Lego Land...

So i haven't been well lately hence the reason for missing so many blog updates.. but this week I am on the mend hopefully and today actually interested me a lot! Firstly because I come to realize that growing up i had everything in the world apart from a Lego set!!! Not saying that I wanted one, because i never did, but It made me wonder whether there was a reason behind me not wanting one?

Besides that i also learned that Lego can actually be taken seriously in a form of play and by doing the different excercises we did today: 1. Create a tower with a figure on top
                                      2. Adapt that too how that would represent you as part of a team
                                      3. Design what you think a team should be like
                                      4. Design how all the final models fit together

I found that it help me look at Lego as a way of creating different ways to accomplish different things whether that be by myself or in a group!

One Shot?...Five Shots!

18/10/2011: In Digital Media Tools today we had to come up with five images which would basically tell a story! I worked with my friends Amy & Ceri and we decided that it would be good to use the props around us.. We came up with the idea of someone being hungry and wanting a chocolate bar from the vending machine, therefore going to the vending machine and getting the chocolate they desire and eventually eating it happily! Although this is a very simple step by step time-line of events it really fitted well, when we looked through the pictures, and told the story quite clearly (plus i wanted some choccie and that was one way of getting it). I think with more time and preparation, a deeper more interesting story could be developed just using five shots! 

People on the move...

Again blogging weeks later but here goes...

17/10/2011: We got give our first filming assignment which was at first a bit nerve wrenching but then i realized that doing the story board  we had previously done has actually given me a lot of insight into how to make a story come to life, whether it be through picture or video! At first the group sat down and straight away we came up with this idea of having a 'Bad Day', we could follow a character who from the minute he/she wakes up has a really awful day. Coming up with a list of ideas of the bad things that could follow throughout the day such as; waking up late, putting your clothes on inside out etc.

Obviously it's been a few weeks now and although we have not yet started the filming progress we have fully formed our idea... Keeping with the 'Bad Day' theme we decided there needed to be some sort of  reason to why the person is having this terrible day, this gave us the incentive to use the obvious 'bad luck' scenario. So it starts by a mirror being smashed.

Staying in the same group has been good, we all work well together and get along too which is a bonus! I believe are short film will be brilliant once complete, and i am looking forward to getting into the process of it...To find out what happens you will indeed have to watch it :)

Wet Paint

So im blogging LATE as per... well not that late but im going to be talking in past tense about yesterday!... We had to bring in articles (relating to the media) now i wasnt to sure what we where going to do with them but i brought one in anyway and found out. We were going to seperate ourselfs into groups juding on our articles content sooooo it could have been T.V or Cinema, however i placed under Issues.
I brought an article in which wasnt clearly relating to the media, however it WAS an issue!.. It was about job losses etc.. and i found it interesting because if things like that are happening now does this mean things are going to get worse? I mean its scary when your in full time education working hard for a degree to get told your going to be on the doul once youve finished it! Anyway staying in the issues category i got given another article, which was about a teen blogger, i actually found it quite fascinating to read because at the age of 12 she was blogging about fashion and making a name for herself! Now she's a mini entrepener launching her own online magazine! This made me think of the sucess that could come from blogging... and this is media interaction! In our groups we had to sort of link are articles together in a way, and use wetpaint.com to thread all of our articles, ventalaiting what we thought about different subjects. I havent really got the hang of this wet paint thing just yet but i kind of see where it is going and im sure when i re-visit it ill be able to crack it... practice makes perfect and i suppose god does love a trier!

...Speaking of triers, trying to use that photoshop is like me trying to score a goal! USELESS! ... I Mean its times like these i wish i was one of then vain teenagers who photoshop every inch of their profile pic on facey. I suppose ive just got to be patient with it, i picked a photograph of one of Gaudis buildings which i took during the time i got standed in barcelona (i think i want to keep a theme runing with this barca thing haha!) i wanted to bring out the main part of the bulding which stupidly is kind of in the way of trees :( .. I wanted to mover the trees! but apparently thats for photoshop pros...(not me then). So i decided to sort of highlight the bit i wanted to bring out, using the lighting (neverrr) .. oh and i think i pressed a button which give the sky and some other parts like a sketchy look so yeah i 'photoshopped' a photograph...Here it is!

Things & Journeys...

So this post is a day late but you'll get used to that.. i must say i am a very organised person (most of the time) and i remember to do everything! ... whether it get's done on time that is a different story!

