COMPLETING FUTURELEARN DIGITAL STORYTELLING COURSE WEEK 3

I have been completing the third week of my FutureLearn film course on Digital Storytelling in association with the University of Birmingham. Since completing research on the Scandi Noir Genre I have been becoming more familiar with the genre and have been trying to watch texts of the genre such as film trailers, films, television trailers and television series. I have trying to interconnect and tie in my research and 'knowledge' of the Scandinavian Noir genre with my film course especially when being asked questions about what audiences' want and what makes a storyline special.

I have also started 2 History courses on FutureLearn, both on World War One focussing on the changing faces of heroism in association with the University of Leeds and the after effects of the war (trauma and memory) in association with the Open University.

I will be updating my Twitter account, located on the right hand side of my blog, with updates on my FutureLearn Media courses and History courses.

Getting involved in the discursive element of the course really interests me as I can share my views and answers to questions with people across the globe completing the same course as me; therefore they probably share the same interests as me. This is incredibly useful as through discussion new ideas can be made.

I am documenting my FutureLearn film course on my Twitter feed on the right hand side of my blog roll --> or HERE is a link to my Twitter page. I update my feed with information relating to the course every time I complete a step or week of my course. Once I have completed my course I will be able to buy a certificate of completion; I have previously completed a FutureLearn film course last year and bought a certificate of completion as well.

This week I focussed on responsibility of the filmmaker including negative portrayal of people on Channel 4 television show Benefits Street in which filmmakers appeared to presenting all residents of the street as receiving benefits rather than a minority, filmmaking techniques such as framework, sound and lighting and how to go about an interview without making the interviewee feel interrogated but informed.

Below is an example of an exercise I completed on the portrayal of residents of Benefit Street.

Example of an exercise I completed after I watched an exemplar video - I answered this is the discussion below

HERE is a link to a blog post about the Quadrant System - I also touched upon this shot in this weeks course when looking at film making techniques in relation to framework.  

Below is a video I used as part of my inspiration, as explained above in my blog post, to possibly use a match-on-action shot in my film trailer.

 

I also looked at the responsibilities of a director and the importance of their 'vision'.

Transcript of interview with Louise Lockwood 

I also watched a video on a variety of filming techniques using a smart phone including an iPhone. I thought this would prove as incredibly useful as I am already using my iPhone to record videos at the planning, research,  construction and editing stages of making my film trailer. By taking advantage and making use of the tips explained in the video I watched it will allow me to record professional footage both for my blog but also for my film trailer if recorded on a smart phone at stages. 

Transcript for a video on film techniques on a smart phone I watched

Below are some examples of answers I have answered in the discursive section of the weeks course - the question/task is above the answer I wrote in the discussion part of the course page: