This week we went out filming again but i have spent most of my time trying to tweek the footage..... It's really quite hard to get it looking really good. I've been in talks with the Broadway who might be letting me film in there some time next week. I really want to get all the filming done so i can step back and really look what i've got and start putting it together for the final cut. Might have an intense week next week and get a good percentage of it done.
Anyway, this is my progress so far on apple colour. The footage still looks a bit washed out and if the rest is done in HD this sort of footage could look really cheap. I don't think this is at an acceptable standard but this is the compressed version for youtube, the HD version does look a lot better. Also i've completely ballsed up the compression. If anyone knows how to use Apple Colour well any tips would be a god-send ! I'm still only in the very early stages of using it.....
Friday, February 22, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Interview & Photoshop.....
I was looking at my itunes the other day and noticed this little mirrored album sleeve sort of thing so i spent an hour last night trying to copy it..... i duplicated the layer, flipped it horizontally, distored it slightly then dragged one of the corners down. Finally, i used the black to white gradient tool and dragged from the middle to the far corner..... I think it looks alright but i could probably improve it.
Now this on the other hand is more important. This is the interview for my client DVD. YES i am aware the microphone is in shot ! this was due to a) forgetting the pistol grip and b) a certain Oli N. no, thats' too obvious errr o. Nodwell, not noticing ! clown ! shouldn't be too hard to get rid off..... This is the last bit of the interview. Obviously not going to use this, just wanted to show people the location. The interview went quite well i thought. Tom asked me questions and then we done 15 minutes easily so i decided to do it again but this time i would know where i was going with my answers and cut out a lot of the nonsense i spoke the 1st time round. Although i didn't iron out all out it.....
i'm not so rude or arrogant in the real interview part.....
ps : i've just played about with some filters to try and get this footage looking better. I've added some soft edges to hide the microphone and i've also added the desaturate filter while playing around with the contrast and brightness...... Early doors yet but i think it looks so much better already....
Now this on the other hand is more important. This is the interview for my client DVD. YES i am aware the microphone is in shot ! this was due to a) forgetting the pistol grip and b) a certain Oli N. no, thats' too obvious errr o. Nodwell, not noticing ! clown ! shouldn't be too hard to get rid off..... This is the last bit of the interview. Obviously not going to use this, just wanted to show people the location. The interview went quite well i thought. Tom asked me questions and then we done 15 minutes easily so i decided to do it again but this time i would know where i was going with my answers and cut out a lot of the nonsense i spoke the 1st time round. Although i didn't iron out all out it.....
i'm not so rude or arrogant in the real interview part.....
ps : i've just played about with some filters to try and get this footage looking better. I've added some soft edges to hide the microphone and i've also added the desaturate filter while playing around with the contrast and brightness...... Early doors yet but i think it looks so much better already....
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Third Artifact......
With my previous artifacts I felt I have concentrated on the first part of my question and neglected the second part somewhat. How the relationship between reality and narrative effect the audience’s understanding of the art form, I feel I have gained some knowledge on the subject with my previous artifacts but I wanted to use this artifact to explore how important the value of narrativity is in the representation of reality.
I decided to write two short stories, both very different from one another. I would leave the stories by starting a sentence and leaving a …….. for the participator to complete. For example, the first story finishes with “straightens his tie and steps into…..” as the second story ends “David turns around and….” These prompt the participants to dive straight into the story instead of thinking of a whole new sentence to carry the narrative on with.
The first story is a dream-like narrative, which jumps from both first person story telling to third person story telling. Giving the participants free-reign to continue with the narrative in any way they saw fit. The first paragraph is from the third person, describing the location and sights whereas the second paragraph I jumped to the first person and described emotions, feels and a “reality check” as the character looks at the clock. Within the borderless world I was sure to put details of a house and a dead father, in order for there to be some connection with the character.
