The review on Headmaster's speech

Today, our school's headmaster, Brendan Wignall, came to our media class and gave a speech about Blade Runner and film noir. He had written lots of science fiction stories on magazines. He has a great passion for science fiction film, especially Blade Runner. He watched Blade Runner original version about 21 or 22, and he had watched it 5 times.

The picture of our school headmaster, Brendan Wignall

He thinks that Blade Runner is film noir look, which means it contains the elements of film noir. He mentioned that Blade Runner is the last major film which made without any computer graphics, so all of the tower, the city, the car, the spinners are all models, they are not made by computer graphics. And the reason for most of the scene in Blade Runner took place in the dark or in the rain is because they were the places in the daily life and they seemed to be perfective but actually, they were plastic. And this is because they didn't have enough money to give a good set, that means, they couldn't make the set good enough. According to this, the headmaster said that we have to always consider the money when we are producing a film as it is important.

About Blade Runner, the headmaster also says that the original one(which is the first one) was too dark and too European, which was the answer of the audiences in America which were the tested audiences for this film. And if he can make some change in the new Blade Runner, he says he will make less sexiness, since in Blade Runner, even in Blade Runner 2049, there are so many scenes which contain sexiness. Also, when one of the students in the class asked him about who did he think is the femme fatale in Blade Runner 2049, he said that it is hard as there is no a really definite answer. Since Blade Runner is just contained the elements of film noir but not all of them. It can just contain two or three elements, therefore, in my own film(which I have to make it relevant to film noir), I can just get three or more elements from film noir, but not that all. Well, in this question, the headmaster view is that we can just find the character which has more elements of femme fatale, for example, sexy and dangerous, than the others, that could be the femme fatale of this film.

At the last, the headmaster also talked about our coursework, which is that we have to create 2 minutes opening of a film which is relevant to the film noir. Our teacher asked him about what story or the topic should we use for our film in nowadays, and his answer is that we can make a film in far Eastern, such as Japan, China(Shanghai, etc), he didn't really recommend the British film noir as he thinks it is not quite suitable. He also gives a suggestion about how to make an opening of a film. He recommends us first to sketch out the whole story of the film, and then go back to the beginning since it can be easier if we do like this. I think this is a good suggestion which I may use it when I am doing my coursework.

And finally, I took a picture with him for a memory. Here is the picture:

The picture of me and the headmaster

Well...I think it is not really good so......

Make-up Collage

This is the collage of make-up, which is created by me. As we work separately - I do the make-up collage when Melissa does the costume one.
Here is the collage:

I like the red lips of the femme fatale, and actually, I have found some other colour of the lips of the femme fatale, such as dark purple. But in my opinion, red is much better and I may use this colour to my character. For the eyeshadow, I prefer the colour which is more likely to the cold colour. For example, the purple colour or the blue colour. But I also will consider the brown colour, since it looks great to the femme fatale as well.

I also find some hairstyles, for example, the hairstyle of the woman which is a single horsetail. This is the one that I like the most. As it looks really nice. Although I know most of the femme fatale will let the hair down to show more sexiness, I think this hairstyle is also really attractive and sexy. Therefore, I would like to use this hairstyle to my character.

Character Collage

Melissa and I have created some Character Collages. Here are my two Character Collage:

Character Collage for a Japanese anime 

 This is the collage of a Japanese anime call'Bungo Stray Dogs'. The story centres on individuals who are gifted with supernatural powers and use them for different purposes including holding a business, solving mysteries, and carrying out missions assigned by the mafia. The story mainly follows the members of the "Armed Detective Agency" and their everyday lives.

Most characters in the series are named after famous literary authors and/or characters in their works, including Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Atsushi Nakajima, Agatha Christie, Osamu Dazai, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Rampo Edogawa, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Kenji Miyazawa, Doppo Kunikida, and Akiko Yosano.

I choose six characters in this collage since the settings of them are really suitable for film noir style character. There is a detective which have a dark past. And he is not always positive and he will do anything to get the truth or his want. This is really similar to the character of detective in film noir. The clothing of them also can inspire me, since the clothing is quite similar to the clothing in the 1940s. I might use this anime as an example.

the character collage 

 This is another collage of film noir. In this collage, the picture of the detective can show the characteristic of this character is that although he is a good person, the hero in the film noir, he will have some bad habits. In the first picture of detective, it shows that the detective is not always positive, he might have a dark past, this can give a good inspiration for me.

Also, the pictures of femme fatale show that the femme fatale always shows her sexy but she is independent and powerful. She might attract men but she won't rely on them. I might set my character of femme fatale as a sexy and powerful woman. Her appearance will attract men, but she is an independent woman.

And this is the character collage created by Melissa:

The pictures that Melissa has chosen are mostly from the films that are in film noir style. In these pictures, it shows that the characters in the film noir style often contain some mysteries, they might be a good person, they can also be a bad person. I might set some mysteries to my character as well.

A review on Blade Runner 2049

This is the poster of Blade Runner 2049

At the start, the scene of Blade Runner 2049 is same as Blade Runner, which is giving the information of replicants. The replicants are synthetic humans which are bioengineered by the powerful Tyrell Corporation to work on off-world colonies.

This is the eye of replicants

In 2049, replicants have been integrated into society as servants and slaves. One replicant, K, works for the LAPD as a ''blade runner'', an agent who hunts down the ''retires'' rogue replicants.

The main character, K

In pursuing an early type of chain clone Sapo routine tasks, the 8 K have surprisingly found that the finding enough to threaten human and now hundreds of millions of artificial person order between slaves, obey a clone of human depends on their internal validity, and they were created in the service of the host this kind of thought, a lot of things can be the system get a mess.

