Interview with David Dein

Interviewers: AS students Sneha and Kanaiya

Interview: David Dein from MissPatelMedia

Up coming events

There are three events coming up which would be suited to Y13 students as they are based around music videos. Y12, the first one could be a good one for you to go to as well.

Monday 21st November
A friend of mine, Reece Proctor, will be one of the speakers. He's made music videos for Nadia Rose and recently won a MOBO award. FREE, but book your tickets in advance. 
http://thelinkup.com/link-up-tv-presents-directors-cut-at-the-bfi-southbank/

Thursday 24th November
Free, but you must book. I recommend you go with a parent/guardian due to the location and time of the event.
http://girlsinfilm.net/events/gif-social-7-beyond-music-video

Thursday 1st December
You need to pay for this one, but it's after you've done your Media exam, so treat yourself!
http://www.bugvideos.co.uk/home/bug-53.go

Film Review: Sanjay's Super Team (2014)

Update: Rushi's review made it to review of the week on the Into Film website. Well done!

Reviewed by Rushi (8T)

An action short animated film created by an amazing company named Pixar. This story starts off with a young boy, named Sanjay, stuck between his love of superhero characters and his father’s religious traditions. One day he disturbs his father’s prayers by putting the TV on too loud so his dad switches the TV off and makes Sanjay sit with him. Magically Sanjay is transported to a cosmic temple in another world where he must bond with three Hindi gods to beat the evil Ravana.

Sanjay's Super Team feels like a true story that many Asian people might go through because it is based on some of the things that the director, Sanjay Patel, went through as a child. It was really different to see Asian culture and its religion in a Pixar film as this is not something that has been done before. It was great to see Hinduism and its Gods shown in a positive fun way and might help young western children understand their parents traditions and their own culture better.

I would recommend this film to my friends just for its title! Will Sanjay ever make a connection with his dad’s traditions and his own culture?

Film Review: The Present (2014)

Reviewed by Ethan (8T)

The present is a short animated film and it is 7 minutes. This film is based on a boy who is addicted to gaming and his mum is worried about him because he is not active and does go outdoors enough. Due to this, one day his mum buys him a dog. At the beginning the boy doesn’t like the dog because that was not the dog that he wanted because the dog had one of his legs missing. Will the dog and the boy ever become good mates?

Overall I think this film has a good message as it teaches you to never judge people by how they look. All of us should be happy how god made us. This story explains a lot about our lives and tell us to give people/things a chance even if you don’t think you will like it because they can surprise you.

Film Review: Piper (2016)

Reviewed by Vansh (8T)

Piper is an animated short film. It was directed by Alan Barillaro and it is made by Pixar and Walt Disney films. It was shown in cinemas before Finding Dory.

In the beginning Piper is facing problems to get food as it is a small sandpiper. Piper is scared of the waves coming from the sea as she had a bad experience once before. Someday Piper will have to go sea to collect food or she will not survive. If Piper gives up she will starve to death. Will she be able to get over her fears?

The film has a lot of moral values like: never give up and try and try until you succeed. It is about resilience! I think the film was inspiring and I would recommend it to my friends.

Sneak peak: 

BFI Trip: An Introduction to the Film Industry

On November 2nd 2016, our AS Media Studies class went on a trip to the very renown BFI in Southbank, Central London. The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television. From the minute we entered, we were blown away by how modern and civilised the building looked on the outside and the inside. We had the opportunity to go inside to be welcomed by their very large screens and comfortable seats. We were first introduced to Rob Miller who talked us through what would happen in the day and with about 300 other students from different schools, we went through very interesting sessions:

• Independent vs. Mainstream Film
• Production Industry Overview
• Distribution and Marketing
• Exhibition

Alongside, we also participated in interactive Q&As with people who were very respected in their field. These were Camille Gatin (Film Producer), Gareth Lowrie (Director of Marketing for Universal Pictures), and Rob Kenny (Director of Operations at Curzon). As well as learning interesting case studies which would help us for our AS exams, we were also able to learn more about some of the wide range of career choices linked with Media and Communications.

Kanaiya

Student talent spotted

This is why I am always telling you to create and upload your practical work. You never know who will come across it. Read this article about a media student who ended up being contacted by people offering him media jobs whilst he is still an A Level student. Good luck to him!

Viewers fooled by student's John Lewis Christmas ad

PPAP and two step flow

Surely you've seen this already? I know it's silly but I found it very amusing and incredibly catchy. So have over 70 million other people...well that's how many times it has been viewed. A lot of people think it's stupid. Each to their own, but it has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the shortest song to get into the American Billboard Chart. Not bad for a video that cost £78.50. Can you make something for no money that is just as funny/silly? You could become a sensation! 

The power of social media. Justin Bieber's (I know some of you are fans!) tweet boosted the amount of views of this video. Just look at the number of likes and retweets! Two-step flow in action right there. This audience theory was first coined by Paul Lazarsfeld et at. (1944) which suggests that texts within the mass media are picked up on by 'opinion leaders,' in this case Bieber, which is then filtered through to those of who follow them. Look at the date this theory was coined! Twitter, or even the Internet, had not been invented yet, but this is something that has been happening for a long time. The Internet has just made it a lot more common place.

Things to think about:
Are there people you admire or look up to that influence you? 
Are you aware that it is happening? 
How much do you question what they have said? 

How a 'Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen' earworm took over the internet