The second story is about a man in the toilets of a restaurant as he composes himself before asking his girlfriend to marry him. The narrative in very linear and is set in one location. I used a lot of inner-monologue and flash back-story telling. There is lots of speech in this narrative with conversations between the characters.
The results show that when offered a reality in which anything can take place, 80% of the participants chose to take the story back to reality by referencing details of the narrative from previous chapters and placing the character back in a familiar place (home/bed…etc…). With the second story 90% continued the narrative in the reality in which was set.
These results add even more fuel to the theory that the value of narrativity is important in the representation of reality. If we look back over the last three artifacts now, in a short summary :
1.) The participants arranged the film stills in the correct order and the results show they had a better understanding of the narrative the further from reality it was based. The realistic narratives scored poorly and the fantasy narratives scored the best.
So from these results i wanted to test if the understanding of narrative would continue in moving images. So i made the obvious progression to films......
2.) The films, Malcolm and Barabara, Downfall & eXistenZ, showed a steady increase in the understanding of the narrative as the representation of reality decreases. A fair understanding of the narrative was present throughout but eXistenZ scored the highest and the audience were keen on expanding on their answers and using much more imagination in the questionnaire.
So from these results i wanted to test the audience's imagination and see what representation of reality they would come up with themselves when given the brief story with hints of narrative.
3.) And as shown above the results were that 80% of the participants chose to pull the narrative back from a boarderless reality and 90% chose to continue with the linear narrative presented to them.
I decided to write two short stories, both very different from one another. I would leave the stories by starting a sentence and leaving a …….. for the participator to complete. For example, the first story finishes with “straightens his tie and steps into…..” as the second story ends “David turns around and….” These prompt the participants to dive straight into the story instead of thinking of a whole new sentence to carry the narrative on with.
The first story is a dream-like narrative, which jumps from both first person story telling to third person story telling. Giving the participants free-reign to continue with the narrative in any way they saw fit. The first paragraph is from the third person, describing the location and sights whereas the second paragraph I jumped to the first person and described emotions, feels and a “reality check” as the character looks at the clock. Within the borderless world I was sure to put details of a house and a dead father, in order for there to be some connection with the character.
The second story is about a man in the toilets of a restaurant as he composes himself before asking his girlfriend to marry him. The narrative in very linear and is set in one location. I used a lot of inner-monologue and flash back-story telling. There is lots of speech in this narrative with conversations between the characters.
The results show that when offered a reality in which anything can take place, 80% of the participants chose to take the story back to reality by referencing details of the narrative from previous chapters and placing the character back in a familiar place (home/bed…etc…). With the second story 90% continued the narrative in the reality in which was set.
These results add even more fuel to the theory that the value of narrativity is important in the representation of reality. If we look back over the last three artifacts now, in a short summary :
1.) The participants arranged the film stills in the correct order and the results show they had a better understanding of the narrative the further from reality it was based. The realistic narratives scored poorly and the fantasy narratives scored the best.
So from these results i wanted to test if the understanding of narrative would continue in moving images. So i made the obvious progression to films......
2.) The films, Malcolm and Barabara, Downfall & eXistenZ, showed a steady increase in the understanding of the narrative as the representation of reality decreases. A fair understanding of the narrative was present throughout but eXistenZ scored the highest and the audience were keen on expanding on their answers and using much more imagination in the questionnaire.
So from these results i wanted to test the audience's imagination and see what representation of reality they would come up with themselves when given the brief story with hints of narrative.
3.) And as shown above the results were that 80% of the participants chose to pull the narrative back from a boarderless reality and 90% chose to continue with the linear narrative presented to them.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Location Sorted.....
After a week or two of trying to bag this i've just got off the phone with the Royal Centre who have agreed to let me film the interview section of the DVD in their dressing room. They're dressing rooms are nice and look like this......
minus the girls....
minus the girls....
