so week 4 came and went very quickly and soon our blogs will be up for marking :S
well... in the lecture we learnt some interesting history of the cinema.
we began with...
1895 Birth of cinema. they were a collection of twenty, one minute "actions"
20 shows a day were screened and every single one sold out because people had never seen moving images on screen before.
1906 First feature length 'narrative' film which was approximately 60 to 70mins long. The movie was "Ned Kelly - the story of the Kelly gang" made in Australia. 4 years after Australia released the first narrative film Europe followed.
1927 First time dialogue was recorded and played along side moving picture, this was known as 'talkies'.
1929 First all colour movie "on with the show" was released. Recorded and presented in colour.
1933 the first drive in theatre was built
1937 Disney released 'snow white' which was the first full lenght, all colour, singing and animated movie.
1939 Television was released at the New York trade fair.
1952 3D was introduced
1955 Hollywood started selling back catalogues of movies so people could watch movies on tv.
1956 Ampex made the first VCR but it wasn't available for the public to purchase.
1959 Percepto vision "the tingler"
1963 Ampex released consumer VCR which was valued at $30,000. This was also the year of the birth of multiplex theatres or theatres with more than 2 screens. We also saw the birth of 'blockbuster movies'.
1967 Sony introduced VCR and also the portapack so you could walk around and recorded footage and play it back later on.
1972 Pay tv was introduced into America
1985 the first blockbuster shop was opened
1986 Pixar produced the first full lenght CGI film 'luxo junior'
1995 Pixar made the movie 'toy story'
1997 DVD videos were first released
* between 1972 and 1997 internet was released*
2001 Internet films were created
BMW hired the best made short films - 8 short films of 10mins each known as 'the driver' starring Clive Owen.
So that pretty much wraps up the first section of the blog... stay tuned for next week
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Scavenger hunt
Week four tutorial tasks... Savenger hunt.
1- What is the height of the world's largest tree? and how long did it take to grow?
Hyperion (a coast Redwood in California) standing 115.5m tall was named the worlds largest living tree in 2006.
http://purpleslinky.com/trivia/science/worlds-tallest-and-largest-trees/ (accessed 20th August 2009)
2- What is the best way to contact Madonna?
You can contact Madonna through her Facebook page listed below
http://www.facebook.com/madonna (accessed 20th August 2009)
3- What is the age of the oldest ever captive elephant? is this age older than in the wild?
Grandpa Lin Wang, the worlds oldest Asian elephant in captivity died in Taipei yesterday. He was 86 years old. This is compared to the average life expectancy for elephants in the wild being 45 years.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/2003/02/27/35337/Oldest-Asian.htm (accessed 20th August 2009)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98129620 (Accessed 20th August 2009)
4- How would you define the world 'Glycomics'? In your own words what does it mean? What does the term 'seagull manager' refer to?
The definition of Glycomics is considered: The systematic study of the structure and function of the complete set of glycans (the glycome) produced in a single organism and identification of all the genes that encode glycoproteins. In general terms this means the study of sugars in molecules inside an organism (living thing)
The term seagull manager refers to "A manager who only interacts with employees to criticize their work or when a problem arises".
http://www.find-health-articles.com/msh-glycomics.htm (accessed 20th August 2009)
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Seagull+Management (accessed 20th August 2009)
5- What was David Cronenberg's most recent film?
Cronenberg's most recent feature, Spider (2002),
http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/cronenberg.html (accessed 20th August 2009)
6- When was the original 'Hackers' released?
The movie 'Hackers' was first released in 1995 directed by Ian Softley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers_(movie) (accessed 20th August 2009)
7- Why do phone numbers in Hollywood start with '555'?
the answer lies 30 years ago with the use of exchange names as part of the telephone number was still popular in the USA. Dials had letters as well as numbers and the first 3 letters of the exchange name were dialled followed by numbers. An example might be CENtral 78978. You dialled CEN 78978 or, using all numbers, 236 78978.
http://www.telephonecollecting.org/code.htm (Accessed 20th August 2009)
8- What is the cheapest travel from Gold Coast to Cairns?