Good job i date all of my notes! -4/10/2011.... Today in media issues we had to bring in an object that meant something to us, or had some kind of story behind it (i remembered!). My object was a train ticket to Barcelona from when i was staying in Salou, the story behind it?.... Well i will tell you! cutting a verrrrrry long story short (because people on my course must be sick of it by now) i went to Salou for a nice relaxing five day break before my exams, when we all decided to go to Barcelona for the day, which is not that far on the train! Spending the day in 'Barca' was lovely, untill the moment i decided to ask what time the last train was whilst sitting enjoying a posh meal with the last of our days money, and to nobodys suprise none of us new the exact departure of the train hence why everyone of us pulled out out blackberrys and although vowing not to use the internet whilst abroad it was a must to ensure we got back in time....Thankfully we found what time it was too leave....

The time then was 9.30... the last train was 9.45 and we were a half hour walk away from the station, however were a 10 minute drive, could we make it? Obviously NOT! .. after lashing the bill at the waiter, jumping in two taxi's and near leaving my friend behind  we got to the station were the trains status on screen was -ready to depart- ... We jumped the barrier, we really thought there was a chance we could make that train! Anyway due to missing the train we walked round Barcelona in circles for five hours trying to find a 24 hour bus... No luck!

It was one of the worst night's of my life!.. However everytime i look back at the little ticket of that trip, i laugh because as much as i was hungry, cold, tired, and irritaited i shared a once in a lifetime experience with my bestest friends!... I mean come on, how many people do you know who have been stranded in Barcelona!

After we had discussed all our storys we decided to link them to travel, as whether it be a journey to a place, a journey to sleep or a career journey they were out 'Things' where all related to 'Journeys' we had taken or were going to take!... Then we got creative and used Prezi.com to present are objects individualy aswell as linking them together! We took picutures of ourselves with the objects and incorporated our photographs into prezi, giving little information on the story behind our object.

To be honest with you i think we approaced our presentation in quite a creative way, we used one of the templates as it just so coincidently related to the Journeys we had all linked to our objects.. and we used different angles to make it spin when it zoomed in which i thought quite effective!.. The only thing i would of liked to include in our 'PREZI', after seeing other presentations, is music and also some effects on the pictures. I thought this looked really effective on the others and made a real impact, especially the music if the song related to the theme!

After me going on about it if your really interested in viewing my PREZI here is the URL: hhtp://prezi.com/n4yeqznhy3py/objects/            ... I hope you enjoy it! 

....Oh and by the way Prezi.com get's top marks from me when it comes to the style of presentation, depedning on how you want to present i think it is definately something i will be returning to use!!

Choosing Media!?

My Name is Rio, and i have recently embarked on a three year Media professional course. I have started this course having not studied Media as a whole subject before, maybe briefly coming across it in English throughout my time at secondry school.. however i did take A-levels in Theatre studies, English Language/Literature and Texstiles which i believe are subjects you have to have great creativity in. My past consists mostly off Dance & Drama, competeting in dance competitions since i was 2 and acting on stages including the bluecoat theatre, however i was also very interested in the running off these productions, i thought it interestting to understand how a show could be put together. Which brings me on to the world of fashion, i love watching catwalk shows and seeing the latest collections and how not only the clothes but the whole production has been put together, which is something that can now be done with digital media through online catwalks. I like watching these shows when designers put them on their sites or bloggs as you get to see what is up and coming before it hits the shops...which is always a plus!

I was introudcued to it at a very young age as my parents have friends who run CREAM which is an old nightclub that now only holds events but also has the biggest dance festival in the UK so i have always been interested in the media. From the age of about six i have wanted to be a television/radio broadcaster therefore i decided to take it upon myself to get into the world of broadcasting. For about a year now i have been producing at KCC Live, which is a radio station located in Knowsley for the community, there i do voice overs which broadcast for the range of shows and promotions they have on the station. I am also preparing to produce my own show, i dont really know what the show will consist of as off yet but im thinking about a show that can relate to people with a range age of like 16-20, i would like to share my intrests with people and also just get people chatting and make them want to hear more off me on the station. What do i want to get out of this course?.. well i would really like to gain more knowledge in the media, i belive i have alot more to learn about how the industry works! I have experience in editing, but i would say it was very basic so my main aspect is to become and editing pro as i believe that could be my first challenge - hopefully! ....aswell as gaining this knowledge i also want to be able to contribute to the course and share any ideas i have for certain things with everyone....