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Messing around with Colour
This is my first attempt on apple colour. I'm not gonna call it 'color' on general principle. This is very early doors, all i did was play about with the shadows, mid-tones and highlights. It's not at an acceptable standard yet but hopefully if i get to grips with the FX panel i can change the contrast and grain and all sorts..... i need to learn it very quickly though.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Motion & Colour
This week i've been trying to get my head around motion and colour.....
i wish i lived in the matrix where i could just ask for the knowledge of something and have it five seconds later.......
pain in the arse !
i wish i lived in the matrix where i could just ask for the knowledge of something and have it five seconds later.......
pain in the arse !
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Magic Trailer
This is the trailer for my magic DVD. I could only use the footage shot in the hall from Muse Bar on this because i haven't got Apple Colour on my machine yet. I've ordered some more RAM for it which should be arriving it any minute now and when that happens we are ready to roll ! The audio is through a clip mic on my lapel but in the real shoot we'll be using a boom mic as well, would have used a boom mic in this shoot but FORGOT the pole ! so..... pretty useless. The boom mic, not me.....
Didn't know what to write on the titles and only wanted to tease so here it is......
Once again, the brilliant Amon Tobin provides the soundtrack.....
Listen to the man have to explain that it's only magic and it's not spirits about 30 seconds in !! i liked that woman..... she says she was "terrified" of me.
Enjoy.....
Didn't know what to write on the titles and only wanted to tease so here it is......
Once again, the brilliant Amon Tobin provides the soundtrack.....
Listen to the man have to explain that it's only magic and it's not spirits about 30 seconds in !! i liked that woman..... she says she was "terrified" of me.
Enjoy.....
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Second Artifact Evaluation
For this artifact I screened three films, each varying in their portrayal of reality and asked the audience to complete a short questionnaire about the film. My reasoning behind running this artifact was to see how much of the narrative the audience understood when presented with different portrayals of what is “real”.
I researched into the design of questionnaires and found that open-ended questions were best used to gather a precise judgement of each individual response and closed questions were used in summarising the answers in order to produce an overall viewpoint of your audience. It was important that the audience didn't have any options they could use just to skip the question if they didn't know the answer. It was important to not give them any encouragement or clues and really test how much of the narrative they understood.
The first film was a documentary called Malcolm and Barbara – Love’s Farewell. The documentary followed a couple through their struggle with Alzheimer’s. My results show that the audience got confused with dates and the time scale of the filming. They were, however, very emotionally attached to the characters within the film and believed there was a clear boundary between director and characters. This is quite an interesting result as they felt a clear boundary between the real people and the production team. In the plot questions section they audience scored 7/15.
The next film was Downfall about the last days of Hitler. I chose this film because it is a piece of history that everyone familiar with on some basic level. I wanted to explore how the audience would respond to a very real piece of history in a film context. The film is in German so is subtitled which the audience all agreed made the narrative seem realistic. The score was 8/15 the plot questions. All of the audience agreed they felt like they were watching a piece of history.
The third film was eXistenZ. A film that toys with the ideas of reality throughout. In this questionnaire the audience explained their answers in great detail and were much more inclined to elaborate on their ideas. The audience scored 9/15 on the plot questions showing a steady rise in their understanding of the narrative the looser it is based in reality.
In conclusion, it seems that the audience is much more willing to accept a reality that is placed in front of them rather than try and follow a narrative which is set in a version of reality they are familiar with. With the Malcolm and Barbara documentary the audience felt emotional attachment to the characters. Does the representation of reality effect the audience's emotional attachment to the narrative ? Interestingly though, this was the film they remembered least about the narrative. The next film on the list of Downfall. The film was very 'real' in it's stark portrayal of the last days of Hitler, like the audience, i felt i was watching a real piece of history when viewing the film for the first time. And even more interestingly the narrative which was understood the most, is the one based in a completely implausible world of several layers of reality portrayed within. The audience were willing to expand on their answers in much more detail than the previous films and even spoke of the symbolism throughout the film.
