Tuesday, 23 March

Today in Brian's class our pages were converted to PDF format and printed out in full color so that we could make a test version of what will become the complete magazine.

In Taylor's class we were asked to create a theme park based on a country or city of our choosing. My group chose Venice and came up with a few initial ideas for rides.

Tuesday, 16th of March

Today, while some other people finished off their articles, I was asked to create a contents page for the magazine. Because there were going to be some blank pages left in the magazine, we decided to have a page with photos of the class in it; so Brian took us around the campus taking photos of the whole class. I'll upload them on to this blog next week.

Documentary preperations.

Our next project is to make a documentary about Stirling Castle. Each of us has been assigned a different area of the Castle. This means that we all have our individual parts to do research on a then write a script for, as we will all be doing a bit a presenting.

Here is a list of our assigned areas...



Here are some links to information about the Great Hall (my area)

http://www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/home/explore/seeanddo/greathallhighlight.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_Castle

Tuesday, 9th of March

Today in Brian's class we finished off our articles. We did this by taking the text that we had already written and putting it into Scribus. To complete the page we had to include images and have some color schemes incorporated into it as well.

Article for Class Magazine.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

Set in the Wild West of America during the civil war, but filmed in the deserts of Spain in 1966, The Good the Bad and the Ugly tells the story of three very different men with one thing in common, the desire for gold, who are on a quest for buried treasure.

The first is Blondie - the "Good". Played by Clint Eastwood, he is the ultimate hero of the Western genre. Tall dark and silent he speaks only when it is needed and is the fastest gunslinger in the West

The second is Tuco - the "Ugly". Played by Eli Wallach, he is the foul-mouthed, dirty, scheming rogue. Although everything he does is for personal gain, he is the emotional centre of the film, and by the time it is finished he is the character we know most about.

The third is Angel Eyes - the "Bad". Played by Lee Van Cleef, he is the heartless, cunning, almost robotic mercenary who would kill anyone for money.

In the beginning these three characters have seemingly no connection to each other. Until Blondie and Tuco team up for a while to make some easy money by scamming the local authorities, which seems to be going well until Blondie tires of Tuco's company. And so begins the main story of the film. Blondie betrays Tuco and leaves him stranded in the desert with no horse, no weapon and nothing to drink, where, swearing revenge, he slowly makes his way to the nearest town and gun store.

Meanwhile Angel Eyes is on the hunt for a Confederate soldier named Bill Carson who knows the location of a hidden case of treasure, and he is willing to kill anyone who gets in his way.

But then Tuco catches up with Blondie and exacts his revenge. He takes him into the middle of the desert where he taunts and tortures him. Until, just as Blondie seems about to die, a lone stagecoach full of dead and dying Confederate soldiers appears. Bill Carson, one of the soldiers in the wagon, injured and dying of dehydration convinces Tuco to give him some water in exchange for the location of a large amount of hidden gold (the same gold that Angel Eyes is on the hunt for). So Carson gives Tuco the name of the graveyard where the treasure is buried, but begs for water before he will give the name on the grave. But as Tuco leaves Carson alone to get the water, he succumbs to his wounds, but not before giving the name on the grave to Blondie.

This creates another tenuous partnership between Blondie and Tuco. Each needing to keep the other alive so that they can reach the treasure. Tuco has the name and location of the graveyard, and Blondie the name on the headstone. And once Angel Eyes learns of this development, the chase is on for the treasure.

Filmed in typical Sergio Leone style, and widely regarded as his best film, The Good the Bad and The Ugly, is a bleak and epic exploration of greed, morality and the lengths that people will go to for money. With brilliant photography and a classic and instantly recognisable theme by Ennio Morricone, this film is a must-see for all those with a love of cinema.

As the third and final film in Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy, which includes A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad and the Ugly can be viewed completely separate to them, as the only connection between the three films is Clint Eastwood and his character, commonly known as "The Man With No Name".

Thursday, 4th March

Today with John, we were meant to make a short infomercial about our course, but there were no tapes for the cameras, so we couldn't film.

Instead we were given a demonstration of Pro Tools.

With Rob we looked at the difference between Fiction and Non-Fiction. We first had to look at tonight's TV schedule and write down which shows were fiction and Non-Fiction and explain why. We then had to pick three Non-Fiction programs and write about them and describe what makes them Non-Fiction. We were also asked to come up with our own idea for a Non-Fiction program.

Non-Fiction analysis.

The One Show

This is a non-fiction program because it involves real people dealing with real issues. Two presenters and several reporters examine current issues, some serious and some more light-hearted. We know that this is non-fiction because the hosts are not actors, they are trained presenters, but they are not portraying fictional characters. Like a lot of non-fiction or news based programs it is filmed in a studio in front of a live audience.

Link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Ck_i9tJBs

BBC News

Like The One Show, news programs have presenters and reporters and are filmed in studios. But they usually deal with current events, which are generally serious in nature and only sometimes light-hearted. The news is presented in a direct and straightforward manner, the presenter, or Anchor speaks directly to the audience in an informative way. It is not meant to entertain, but to inform.

Link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZr9ztQPNXA

American idol

Unlike the previous two shows, American Idol is not meant to inform. It is simply for entertainment purposes. Like them though, it has a presenter who addresses the audience directly, and is filmed live in a studio with a live audience. Apart from the presenter, the other participants of the program, such as the judges and the contestants are all real people.

Link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MoEsz42fnw

Tuesday, 2nd of March

Today in Brian's class we had another production meeting, this time it was recorded on film, and we finally decided that our magazine would be called M, as well as assigning David and James K to design the masthead (title/logo on the magazine cover) and cover, with David and Jennifer being made chief editors. We also picked a template for each page of the magazine. After that we continued writing our articles. At this point my first one is half finished, and I have yet to start the second, although I should be finishing them both in my own time.

With Taylor we did a sort of quiz in which instead of figuring out the answers you just had to look them up online. And we were told to try and think of a good setting for a themepark, because we will be designing on each next week. I'm not really sure of the details of what it's for, so I'll give more information next week.