Joe had reason to believe that the discovery of K would lead to a clone uprising, so order K to destroy the evidence.

K goes against the order and returns to a distant farm for clues, but the clues are still vague, as the powerful electromagnetic pulse that led to nearly all of the data records went extinct years ago.
So K can only use the old-school investigation to find the former silver wing killer rick decker and work together to solve the terrible conspiracy that is about to subvert human society.

He has a girlfriend but that is not real - she is an artificial intelligence product of the replicant manufacturer Wallace Corporation. She is called Joi, which I think is the most likely to be the femme fatale in this film. Although she is not real, she still has the emotion of people. I think she is the most similar to the real people(human). She is the woman who cares the most about K. When K is working with the case, she is helping and encouraging him. She is the character which I like the most in this film.

K's holographic girlfriend, Joi

K and his girlfriend Joi works together

The picture of Luv

One interesting thing is that, although this is a neo-noir film which uses some noir elements, in this film, there are lots of women who are independent and powerful. For example, Luv, which is a replicant, and also a killer. She is cold and it seems she doesn't have any emotion of a human. She just obeys the order of Niander Wallace. She can do anything to achieve the goal she wants, or Niander wants.

The picture of Joshi

Another pretty strong woman is Joshi. She is a member of the Retirement Division of the LAPD. She is the superior of officer K and she is also a Blade Runner. She is really masculine and she is powerful. She will do anything to protect the city. 

Another interesting plot in this film is that the former Blade Runner Rick Deckard's is kidnapped by Luv and her men to the CEO of Wallace Corporation, Niander Wallace, the scene in the film Blade Runner which shows the lover of Deckard, Racheal, is shown again in that time. This makes the two films have the connection between them. I think this is really interesting.

This is the scene of Racheal, which has shown in Blade Runner as well

At the last, K is dying peacefully from his injuries when he goes and saves Deckard. In that scene, he lies down to see the sky which is snowing, this connects with the scene of Deckard approaches Stelline, when Stelline is also watching the snow. I think this scene is really good and beautiful.

The snow scene in the near end

The short film of preliminary task

This is the film of the preliminary task. And a great thank Cynthia, who helped me with the script, the filming and editing. Also, thanks to Egbert who is our actor and our actress Ellie Gardiner.
Here is the film, hope you enjoy it!

A brief of going to the local indie cinema

Last Friday, we went to the local indie cinema 'Kinokulture' in Oswestry to see the Into Film Festival(about this Festival, I've written a post for it) showing of Blade Runner 2049.
These are the photos that I've taken in the cinema:

The photo of Melissa and I

My own photo with the screen

Kinokulture is Oswestry's boutique cinema which operates out of a renovated church hall near the town centre. It organises a regular programme of films and live performances. It also organises a Saturday morning Kids' Club.

The outside of Kinokylture Cinema

The screen of the cinema

 The community cinema

the place for the audience seat in the cinema 

This cinema is also a community cinema. This kind of cinema is any volunteer-led and non-profit organisation that shows films in its community. The community cinema is special. First, it is run by audiences as it is for audiences, and give communities the power to choose the films that they want to see, when they want to see them. The atmosphere in the cinema is warm and friendly, in which every audience member can feel welcomed and secure. The films that are taken by community cinemas seriously. They offer audiences varied and adventurous programming, bringing world cinema, classics and the very best new releases to audiences across the country, as well as short films, documentaries, animations and archive footage.
Also, community cinemas are the social heart of their community, providing opportunities to discuss and debate film and create connections between people who might otherwise be isolated. This makes community cinemas take an important role in society and also in films. Since the discussion can make the film becomes more famous.

The independent film

An independent film, independent movie, indie film or indie movie is a feature film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies. Independent films are sometimes distinguishable by their content and style and the way in which the filmmakers' personal artistic vision is realized. Usually, but not always, independent films are made with considerably lower budgets than major studio movies.

Generally, the marketing of independent films is characterized by limited release, but can also have major marketing campaigns and a wide release. Independent films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals before distribution (theatrical or retail release). An independent film production can rival a mainstream film production if it has the necessary funding and distribution.

Into Film Festival

This year, from 8th November to 24th November, the Into Film Festival, which is the largest youth-focused film festival in the UK was run.

Here is a video of Into Film Festival:

The Into Film Festival boasts everything. From specialist films to exclusive previews of upcoming blockbusters, as well as inclusive SEN and autism and friendly screenings, it has something to offer everyone.

The tickets of Into Film Festival are free to book for everybody. And when you attend the Festival, you will have access to get a programme of 130 or more films, which are chosen specifically for schools, this is including audio-described, subtitled and autism-friendly screenings. You can also have age-appropriate talks that are from actors, directors and industry experts.  There are also some workshops and career advice and flexible and engaging resources to support pre - and post-screening work.

Educators actively and directly feed into the development of the Festival programme, and 98% of teachers surveyed felt the Festival activities were valuable to the broader education of young people, and 80% said the festival is useful in helping to deliver the curriculum. 

There is a comment by James Coder, a science teacher at Fortismere Secondary School:

"I think the Festival is a great opportunity for students to not only learn in a different environment but experience things in a different way, it helps develop relationships between students and also teachers and students. It's surprising the impact it can have."

I think this Festival is really good for students, especially media students. Since it is a good opportunity for them to learn more about films. Students can know more about the careers in the filmmaking. And the talking from actors, directors and industry experts can give more information to students which makes them get extra knowledge of film outside the lesson. They can get the chance to watch the films. This is good because some of the students don't really go to the cinema.