Leading on the results obtained in my first artifact it seems that the audience is much more comfortable in a narrative based in a foreign version of reality. Is this audience escapism at it's very based ? does an audience interpret narrative in a different based on the representation of reality ? Only time will tell.......
I researched into the design of questionnaires and found that open-ended questions were best used to gather a precise judgement of each individual response and closed questions were used in summarising the answers in order to produce an overall viewpoint of your audience. It was important that the audience didn't have any options they could use just to skip the question if they didn't know the answer. It was important to not give them any encouragement or clues and really test how much of the narrative they understood.
The first film was a documentary called Malcolm and Barbara – Love’s Farewell. The documentary followed a couple through their struggle with Alzheimer’s. My results show that the audience got confused with dates and the time scale of the filming. They were, however, very emotionally attached to the characters within the film and believed there was a clear boundary between director and characters. This is quite an interesting result as they felt a clear boundary between the real people and the production team. In the plot questions section they audience scored 7/15.
The next film was Downfall about the last days of Hitler. I chose this film because it is a piece of history that everyone familiar with on some basic level. I wanted to explore how the audience would respond to a very real piece of history in a film context. The film is in German so is subtitled which the audience all agreed made the narrative seem realistic. The score was 8/15 the plot questions. All of the audience agreed they felt like they were watching a piece of history.
The third film was eXistenZ. A film that toys with the ideas of reality throughout. In this questionnaire the audience explained their answers in great detail and were much more inclined to elaborate on their ideas. The audience scored 9/15 on the plot questions showing a steady rise in their understanding of the narrative the looser it is based in reality.
In conclusion, it seems that the audience is much more willing to accept a reality that is placed in front of them rather than try and follow a narrative which is set in a version of reality they are familiar with. With the Malcolm and Barbara documentary the audience felt emotional attachment to the characters. Does the representation of reality effect the audience's emotional attachment to the narrative ? Interestingly though, this was the film they remembered least about the narrative. The next film on the list of Downfall. The film was very 'real' in it's stark portrayal of the last days of Hitler, like the audience, i felt i was watching a real piece of history when viewing the film for the first time. And even more interestingly the narrative which was understood the most, is the one based in a completely implausible world of several layers of reality portrayed within. The audience were willing to expand on their answers in much more detail than the previous films and even spoke of the symbolism throughout the film.
Leading on the results obtained in my first artifact it seems that the audience is much more comfortable in a narrative based in a foreign version of reality. Is this audience escapism at it's very based ? does an audience interpret narrative in a different based on the representation of reality ? Only time will tell.......
First Shoot.....
Well, last night Tom, Oli and myself went to Muse Bar armed to the teeth with a HD camera, Sennheiser clip radio mic and Marantz flash audio recorder to........
a) test what the lights looked like when shot
b) test different exposures in the lights
c) test the audio
d) have some cheeky beers (a cocktail called an 'Old Fashioned' comes highly recommended)
the results were interesting and it is brilliant to look back at what works and what doesn't so when we do the real shoot everything can go to plan. Some plus points from the night were that an amazing amount of people really don't mind being recorded and are actually quite up for it. I also get to watch me performing magic for the first time, this is very interesting as i can see what is good and what need improving. Another GREAT plus from the evening is that after testing some exposures it looked like i'd have to turn the gain right the way up so that the film was quite grainy but you could see what was going on. It was either that or use a 1.6 iris and turn the gain off and compromise the lighting so that the audience might not see exactly what was going on. However ! today, with a little tweeking in Apple Colour i can add some light to the good quality footage making it look pretty good. I'll upload the footage tomorrow, i'm also in the process of making a trailer which should be up tomorrow or Monday. I used a clip mic for the audio and found out that it's really sensitive. I thought it would be the exact opposite so clipped it high on my collar, right in front of my throat. This made my voice sound so loud on the audio track i think i'm gonna have to move it down on my top and use a boom pole as well. I also need to pay attention to the camera when i'm doing it, on the footage i pay little or no attention to the camera what-so-ever, i don't wait for the camera i just race on which makes for zooms and camera movement that sort of looses the narrative of the trick. Next time i will be paying very close attention to it and as Tom suggested "treat it as a person watching the trick". Stupid that i didn't in the first place but that was the whole reason for the night. See what worked and improve what didn't. The night proved to be quite useful in terms of networking as well as i spoke to a few people who suggested locations who they thought would be really up for letting me film in there. I'm going to approach these places on Monday.
