Learner Response i

WWW: Firstly, I’m impressed with how much you’ve managed to complete considering you’ve missed over a week of school – that’s a brilliant sign of commitment and independent working (crucial at A Level). The work you’ve done is very solid too – consistent use of media language (usually highlighted) which is vital to all written Media work. You’ve picked out some key aspects of the film posters and lighting stills and I really like the clips you’ve chosen for mise-en-scene. For film noir, your research is accurate and from a very reputable source but one of my EBIs will be to always write up research in your own words and also credit the source with a name or link.

EBI: You still need a bit more work to get fully up-to-date – the sound video and then following sound tasks. Let’s discuss these in the lesson on Monday and agree a realistic timescale to have everything complete. In terms of your work, keep an eye on your written English as it’s crucial you are communicating accurately at all times (you’ve confused there/their in a couple of places). Look over the lighting stills analysis as there is one example of high key lighting that you’ve picked out as low-key (the king top lit from above). For the Skyfall analysis, I think you could actually make a lot more of the mise-en-scene in terms of placing it as a Bond film – the exotic location (Istanbul I think?), the multiple fast-moving vehicles, the tuxedo etc. These offer a lot more than enigma – this is the Bond brand and exactly what audiences expect. Finally, your film noir research is largely (or entirely?) copied and pasted. We obviously expect research to come from the web but credit the website you used, use quotes if you’re copying it directly and always write up notes in your own words (you’re much more likely to remember the information if you do this too).

LR: Firstly, make sure you catch up with the missing work and discuss a realistic deadline with me. Then, for your LR, reflect on your first month of Film Language. What is your strongest piece of work so far? What is your weakest? What specific skills or knowledge do you need to develop over the rest of the course?