Our Shared Medium

  The Best Ever Christmas Films Whether you celebrate Christmas early, late or not at all; Christmas films fill us with holiday cheer and festive energy. Here are some of the best ever Christmas films in my entirely biased opinion to get you in the festive spirit. 1. Klaus (2019) A highly underrated Christmas film, this animated adventure comedy has something for everyone, whether its the relatable characters, stunning art style or festive feel-good story. This film is guaranteed to fill you with festive joy and a new found love for community and the Christmas spirit. 2. Home Alone (1990) A classic, this American comedy film will certainly leave you red from laughter. It perfectly encapsulates childlike wonder with brilliant comedic timing. You'll want to break out the popcorn and hot chocolates to ensure you fully appreciate the fun of this film. 3. Love Actually (2003) This festive romantic comedy delves into the lives of eight different couples the month before Christmas. A film...

  My Top 5 Favourite Horror Genres A list perfect for the spooky season that's just around the corner. It's got everything from the genre to the best of that genre.  1. Psychological Horror This is my favourite genre, its a perfect combination of horror and sometimes comedy. I find the best psychological horror directors are ex-comedy writers, e.g, Jordan Peele (I love his film Us ). I recommend Better The Devil You Know  on YouTube as well as The Sound  also on YouTube. 2. True Horror True horror is a mixture of psychological horror and cosmic horror. I recommend Portrait of God, Double Vision , Other Side of the Box all found on YouTube. I recommend the Conjuring and The Exorcist as classic true horror films.  3. Found Footage  Easily one of the most creepy horror genres, it sucks you in and really connects you to the horror. If you ever feel like making a horror short film, then this may be the perfect genre for you! I recommend LOST DOG, What We Found ...

  I Prefer Practical Effects, and so Should You Pan's Labyrinth , an incredible film directed by Guillermo Del Toro with almost no CGI, having a majority of the creatures and special effects being practical. Doug Jones as the Faun spent on average five hours in hair and makeup to allow him to become the Faun (pictured above).  The only part of the Faun that was CGI were Jones' lower legs as he wore 20cm stilts to allow him to be the true height of the Faun.  The ears and eyes were remotely controlled by  DDT Efectos Especiales'   David Martí and Xavi Bastida. When playing the Pale Man, Jones had to look through the characters nostrils to see as 90% of the costume was practical effects, like the Faun, only Jones' legs were CGI. Jaws, another famously practical effect dominated film, this film is a perfect example of how the limitations of practical effects can be used to improve a film.  Steven Spielberg used the power of suggestion to increase the tension o...

  How To Romanticise School Schools back in session and you want to be the best in your school, or simply just get better at school. Well I am a GCSE Yr 11 student who so far every past paper I have done has been high 8s and 9s, and the lowest grade I've ever gotten was 55% (it wasn't a good day). Here are my top tips from a certified academic weapon. Study in a Library My best study sessions have been in a crowded library with my books surrounding me. There's something about the cosy yet busy energy of a library that fills me with academic motivation. I prefer to study alone, but you can always study with friends! Make a playlist Personally I have many school playlists, my main study one is Hard Hitting Classical but I also use wordless movie music and jazz in film . However, my festive one is Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker . They set the best mood while not having any distracting lyrics. Make a Pinterest board I like to recreate my pins it makes me feel aesthetic while get...

  C3NS0R5H1P: Is it Good or Not? This blog has been a few days in the working, brainstorming ideas, working out how to start and wondering if this is even a good idea. But, just by not posting I would be censoring my opinion, something I am strongly against.  The Good Let's start off on a cheery note. Censorship does have its good side, it allows us to protect our children, filter out the unnecessarily negatively biased stuff such as racism and homophobia, preventing our children and loved ones from being biased into believing these horrible things. It also can be helpful when preventing young children from seeing inappropriate content such as porn or drugs, helping to prevent any unhealthy habits from starting at a young age. However, this good censorship needs to be monitored unless it could turn bad, which unfortunately has happened with our social media and news sources. The Bad There are many bad things about over censorship, such as preventing aid going to countries in n...

  My Top 5 Tips To Start Scrapbooking Tip #1 Make a Pinterest board! Use this to collaborate ideas, plan out pages, find little doodles or work out what you want to scrapbook about! Tip #2  Get materials (newspaper cuttings, images, stickers) from your house! Spend some time rummaging around in drawers, cupboards and boxes finding old photos and sticker that you haven't used. Tip #3 Pick a topic or theme! Do you want your scrapbook to be a weekly journal, or a travel diary or just a junk journal? Spend some time deciding what you want your scrapbook to be about! Tip #4 It doesn't have to be perfect! My first page in my scrapbook journal was far from perfect, if anything it was reallyyy ugly, but now 2 scrapbooks later they look a lot better, filled with colour and memories. Tip #5 Just start! Don't think about it too much (easier said than done, I know) but just pick up a pen and some glue and begin, let the creative process lead you to a final page, and be proud that you b...