So, all in all, very good night. Enjoyable and valuable. Roll on the real shoot ! I must get my hair cut.......
a) test what the lights looked like when shot
b) test different exposures in the lights
c) test the audio
d) have some cheeky beers (a cocktail called an 'Old Fashioned' comes highly recommended)
the results were interesting and it is brilliant to look back at what works and what doesn't so when we do the real shoot everything can go to plan. Some plus points from the night were that an amazing amount of people really don't mind being recorded and are actually quite up for it. I also get to watch me performing magic for the first time, this is very interesting as i can see what is good and what need improving. Another GREAT plus from the evening is that after testing some exposures it looked like i'd have to turn the gain right the way up so that the film was quite grainy but you could see what was going on. It was either that or use a 1.6 iris and turn the gain off and compromise the lighting so that the audience might not see exactly what was going on. However ! today, with a little tweeking in Apple Colour i can add some light to the good quality footage making it look pretty good. I'll upload the footage tomorrow, i'm also in the process of making a trailer which should be up tomorrow or Monday. I used a clip mic for the audio and found out that it's really sensitive. I thought it would be the exact opposite so clipped it high on my collar, right in front of my throat. This made my voice sound so loud on the audio track i think i'm gonna have to move it down on my top and use a boom pole as well. I also need to pay attention to the camera when i'm doing it, on the footage i pay little or no attention to the camera what-so-ever, i don't wait for the camera i just race on which makes for zooms and camera movement that sort of looses the narrative of the trick. Next time i will be paying very close attention to it and as Tom suggested "treat it as a person watching the trick". Stupid that i didn't in the first place but that was the whole reason for the night. See what worked and improve what didn't. The night proved to be quite useful in terms of networking as well as i spoke to a few people who suggested locations who they thought would be really up for letting me film in there. I'm going to approach these places on Monday.
So, all in all, very good night. Enjoyable and valuable. Roll on the real shoot ! I must get my hair cut.......
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Client
Yesterday, Oli, Tom and myself went into the studio and filmed me messing around with a pack of cards on 2500th of a second shutter speed. I wanted to just see what it looked like. I think some of it looks pretty good, i'm currently thinking about what to do for the ident shots on the actual shoot.
No effort was made to hire lights or no thought was put into what i was doing. This was merely an experiment done in a spare hour.
The bit where i've cut when i hit the lens is QUALITY........ if i do say so myself.
Now if i could only stop pulling that David Brent face......
No effort was made to hire lights or no thought was put into what i was doing. This was merely an experiment done in a spare hour.
The bit where i've cut when i hit the lens is QUALITY........ if i do say so myself.
Now if i could only stop pulling that David Brent face......
Monday, January 28, 2008
Proposal and Shoot......
So my proposal was handed in today..... This can be found here. Today i shot the test footage as well. The location looks awful but it was only pissin' around with the camera on 2500th of a second shutter speed. I'm just about to have a look at the footage now and see where i go from there......
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Radiohead
I recently watched Scotch Mist by Radiohead (amazing ! i suggest everyone watches it) and saw this video at the end of it.....
this has inspired me to get a HD camera tomorrow and mess about with slowing footage rrrright down for my ident shots in the client project. Simple idea but i think it looks really good...... We'll see. Hopefully, i should be doing it tomorrow and have the results on here tomorrow night.
this has inspired me to get a HD camera tomorrow and mess about with slowing footage rrrright down for my ident shots in the client project. Simple idea but i think it looks really good...... We'll see. Hopefully, i should be doing it tomorrow and have the results on here tomorrow night.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Documentary Proposal
I am planning my client project proposal following the guide set out by Michael Rabiger in his book 'Directing the Documentary'.
