The Ultimate Christmas Movie

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I've never seen 'It's a Wonderful Life' before, but now that I have I can really see why it's a lot of peoples favorite film ever. Completely plays with your emotions.. proof that a good original story teamed with some brilliant actors can make a really good film.

Scene analysis

Currently working on analyzing a scene for Brendans class, but I'm having trouble deciding which one, really want to do this scene from Drive but I'm worried I'm making life difficult for myself! It's just such a good example of modern film making

Language in media texts

I'm starting to go through my media theory assignment and structure it properly, I've decided to use as many of the texts for as many of the questions as possible, then hopefully I will be able to see what the strongest arguments are and cut out the weaker ones. The problem is, certain questions (language, structure) are far easier to talk about then others, I must try and equally answer each of the questions if I'm aiming for distinction. I must admit it has been easy learning more about Thatcher and the riots.. Hopefully I will do the articles justice.

Dreamweaver and web design

Just been learning the basics in web design today, making my ideas flow for when I design my site.. This screenshot is from the site I've created in this lesson, advertising London. I just used the London theme so I could create a basic looking site that ties together, obviously I wouldn't normally put all these different objects on the homepage, but it was just so I could play about a bit. I need to start sketching up some ideas of my layout.

Beyonces Visual Album

I don't need anymore reasons to love Beyonce, but I really liked the way her new album was released.
There was no marketing prior to the release it was just a social media announcement that it had come, with 14 songs and 17 music videos. You can see clips of all the videos on youtube. Apparently she has already sold record amounts in just 3 days, which just proves the power of the social media, it's  impressive. I think the fact so much effort was put into the videos also shows how music is becoming more visual, videos are now expected with a song release. Video releases as part of the album release is definitely the way of the future.

Auteur study, further decisions

After ditching the idea of studying Francis Ford Coppola, moving swiftly onto Quentin Tarrantino and then feeling like he would be to easy to do.. I am again stuck choosing between two directors. David Fincher and the Coen Brothers.
I've come up with a couple of different aspects to look in to:

The Coen Brothers
- the obscure
- use of the same actors
- botched crime, a crooked criminal - obsession with film noir
- an average joe who gets involved in a big scheme that is too much for them, something goes wrong with the plan and chaos spirals
- the effect of money on people, negative
- violence death and murder
- distinctive, american settings - malice in familiar settings
- greed and corruption

David Fincher
- a master of form, shot angles and filming techniques
- visual style, dark and gothic - flashy
- working with Brad Pitt
- Life theme, teaches a life lesson
- Downbeat endings
- Title sequences that set the tone for the film

I'm really stuck as to what to choose, I'm drawn to Fincher because he is undoubtedly an Auteur and has a brilliant visual style, but also drawn to the Coens just because it's far more light hearted! I am going to see what articles I can find on both and will probably end up doing the one I can create the best catalogue for. 

John Lewis Christmas Advert.. Memories

I keep seeing the new John Lewis Christmas advert, and all though I love it (it's become a bit of a Christmas tradition!), it just can't get better then last years. It quite literally fills me with emotion every time I watch it, such brilliant advertising.

Behind the Scenes: the Old Spice adverts

I absolutely loved watching this video and seeing the interesting way they create the old spice adverts, sometimes it is nice to see that everything isn't CGI, it reminds me of the way Michel Gondry does his effects.