A flight through jetstar will cost $109 dollars
http://book.jetstar.com/Select.aspx (accessed 20th August 2009)
9- What song was top of the Australian pop charts this week in 1970?
up around the bend/run through the jungle by Creedance Clearwater Revival.
http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1970/1970.html (accessed 20th August 2009)
10- Which Birsbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and Vocals?
the Punk band, Black Assassins is the Brisbane band with Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~toxicoh/blackas.htm (accessed 20th August 2009)
1- What is the height of the world's largest tree? and how long did it take to grow?
Hyperion (a coast Redwood in California) standing 115.5m tall was named the worlds largest living tree in 2006.
http://purpleslinky.com/trivia/science/worlds-tallest-and-largest-trees/ (accessed 20th August 2009)
2- What is the best way to contact Madonna?
You can contact Madonna through her Facebook page listed below
http://www.facebook.com/madonna (accessed 20th August 2009)
3- What is the age of the oldest ever captive elephant? is this age older than in the wild?
Grandpa Lin Wang, the worlds oldest Asian elephant in captivity died in Taipei yesterday. He was 86 years old. This is compared to the average life expectancy for elephants in the wild being 45 years.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/2003/02/27/35337/Oldest-Asian.htm (accessed 20th August 2009)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98129620 (Accessed 20th August 2009)
4- How would you define the world 'Glycomics'? In your own words what does it mean? What does the term 'seagull manager' refer to?
The definition of Glycomics is considered: The systematic study of the structure and function of the complete set of glycans (the glycome) produced in a single organism and identification of all the genes that encode glycoproteins. In general terms this means the study of sugars in molecules inside an organism (living thing)
The term seagull manager refers to "A manager who only interacts with employees to criticize their work or when a problem arises".
http://www.find-health-articles.com/msh-glycomics.htm (accessed 20th August 2009)
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Seagull+Management (accessed 20th August 2009)
5- What was David Cronenberg's most recent film?
Cronenberg's most recent feature, Spider (2002),
http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/cronenberg.html (accessed 20th August 2009)
6- When was the original 'Hackers' released?
The movie 'Hackers' was first released in 1995 directed by Ian Softley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers_(movie) (accessed 20th August 2009)
7- Why do phone numbers in Hollywood start with '555'?
the answer lies 30 years ago with the use of exchange names as part of the telephone number was still popular in the USA. Dials had letters as well as numbers and the first 3 letters of the exchange name were dialled followed by numbers. An example might be CENtral 78978. You dialled CEN 78978 or, using all numbers, 236 78978.
It so happened that 5 on the dial corresponded with J K and L and you can’t make any English place names using any combination of J, K and L as the first 3 letters. So the 555 code was allocated to service levels such as Directory Assistance, Operator, Repair Service, etc.
Due to the "low fill" of the 555 code, Hollywood was encouraged to quote 555 numbers in their productions to prevent real subscribers being harassed by members of the public trying out the numbers quoted on the screen.
http://www.telephonecollecting.org/code.htm (Accessed 20th August 2009)
8- What is the cheapest travel from Gold Coast to Cairns?
A flight through jetstar will cost $109 dollars
http://book.jetstar.com/Select.aspx (accessed 20th August 2009)
9- What song was top of the Australian pop charts this week in 1970?
up around the bend/run through the jungle by Creedance Clearwater Revival.
http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1970/1970.html (accessed 20th August 2009)
10- Which Birsbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and Vocals?
the Punk band, Black Assassins is the Brisbane band with Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~toxicoh/blackas.htm (accessed 20th August 2009)
Monday, August 17, 2009
Cinderella Story
This has got to be one of the most amazing chick flicks of all times...
A Cinderella Story (starring Chad Michael Murray and Hilary Duff) is a movie perfect to display the "shots as words" material learnt in week 3.
The 'where' is answered virtually the second the film begins. The movie starts with an establishing shot of 'North Valley', where the main characters live. It utilises a pan shot moving the camera from left to right to give the viewer a greater picture of the setting.
The movie jumps to a close up of 8year old Sam Montgomery (Hilary Duff) in what appears to be a practice cage for baseball (this aspect becomes clearer with the next shot). This close up demonstrates the 'who' aspect in the movie.
The 'what' becomes clearer by following on from the 'who', the shot displays to the audience a young Sam playing baseball with her dad.