He sets the following guide lines for a documentary proposal.
1. Film statement
Formally declares that the producer is making a proposal and suggests a working title. It briefly indicates the length, defines the subject matter and audience. (Short paragraph of two to three lines).
2. Background and need
Briefly reviews information necessary to acquaint the proposal audience to the subject, lets the reader see why the topic is interesting and why such a film is needed. (This could be two to six paragraphs).
3. Approach, form and style
This explains how the producer will carry out the idea. Where is the drama? Where is the conflict? Where are the emotions and character development? This is the section for the producer to indicate structure. This is potentially risky without full-blown research or “casting”. Nonetheless, it is the most important element in explaining how the producer works. This is not the place to indicate huge amounts of research. Research is needed, in fact extensive research might be needed but research is not a film. The producer at this stage is helping the reader visualize the film. (Two to six paragraphs).
4. Shooting schedule
Basically a time-line. This is actually an optional item that may be included when a specific event is impending; however, most funders want to know when production will start and when the film will be completed. (One to two line paragraph).
5. Budget
Budgets at the proposal stage are simple and in outline form. The producer should be familiar with the funding source in order to assure the budget is appropriate for the source.
6. Audience, distribution and marketing
A filmmaker must know her audience before a film can find distribution. This part of the proposal is a little tricky, particularly for personal documentaries and for those filmmakers who primarily make films for themselves. The proposal reader wants to know how the film will get to your defined audience. If the project is commercial, the reader will want to know how funding will be recouped. In some proposals this element is optional. (two to eight paragraphs).
7. Filmmaker’s bio and letters of support
This can and should include key players. Bios should be brief. These can be included as attachments.
8. Additional elements
Attachments that would be helpful in explaining or illustrating any of the above elements.
He sets the following guide lines for a documentary proposal.
1. Film statement
Formally declares that the producer is making a proposal and suggests a working title. It briefly indicates the length, defines the subject matter and audience. (Short paragraph of two to three lines).
2. Background and need
Briefly reviews information necessary to acquaint the proposal audience to the subject, lets the reader see why the topic is interesting and why such a film is needed. (This could be two to six paragraphs).
3. Approach, form and style
This explains how the producer will carry out the idea. Where is the drama? Where is the conflict? Where are the emotions and character development? This is the section for the producer to indicate structure. This is potentially risky without full-blown research or “casting”. Nonetheless, it is the most important element in explaining how the producer works. This is not the place to indicate huge amounts of research. Research is needed, in fact extensive research might be needed but research is not a film. The producer at this stage is helping the reader visualize the film. (Two to six paragraphs).
4. Shooting schedule
Basically a time-line. This is actually an optional item that may be included when a specific event is impending; however, most funders want to know when production will start and when the film will be completed. (One to two line paragraph).
5. Budget
Budgets at the proposal stage are simple and in outline form. The producer should be familiar with the funding source in order to assure the budget is appropriate for the source.
6. Audience, distribution and marketing
A filmmaker must know her audience before a film can find distribution. This part of the proposal is a little tricky, particularly for personal documentaries and for those filmmakers who primarily make films for themselves. The proposal reader wants to know how the film will get to your defined audience. If the project is commercial, the reader will want to know how funding will be recouped. In some proposals this element is optional. (two to eight paragraphs).
7. Filmmaker’s bio and letters of support
This can and should include key players. Bios should be brief. These can be included as attachments.
8. Additional elements
Attachments that would be helpful in explaining or illustrating any of the above elements.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Location, Location, Location
Tonight i provisionally booked a location to record some of my client project. With the weather being pretty cold recently i have decided to approach some bars to see if they would kindly let me film in there. I think i'm gonna head up there next week to shoot some test footage and then if it's cool, get going the following week or if not, talk about the possibilities of setting up a lighting corner or something.....
