Media Reflection #1: How has my personal outlook on media changed through this course so far?

    In AICE Media Studies AS, it has been interesting to learn about how complex movies and films can be analysed in so many ways, such as how they are made, the types of shots, genres, cinematic invisibility, etc. My outlook on how I see films have changed in the sense that watching a movie now and/or clips from a movie, and realising how so complex and tedious it can be to create a single shot with factors such as mise-en-scene and planning out shots, angles, and cinematography to achieve a desired result for the film. I think this course has helped me appreciate how films are made and how complex they are as audiences go to movie theatres and sit down to appreciate works of art and creativity. I feel that in some ways, I have thought about how scenes were possibly made before when viewing a movie, but this course has helped nail down specific details and methods that could have been used to further understand film analysis.

    One of the topics that has peaked my interest with this course so far has to be cinematic invisibility and cinematic language. The ways how filmmakers deliberately plan out all of the shots beforehand for a movie is exemplified in this course teaching information such as framing, mise-en-scene, logistical factors to make a film such as props, the background, decors, etc. and much more contribute to cinematic language as it helps to tell a narrative on screen where an audience can psychologically understand what happens in one cut to another. When I view movies and their clips now, sometimes one cannot help but think how elements that we have learned in this course were used to make a scene. For example, we can ask ourselves how the lighting affected the meaning that a scene conveys, why quick cuts and props are used the way they are to convey the purpose of a scene, etc. So far, I am interested how the content of this class teaches such a niche yet fulfilling and engaging subject where fellow students like me are able to gain, further understand, and appreciate movies to a better extent with how they are created and the efforts undertaken to do so. It is not just movies, but how TV shows using real actors, backgrounds, locations, and sets are created using the same methods (such as design, mise-en-scene, and framing) to tell stories and convey narratives for viewers that I also feel I can appreciate more with the knowledge that I have learned so far in this course. Moving forward, I am optimistic that the knowledge and skills to learn can have practical and useful applications in life after this course has been completed.

    The information that the class has learned so far has also helped me changed my outlook on photography to an extent, where a recent activity of the class organising into groups and taking pictures to meeting provided prompts gave insight to elements such as excessive space, the focus on a subject/figure/person in a picture, and how meanings and stories can be created through pictures along with cinematography, which the course has yet to cover but will do so soon. With the knowledge the course has disseminated so far, it raises questions from within how my past photos (such as the one attached below: a sunrise blending its shades of red and orange with the clouds) vary differently in style and execution of taking the photo from my existing ability to how much better the photos I will take in the future will turn out with knowledge of this course.