As time is a difficult aspect to capture on screen, this shot is not so specific. The only evidence we have of time is a wide shot early on in the beginning showing the sun setting in the distance. Apart from this we as viewers are very unaware of what the actual time is.
The movie flashes to a big close up of Sam showing the eyes and nose demonstrating the 'why' shot. This shot is harder to decipher as the movie begins 7 years earlier and then jumps to the present day once Sam's dad dies.
A Cinderella Story (starring Chad Michael Murray and Hilary Duff) is a movie perfect to display the "shots as words" material learnt in week 3.
The 'where' is answered virtually the second the film begins. The movie starts with an establishing shot of 'North Valley', where the main characters live. It utilises a pan shot moving the camera from left to right to give the viewer a greater picture of the setting.
The movie jumps to a close up of 8year old Sam Montgomery (Hilary Duff) in what appears to be a practice cage for baseball (this aspect becomes clearer with the next shot). This close up demonstrates the 'who' aspect in the movie.
The 'what' becomes clearer by following on from the 'who', the shot displays to the audience a young Sam playing baseball with her dad.
As time is a difficult aspect to capture on screen, this shot is not so specific. The only evidence we have of time is a wide shot early on in the beginning showing the sun setting in the distance. Apart from this we as viewers are very unaware of what the actual time is.
The movie flashes to a big close up of Sam showing the eyes and nose demonstrating the 'why' shot. This shot is harder to decipher as the movie begins 7 years earlier and then jumps to the present day once Sam's dad dies.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
'language of the screen' - shot variation/ shot sizes
so during the lecture we learnt about various shot sizes and compositions...
during tutorials we had the chance to delve a little deeper into what shot sizes are
so... let us begin.
the 'wide shot': in the wide shot, the subject takes up the full frame. In this case, th
e girls feet are almost at the bottom of the frame, and her head is almost at the top.
the 'mid shot': the mid shot shows some part
of the subject in more detail, whilst showing enough for the audience to feel as if they were looking at the whole subject. In fact, this is an approximation of how you would see a person "in the flesh" if you were having a real conversation.
the 'medium close up': the medium close up is half way between a mid shot and a close up. This shot shows the face more clearly, without getting uncomfortably close.
the 'extreme close up': the extreme close up gets right in and shows extreme detail. You would normally need a specific reason to get this close. It is too close to show general reactions or emotion except in very dramatic scenes.
to find more information on various shots and shot sizes visit mediacollege
here we can see examples of all the most commonly used shots and shot sizes.
LANGUAGE OF THE SCREEN
So week 3...
'Rule of thirds' is considered the basic principle of breaking an imagine down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. an example can be seen in the picture above
We learnt about 'language of the screen' and what it meant to us as viewers.
We discussed the various shots that are used within cinema work.
These include:
VLS/WS: very long shot, wide shot
LS: long shot
MLS: Medium long shot
MS: medium shot
MCU: medium close up
CU: close up
BCU: big close up
ECU: extreme close up
We then progressed onto shots as words...
WHO: the close up answers the question of 'who' by showing our character in detail.
WHAT: the mid shot answers the 'what' question by showing your subject performing an action.
WHERE: the long shot is our answer to the 'where' question, at the beginning of a scene it is also known as the establishing shot.
WHEN: both the wide shot and the close up can help us answer the 'where' question. Time can be a difficult thing to capture on the screen.
WHY: the big close up can help answer the 'why' question, usually by revealing more about a character and their actions.
HOW: a single medium close up or a series of close ups can explain an event and answer the 'how' question.
by this stage of the lecture we were becoming more clear with analysing how images can be more than just pictures... how they can literally 'speak' to us, simply as we watch t.v and movies.
but no shot will be quite complete unless the 'rule of thirds' is utilised, especially when it comes to talking room and head space.
'Rule of thirds' is considered the basic principle of breaking an imagine down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. an example can be seen in the picture above
When considering a shot... you need to remember... EVERY SHOT NEEDS TO MAKE A STATEMENT. Every shot needs to move the narrative forward.
stay tuned for more info on language of the screen...
History of Computing and Internet
So as you can see by now week two's lecture was surrounded by learning the history of computers and also the internet.
The computer was first released by IBM in the early 1950's and then the first PC was released in 1975
Xerox parc developed an invention known as the mouse in the early 1970's
The first apple computer sold for $666 .