Tom Oliver's Artifact.....
Seems like all the smart people are getting other people to do their artifacts for them !!! Tom Oliver wants a group of people each to write a script for him to make into a film with various people over the internet..... I am participating and this is the brief he set.......
The story idea is as follows. Sarah is a 26 year old single woman. She keeps an online video blog. She has recently turned her attention to the online world for comfort and to look for companionship. She chats to various people from all over the world, however she has never met any of these people in the "real world". She has recently been talking to someone online called Chris. Things were going OK to start with, until Chris starts to act obsessive and intense. What is the story behind the mysterious character of Chris? Do the two characters ever meet in real life? Is there more to them than meets the eye?
The overall style of the film will be a psychological thriller.
The script must feature at least two characters, Sarah and Chris.
and this is my first scene for his film.......
SCENE ONE :
IT'S EARLY MORNING. AROUND 9.30AM. SARAH IS AWAY FROM HER COMPUTER MAKING A CUP OF TEA. HER COMPUTER IS MAKING SPORADIC ALERT NOISES. SARAH LEAVES THE TEA AND GOES BACK TO THE COMPUTER THE SCREEN READS....
Chris1984 says :
no ?
do u think ?
k ?
helloooooooo ?
alone again ?
SARAH LAUGHS AND STARTS TO TYPE....
Sarah_08 says :
i'm still ere u fool. You can get so demanding sometimes.
Chris1984 says :
ohh so u r ere den ? i fort u'd left me
Sarah_08 says :
making a cup of t. Wat wur u sayin ?
Chris1984 says :
i wuz sayin dat i've got 2 much space ere. But it feels gud 2 ave my own place.
Sarah_08 says :
yeah, i wuz like that @ 1st.
Chris1984 says :
u got ur own place ? where'd u live ?
Sarah_08 says :
yeah, got my own place
Chris1984 says :
really ? where ?
Sarah_08 says :
it wuz scary 2 start wit but now i'm fine.
Chris1984 says :
yeah, i'm alone. Need some company.
Sarah_08 says :
don't we all
THERE IS A KNOCK AT THE DOOR WHICH MAKES SARAH JUMP
Chris1984:
knock knock
SARAH STARES AT THE WORDS.
THE DOOR KNOCKS AGAIN
Chris1984 :
knock knock Sarah
THE LETTERBOX KNOCKS. SARAH WALKS SLOWLY TOWARD THE DOOR TIGHTENING HER DRESSING GOWN AS SHE GOES.
SARAH : Who is it ?
VOICE : Royal Mail Miss !
SARAH LOOKS THROUGH THE SPY-HOLE. A MAN DRESSED IN ROYAL MAIL UNIFORM STANDS IN THE CORRIDOR WITH AN ARMFUL OF OTHER MAIL.
SARAH OPENS THE DOOR.
MAILMAN : ohhh i'm sorry, did i wake you !? Sign here.
SARAH SIGNS. SHUTS THE DOOR AND RETURNS TO HER COMPUTER TO READ.....
Chris1984 says :
knock knock ?
Sarah ?
knock knock ?
who's there you say ?
Sarah !
Sarah who you say ?
Sarah reason you're not laughing !?
...... Sarah ? hello ? cup of tea again ?
look i know it's pretty lame up come on ?!
SARAH SITS DOWN A BIT FLUSTERED
Sarah_08 says :
Sorry Chris, mail man. Jessssus, that's so stupid. Anyway, gotta go, i'm late. Speak 2 u 2nite ?
Chris1984 says :
definitely !
END OF SCENE ONE
Don't know if you wanted some little fake suspense or anything early on ? anyway, those are my two cents.
ps : i attempted "internet speak" and it's prrrrrrrrrrrrrrobably the most annoying thing in the world so forgive the inconsistancy of my script. From now on just imagine it's in internet speak...... it won't be though.
