Sonia's Television Blog

I almost always choose to review CW The Vampire Diaries, not only because i absolutely love this magnificent show but it has a big variety of interesting camera shots and brilliant sound techniques. One of the most initial aspects of this brilliant series that really stood out to me is the cinematography. Due to it being a supernatural the colour palette that is used within this series is very contrasted and usually dark. Most things that happen on the TV show is death and drama and the lighting is key to represent it all. Of course The Vampire Diaries uses its aesthetic from the novel series that it's based on written my L.J Smith in 1991 , and the show is written and directed by Julie Plec. It's aired mostly in America on CW but appeared also in the UK on ITV, this happened to the popular demand of fans. In order to achieve such mystery and darkness within the show Julie Plec always referred to 'Dracula' of 1950s (Dracula 1958) as she explained how director ...

Evaluation I have improved my project a lot before it was finished, when i filmed my entire film and started to edit my original idea was to make it a 2 minute opening but after seeing my shots and the way i wanted it to play out it made more sense to be a trailer. As we also had a limit to just 2-minutes it was almost impossible for me to create it into a 2-minute opening. I really disliked it at the beginning due to me originally editing it for an opening, after i scraped it all and started fresh i gained my confidence back. I edited the begging and showed it to Simon, he mentioned to me to make my flashbacks as real as possible and to edit them in a way where the audience can feel that it is a flashback.  He loved the none diegetic music in the background of my film and he also gave me some tips to darken my overall atmosphere of the movie due to it being so sad and gloomy.  When focusing on my titles i wanted the beginning to be blurred so we really focus ourselves o...

Planning My Shoot Location I was very excited to start planning and dive into finally shooting my film. For my first project i didn't want to put myself through a lot of locations due to not being sure if i would get permission to film in most of them so i stuck to 2 minor locations, my own Apartment and Chatham Graveyard which were both very accessible. Of course i had to get permission from Kent Film office to film at the graveyard, it took a few days for it to be approved but it really helped for me to get used to this kind of process for further projects i will create. Hannah from the film office was very nice and helped me throughout the shoot.  Casting As for now i did not use any professional actors as my story didn't involve a lot of dialog as most of the visuals expressed the story. I was very happy with two of my friends Lucy Hulatt and Katie Joslin acting in my film as they really represented the characters that i have created. They both did a great job ...

Screenwriting Screenwriting has never been my strongest point. I have always had trouble writing no matter what it is due to me having English as my third language, so i usually mess up not only on the spelling but grammar and sentences themselves. I can't just give up so i knew i had to at least try, and i have! After having my meeting with Steve he gave me a lot of help on how to improve my screenwriting skills not only did i go away and improve those i did some research and talked to some amateur screenwriters. I googled a lot of screenplay templates and practiced a lot to write most of my script that way but i also watched a lot of YouTube videos of screenwriters explaining how they write. Screenwriting is almost the most difficult part of film making, and correcting is even harder. Watching this video really gave me confidence into re-writing my script and also be prepared to write even bigger and longer scripts in the future. This man also gave me the ideas to read newsp...

Drink I was browsing online for some create screenwriters and directors i came across a lady called Emily Moss Wilson who created a short film called 'Drink' , i watched this short movie on YouTube as it is a huge platform for aspiring TV makers. After watching this short movie i did not want it to end, i was hooked and wanted it to carry on. The story starts with a mother driving her two young boys down a what appears a never ending road. They have a few close calls to being caught by the police but make it to a motel in the end. I believe the road was a representation of her life. When they reach he motel where the mother pleas for a room there you see a huge family dynamic, once again i wanted to a review a short film where there is a family dynamic and tension just like in my own movie. Both of the boys constantly argue where the mother always ignores them or she burst out of anger at them either way it is already a damaged family just like in 'Soft'. The main me...

Stew and Punch Since Soft i have really fallen in love with Simon Ellis's work. Another short film that i wanted to review by Ellis is 'Stew and Punch' this short film really expresses and challenges stereotypes. We have these 2 characters that we are introduced with at the beginning we can clearly see they have just moved in and are very romantically tied together, they decide to throw a dinner party for their friends to welcome everyone into their new loving home. Stew and Punch is a short film that challenges social pressures of masculinity. Ultimately it is the ability for anyone to relate to the position of the protagonist finds himself in that makes Stew and Punch the humanistic triumph that it is. We can always see the man staying in the kitchen and cooking the entire feast for the night while the lady goes out to talk and party with her friends.  We are welcomed with the first conflict when Alex welcomes Samantha's best friend in who seems very muscular a...