These are just a few main points learnt from the lecture more information can be sourced from both the history of computing timeline and also the internet history timeline.
stay tuned for week 3... LANGUAGE OF THE SCREEN
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
History of the internet
The Internet has a vast history... dating back to as early as 1962.
Computer History Museum
Internet timeline:
1960's
The concept of the internet was developed by the RAND corporation. During this time a group of US scientist were working on a system known as "packet system" which is essentially breaking down of messages and sending them from one computer to another.
Computer History Museum
Internet timeline:
1960's
The concept of the internet was developed by the RAND corporation. During this time a group of US scientist were working on a system known as "packet system" which is essentially breaking down of messages and sending them from one computer to another.
1969
The first node is connected to the internet's military ancestor, ARPANET.
1973
The University Colledge of London is one of the first international connect.
1986
Internet newsgroups are formed. Rick Adams at the centre for Seismic Studies releases software enabling news transmission, posting and reading using standard internet connection.
1988
The first internet worm is unleashed by Robert Morris. It infects about 6000 computers, clogging up the internet.
1994
Internet Magazine launches. It reports on London's first cybercafe and reviews 100 websites. Also Jerry and David's guide to the world wide web is remained YAHOO
1995
Ebay is launched, enabling people to use the internet to make purchases.
1998
Google arrives. It pioneer a ranking system that uses links to asses a website's popularity.
2004
As broadband becomes more popular, media companies begin to sell music and videos online. Napster launches as a paid music download store. Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook at Harvard University
2005
The internet starts to threaten television and telephone companies. Youtube is launched which enables people launch videos online.
2006
Twitter is created
All info is sourced from website
Monday, August 10, 2009
The history of computing and the internet
So in week 2 we looked at the history of the internet and computing,
A HISTORY OF THE COMPUTER
Computers have their beginnings back in pre-history, starting with the abacus. Have a look!
note that all the side heading (i.e electronics) provide links for further information
info sourced from: website
The timeline you can see is only a very brief history of computing a more in depth history can be viewed at the computer history museum
thats it for the history of computing...
stay tuned for the history of the internet!!!!!
A HISTORY OF THE COMPUTER
Computers have their beginnings back in pre-history, starting with the abacus. Have a look!
 Abacus - c. 3000 B.C. | | |
 |  | |
 Transistors - 1947 | ||
|  | |
 Doug Engelbart - 1968 | ||
|  | |
 Apple II - 1977 | ||
|  | |
 IBM PC - 1981 | ||
|  | |
 World Wide Web - 1991 |
note that all the side heading (i.e electronics) provide links for further information
info sourced from: website
The timeline you can see is only a very brief history of computing a more in depth history can be viewed at the computer history museum
thats it for the history of computing...
stay tuned for the history of the internet!!!!!
edited pictures
BEFORE __________________________________________ AFTER
BEFORE ___________________________________________ AFTER
BEFORE __________________________________________ AFTER
BEFORE___________________________________________ AFTER
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Convergence
convergence:
Four examples:
the Iphone has the capabilites of internet, phone. ipod and various others
iphone website
The Nintendo Wii is not only a game console, but also an internet browser and social networking tool
Nintendo wii website
'People Powered Mp3 Player'
it’s far more sophisticated than first look. Give your idle hands something to do by rolling this gadget on any surface, which charges it up. Other than its unusual power source, the RollOn is like any other functioning mp3 player.
website
USB heated travel mug
This is no orginary travel mug... plug it into any usb port or 12 volt auto adapter on the go and instant heat.
website
"Convergence is the process by which mediums such as TV, cellular networks and internet-based applications are draw together or networked."
Website (definition obtained from) Source: motive glossary
Four examples:
the Iphone has the capabilites of internet, phone. ipod and various others
iphone website
The Nintendo Wii is not only a game console, but also an internet browser and social networking tool
Nintendo wii website
'People Powered Mp3 Player'
it’s far more sophisticated than first look. Give your idle hands something to do by rolling this gadget on any surface, which charges it up. Other than its unusual power source, the RollOn is like any other functioning mp3 player.
website
USB heated travel mugThis is no orginary travel mug... plug it into any usb port or 12 volt auto adapter on the go and instant heat.
website
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