

Today was a very excited day, I even woke up at 7 AM, which though it was normal back home, here I consider it to be quite early. I did not have any classes at the university so I went to the center of London for the Student Day at Cass Art London because discounts and free stuff is beginning to be a must check out on my list. After that it was nice to explore the antiques and even find some old working cameras that I was so tempted to purchase but my mind reminded me that I do not understand how those things work quite so well yet.

Afterwards I went straight to Leicester Square to get in line for a good spot at the opening night gala of the BFI London Film Festival and the European premiere of "Captain Phillips". It was freezing cold but I believe it was worth it. I saw the film director Paul Greengrass and the lead actor Tom Hanks, got autographs from actors David Morrissey, Dexter Fletcher and Rita Wilson, and saw other impressive filmmakers like Tom Hooper and Tom Ford.

The evening ended with a smile on my face and a new friend. Success.