Main coursework

Well, I know this blog is only to show the work we do and our development, but I also think it is important to show your thought process. Mine is such; I'm not very motivated in the world of film making or research but there is something which has intrigued me. Why not make my film a fictional biography? Make myself into a fictional character and base my 2 minute introduction on that. The story board will be up soon. All this takes is someone to help with the basic "hold camera, point it there" sort of thing, and a simple plan of what would be a normal day for this person. I will still base it in Parkwood sixth form and make my character a student. It will include a monologue, breaking the theatrical 'fourth wall' so that the character is talking directly to the audience/ viewers. Will have to watch a few films where they show either this type of genre or at least one scene with this technique within it. I have watched a few films where this is evident, if sometimes a little misleading. Such as the introduction to the film Sucker Punch, the introduction is a girl sitting in a room talking to herself but the viewers at the same time. Also, in a different context, Lion King Three has this idea within it, as Timon the Meerkat and Pumba the Warthog are using each other as viewers of their own story which is in the style of a cinema film, but both (mainly Timon) share the role of narrator throughout this telling of their own stories. So if I do end up deciding for the opening two minutes to be narrated, it's obvious I will have to film without sound, but rather just put a soundtrack over it and then someones voice (hopefully not my own, I find it to be rather irritating) and put that at a louder volume to the underlying soundtrack. I have managed to convince a local band, whose bassist is a good friend of mine to help produce a one off song for these two minutes. If it's possible, I will try to get the audio track uploaded as soon as it's ready. This will be independent, as I am liable to drag any partners down due to the fact my study and working style is very unconventional as I just go with the flow, and this will not help anyone who is working with me.

Ideas for prliminary :) continued again

Right! I've got it now!! Here it goes:

Man: "hello there love, how are you then? How was your day?"
Woman: "Not bad thanks dear, oh, jerry at work was late again and nearlly got fired. He really is getting on my nerves"
Man: "yeah, tell me about it, but don't worry, he'll get in a bad situation his boyish charm cant get him out of soon enough (laughs) so whats for dinner then?"
Woman: "what about a take-away? i cant be bothered to do anything big tonight, sorry"
Man: "don't you worry about it, you know i will eat anything (chuckles)
 *they hug*

 ....... not bad eh? thought it would be a nice modern take on that 50's crap i wrote last time. Anyway, will definately add more to these ideas later. My head hurts from all this thinking now. Haha .... but seriously, stop reading and wait for a new post. MUCH LUV!

Ideas for prliminary :) continued

Hi again!! Anyway, where was i? Oh yeah, maybe that whole front room thing could actually work. All i really need to do is add in a bit of better dialogue than, "what's for dinner?" "Chicken" "cool", because that just sucks majorly. I was thinking some thing like this:
Man: "hey there love, how was your day?"
Woman: "not bad thanks dear, oh your mother called again"
Man: "yeah sorry about that (laughs) so whats for dinner then?"
Woman: "i was thinking maybe a chicken casserole?"
Man: "Ahhh, just what a man wants, to come home to a blooming good meal and his missus"

..... That does seem rather 50's doesn't it? ... bugger .... maybe make it less sexist but you get the idea. Just something simple about a nice loving couple ..... you don't really see enough of it these days do you? It's all 'war this' and 'divorce that' and 'teenager *blah blah blah* murder *blah blah blah* kids now-a-days' so maybe an A-level video about a nice couple will make this world a nicer place. I've gone off topic again haven't i? Oh well, maybe a little tweek on the last two lines of dialogue is needed .... maybe just do the whole thing again on the same basis .... hmmmmm. Well i'm gonna end this one here because i still don't actually know the limit for these posts. Should really check it shouldn't i? Anyway, back in a tick.

Ideas for preliminary :)

Okay here is the thing, my partner isn't in for today so this is just a brainstorm for me. In a room where it would be near impossible to focus for anyone anyway, doesn't help that i'm rather easily distracted :). I have also decided to put my headphones in as it helps to just focus on typing and hopefully block out background noise.
 Anyway, i digress, as this is meant to be about my idea for my preliminary filming exercise (oh don't i sound posh!) and all i can think of is someone running down a corridor. I do have this one idea where it is a person running in to a room (possibly a house) and bursting in to a room. They have just recieved news that one of their relatives (possibly a brother or sister) is seriously ill and they have just ran to see them. Bit naff but it works. And it doesn't even need to be depressing, it could be a twist where it turns out they are fine! .... Doubt it but it could. OR!!!! Maybe it could be a man running to his house because he has just found out his wife/ girlfriend is pregnant!! ..... Still bit naff isn't it?? OK, how about a man/ woman is walking down a hallway to his/her front room, and he/she sits there with their flatmate/ wife/ girlfriend/ husband/ boyfriend and they talk about dinner? ... OK, maybe not dinner but something nice would make a change from all this running around. Hell, maybe it's just a parent going to a conference with their childs teachers. Hell, anything could be a good idea at this point couldn't it? Although i do like the idea of the frontroom thing. How much room do I have to write on these blog things?? Will start another one now just incase i go over the limit. Back in a sec.

Camera learning

well what can I say? Turns out using a camera effectively is harder than i thought. The framing of people was difficult because i couldn't decide if i wanted them in the middle of shot, to the side, lower, higher etc. Same for angle as i couldn't decide if i wanted the 'actors' to show power, look powerless, dramatic, natural etc. Distance was a lot easier to get to grips with as all i really had to do was choose which distance suited the shot, such as close for a realisation, shock, etc, and a long shot for dramaticising the area around an sctor and showing a mood of solitude.
 Moving shots were a bugger to get to grips with. Either the 'actor' would not look steady on the film, or the camera would blur the 'actor' as it panned, and that would only work if i was going to portray speed, which i wasn't. Dialogue was not easy either. Having to shoot from seperate angles, getting the 'actors' to try and sound the same each time round, getting the opposite person to react apropriately. A lot more complicated than just "stand there, say this". And the planning was murder. having to look around for appropriate locations, setting up where the camera will be for each different take, getting the camera set into the right position from each location so that the action we want filmed, is filmed. And to be honest, when it comes down to filming from several positions and doing different takes, it is so time filling you barely have enough time for the planning at each location or even getting every scene done. So long story short .... not easy

Magazine Cover

This was an interesting project as none of it was really new to me but I did enjoy helping the other people in my team get to grips with photoshop, both CS2 and CS5. This is actually because i have an extensive knowlege of photoshop already .... although it must be said that my time management skills are rather terrible as I spent so long trying to get other peoples images to look like thety wanted I ended up throwing mine together a bit last minute. I think the my idea of following the normal conventions of a magazine cover didn't exactly work as I am actually terrible for my deasperation to avoid cliche. Anyway, this is what I ended up with and i just enjoy the fact it looks blooming funky.