Soft I was debating if i should review Soft or not but i absolutely think its one of the most amazing short movies ever made. Soft was created by Simon Ellis, and it really inspired me to create a movie about family drama. Soft really expresses the feelings and emotions between a father and son. Within my own film i explore the emotions and feelings between 2 lost sisters, i think this concept is very interesting and dramatic. Soft won the international jury prize in short filmmaking at the Sundance film festival. Simon Ellis really expresses the violence and braveness of all of the characters in the film. Within the film we see the father being a typical working man in a suit coming home to his son, we already start to question if there is a mother involved in the home or not. We instantly think that the father is the main figure in the family, he should protect his son in every-way but we as an audience challenge that thought when the father gets in a fight with a group of teenage...

Julie Plec Julie Plec is one of my favourite screenwriters ever, she wrote and co-produced one of the most popular TV shows on CW 'The Vampire Diaries'. Plec developed The Vampire Diaries which was originally adapted from a novel written by L. J Smith. Plec was the writer, co-developer and executive producer for Vampire Diaries. The TV series is an american supernatural drama based of fictional characters such as Vampires, werewolf's and witches. Julie Plec was always into supernatural creatures and fictional stories, she has also co-produced 'Scream 2/3' and also wrote 'The Tomorrow People' Julie Plec really saw something special in the novel 'The Vampire Diaries' and decided for it to become a TV series. From the day of the 'Pilot' (2009) episode release Vampire Diaries has been going strong and has been creating a big fa n following. Plec writes mostly romance dramas, The Vampire diaries revolves around a girl called Elena who falls in ...

Charlie Brooker Charlie Brooker is a drama TV writer best know for his amazing work for Black Mirror. Brooker mostly wrote all the episodes for Black Mirror in season 1 and 2 but also co wrote with his wife. Brooker felt like a lot of TV shows expressed drama and emotion but he felt as there wasn't enough to show how the world has changed over the past 10 years. While writing Black Mirror he had to always re-read everything just incase something it seemed too real to be true, he did base most of his stories and episodes off reality but did not want that to come through the show. He likes to express dark humour also into Dark Mirror due to him wanting to change television and the audience perspective. Here is a wonderful interview of Charlie Brooker that really encouraged me to watch Black Mirror. I usually like to do a lot of research before getting hooked into a TV Show but after i watched this interview i knew Charlie Brooker was a genius.  Black Mirror is a science fict...

Skins One of my favourite ever British tv shows ever made has to be Skins. It is so relatable to our generation that it instantly hooks everyone on board. Skins is a typical British comedy drama that consists of a large group of rebellious teenagers from Bristol, South West England. It is mostly set throughout their 2 years in sixth form. The storyline explores a lot of issues such as mental illness, abuse, death and mostly bullying. I can really relate to this show as my own project involves a dysfunctional family, and this is also shown within Skins. Each and every episode always decides to focus on one individual character and explains their own story and the struggles they face in their lives. We live now in a generation where a lot of teenagers struggle with these awful problems, and skins really focuses on the resolution. The show was originally created by a father and son Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain and it was for Company Pictures and premiered on E4 on 25th January...

The Bill - Crime Drama Set in a fictional London police station Longest running UK crime drama Ran from 1988-2005 Went from being a series into a police soap opera and then back into a crime drama Editing: Chase scenes, many montages and flashbacks. Single Camera use Camera movement: either handheld or steadicam, dollies and cranes. Lighting- low-key, many crime dramas use dark lighting and contrasts.  Many crime dramas utilise binary opposition: light and dark, good and evil, law and order. But often the investigator has their moral boundaries challenged. Officers and detectives from Sun Hill police station all enforce the law and order every single day. A policeman's job is to be always catching criminals, and in order to do this they have to deal with frustrating members of the annoying public.  From awful thieves and violent people, life is not always easy for the Police Force.

Project Material Overall my initial idea came from TV shows such as (The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars etc.) where siblings have met in a very awkward or unhappy circumstances. Overall it got me thinking and liking the idea of two sisters meeting for the first time for my initial 2-minute video, but for the script i like the idea of the 2 sisters having a feud over their mothers death. I also have read news articles online of siblings and family's finally reuniting after long years of not knowing they exist. One of the most popular TV dramas by the name 'Jeremy Kyle' always has these situations occurring on the show. This is how i really started to develop my idea, i started to wonder if it should be over a family members death or just them being apart for a while. In conclusion it was clearly both but very different in my video and script which i am really happy with. One article really had me interested that i found on BBC news before writing up my pitch a...

