Greetings to the reader in Kuwait!

You may have noticed that down at the bottom right hand side of this page there's a map of the world. It's produced by a great company called ClustrMaps who offer a rather interesting service. 

Every time someone visits my blog their IP address (the numerical version of a web address, which looks something like 104.23.776.54) is noted by ClustrMaps' software, which records where in the world it originated; and keeps a note of that geographical information. This data is updated once a day and plotted on the world map. Using this I can see where my readers are based.

So, it's with some surprise and delight that I've discovered I have a reader in Kuwait (plus one in Taiwan too). This is fantastic, and is a great advert for the global reach of the Web.

I must confess to being very curious about my reader in Kuwait. Do they teach Media Studies there? Would they like to? So, now that I know you're out there, I hope you don't mind me being nosey and asking you to get in touch. It would be marvellous to find out how you found my blog and what parts of it are of interest to you.  

You can mail me directly at svanstraten@mac.com or leave me a comment.

Either way, I hope you're enjoying my postings, and I trust you will continue to do so in the future.

Take care, 

Sacha

Filming for effect

As my various Year 12 Media Studies groups get stuck into planning the opening two minutes of a film that they must plan, shoot and edit, it seemed an opportune moment to reflect on what makes for a powerful cinematic viewing, when time is tight, money non-existent and resources more limited that one might like.

Quite often, the simplest ideas are the ones that bear the greatest fruit. That means thinking carefully about mise-en-scene - lighting, location, costume, framing and so on - and how to maximise what strengths are available. 

I was reminded of this as I read about a film by the first time director Lance Hammer, who's spent several years self-funding, writing, directing and then editing his feature length debut, Ballast.

Although Hammer shot on 35mm film, he did so using hand held cameras, and then edited the movie over two years using a Mac, Final Cut Pro, Color, and DVD Studio Pro. We have all of the hardware and software in school that Lance himself used. So, from that point of view, taking on board how he made the film, and the lessons that he learnt, are relevant.

First though, here's a link to the trailer for Ballast:

There's a great article about how Hammer did it on the Apple website.

You can read it here.

There are many stories and examples of people bucking the Hollywood system and following their own dream. The example of how Ballast got made is the latest in a long line of guerrilla film makers, such as Robert Rodriguez.

His seminal book, Rebel without a Crew, became a must-have guide about how to transform the obstacles of film making into advantages. It's worth a read.

Anyway, all being well, I'll have some work in progress to review and show early in the new year. For now, it's planning, planning, and more planning still, to ensure the ideas that are brought to life are the best ones possible.