Script Surgery After we handed in our draft copies of our first ever screenplays we received great feedback from the amazing script writer himself Steve Coombes. I was pretty confident with the beginning and the middle of my script but not so much the ending, i really needed Steve's help.  When i had my Script surgery with Steve he truly changed my entire script into something magnificent. My original script played with the characters too much in a way where it turned out to make no sense. I had two characters who were sisters and eventually met at their mothers grave. That story didn't have a great impact on the audience so me and Steve thought of this; Beginning Open with a visual of the mothers grave that has not been looked after. A small grave that has not had a lot of money invested in it nor any time and efforts. Chelsea (the unfortunate sister) laying flowers on her mothers grave on the day of her death anniversary with her father.  Middle Nancy (C...

Noone I've been working very hard on this short project. It might only be 1 minute or so but i really wanted to add special effects to make the film seem realistic and professional. Of course there is always room to improve but i feel like this is the best i could do with this, and i am very proud of the outcome! I decided to add a lot of sound effects as this was filmed outside. I wanted the audience to really be in the video with the character, i wanted them to feel that she is in a car park near a forest. I also challenged myself to add motion blur to the video! My cars number plate gave me a reason to challenge myself, i did not want my number plate in this video and taught myself how to motion blur in the process. I've tried my best to make it look as good as possible to blur out the number plate but it could be much better, i have also made the short film look a bit darker than the original clips as i wanted the audience to think that there is danger approaching our ch...

What is a Documentary? They are unscripted They employ real people but they often require a performance element  Typically shot handheld but they do use fixed camera techniques  Does not use formal Hollywood muse en scene.  Using natural lighting and natural locations  Documentary is purest sense is filmed observation . A recording or 'Document' of reality . Primarily for informing rather than escapist entertainment. Term first coined by scottish filmmaker John Grierson. Grierson described documentary as 'The creative treatment of actuality '  Formal Documentary Observational, current affairs, polemic.  Hybrid Documentary Reality, or even scripted reality, drama documentary.  Reconstructing the events of the story. 'Documentary film is traditionally perceived to be the hybrid offspring of a perennial struggle between the forces of objectivity (represented by the 'documents' or facts that underpin it)'  Exposit...

Storyboards Storyboards are used for pre-production. They enable you to use detailed planning of the entire production. Each department such as sound, design, camera all use a storyboard too work out the entire production. Shot description - Taxi Driver - There are a few variants but the following will get the best results.  Medium Shot Wide Shot Close Up Shot Extreme Close up Camera Movement Tilt Shot Crane Shot Over the shoulder shot Make a 1-2 min trailer for Soft - Think about scenes, key moments that sell the story. 

Another small project we got assigned was called 'Crossing The Line' Simon gave us a 1 page script of how to explain the 180 degrees rule in a interesting way. I really have learnt a lot about this rule and how it can really improve the performance of the characters and the surroundings around them. Every time i did an over the shoulder shot i did not cross the line and you could really focus on the main character talking BUT also you can see the other characters reaction. This rule is brilliant and could really improve your work tremendously, the surroundings around my characters were really clear they were sitting around a table explaining to each other how the 180 degree rule works. In future i think i could really improve these shots but using less lighting and maybe filming outside or in a public area to give it more of a realistic feel.   Work in process - I really love using Premier, i am really improving my skills with this editing software. Adding texts an...

Wide shot – Conveys sense of place and context. Can also convey characters’ relationship to surroundings or social relationship to other characters as an ‘Establishing shot’ Medium Shot – Focuses viewers’ attention on one or more principal characters. Commonly used for dialogue scenes as ‘Two Shot’. Close Up – Conveys intimacy and emotion. Often used for interior monologues/voiceover or speaking directly into the camera. Extreme Close Up – Conveys heightened emotion (Fear, Suspense, Desire) dramatic tension or a reveal. Rule of Third – Subject placed at aesthetic intersect. High Angle Shot – Danishes character or subject in frame, emphasising vulnerability or isolation. Low Angle Shot – Emphasises character or subject dominance in frame. Dutch/Tilt angle – Disorienting crates psychological tension. Expressionism – Angle shots are a common feature of expressionism, particularly the classic German Expressionist films of the 1920s-30s. It presents...