The story idea is as follows. Sarah is a 26 year old single woman. She keeps an online video blog. She has recently turned her attention to the online world for comfort and to look for companionship. She chats to various people from all over the world, however she has never met any of these people in the "real world". She has recently been talking to someone online called Chris. Things were going OK to start with, until Chris starts to act obsessive and intense. What is the story behind the mysterious character of Chris? Do the two characters ever meet in real life? Is there more to them than meets the eye?
The overall style of the film will be a psychological thriller.
The script must feature at least two characters, Sarah and Chris.
and this is my first scene for his film.......
SCENE ONE :
IT'S EARLY MORNING. AROUND 9.30AM. SARAH IS AWAY FROM HER COMPUTER MAKING A CUP OF TEA. HER COMPUTER IS MAKING SPORADIC ALERT NOISES. SARAH LEAVES THE TEA AND GOES BACK TO THE COMPUTER THE SCREEN READS....
Chris1984 says :
no ?
do u think ?
k ?
helloooooooo ?
alone again ?
SARAH LAUGHS AND STARTS TO TYPE....
Sarah_08 says :
i'm still ere u fool. You can get so demanding sometimes.
Chris1984 says :
ohh so u r ere den ? i fort u'd left me
Sarah_08 says :
making a cup of t. Wat wur u sayin ?
Chris1984 says :
i wuz sayin dat i've got 2 much space ere. But it feels gud 2 ave my own place.
Sarah_08 says :
yeah, i wuz like that @ 1st.
Chris1984 says :
u got ur own place ? where'd u live ?
Sarah_08 says :
yeah, got my own place
Chris1984 says :
really ? where ?
Sarah_08 says :
it wuz scary 2 start wit but now i'm fine.
Chris1984 says :
yeah, i'm alone. Need some company.
Sarah_08 says :
don't we all
THERE IS A KNOCK AT THE DOOR WHICH MAKES SARAH JUMP
Chris1984:
knock knock
SARAH STARES AT THE WORDS.
THE DOOR KNOCKS AGAIN
Chris1984 :
knock knock Sarah
THE LETTERBOX KNOCKS. SARAH WALKS SLOWLY TOWARD THE DOOR TIGHTENING HER DRESSING GOWN AS SHE GOES.
SARAH : Who is it ?
VOICE : Royal Mail Miss !
SARAH LOOKS THROUGH THE SPY-HOLE. A MAN DRESSED IN ROYAL MAIL UNIFORM STANDS IN THE CORRIDOR WITH AN ARMFUL OF OTHER MAIL.
SARAH OPENS THE DOOR.
MAILMAN : ohhh i'm sorry, did i wake you !? Sign here.
SARAH SIGNS. SHUTS THE DOOR AND RETURNS TO HER COMPUTER TO READ.....
Chris1984 says :
knock knock ?
Sarah ?
knock knock ?
who's there you say ?
Sarah !
Sarah who you say ?
Sarah reason you're not laughing !?
...... Sarah ? hello ? cup of tea again ?
look i know it's pretty lame up come on ?!
SARAH SITS DOWN A BIT FLUSTERED
Sarah_08 says :
Sorry Chris, mail man. Jessssus, that's so stupid. Anyway, gotta go, i'm late. Speak 2 u 2nite ?
Chris1984 says :
definitely !
END OF SCENE ONE
Don't know if you wanted some little fake suspense or anything early on ? anyway, those are my two cents.
ps : i attempted "internet speak" and it's prrrrrrrrrrrrrrobably the most annoying thing in the world so forgive the inconsistancy of my script. From now on just imagine it's in internet speak...... it won't be though.
The REAL First Artifact
Well well, a whole month since my last post. I thought i was staying on top of this.....
After a lot of thinking and discussions about my first artifact i decided to scrap the idea of showing surrealist films and asking the audience to come up with a narrative as, as many of you might know, there IS no narrative to the surrealist films i was planning on showing. So there would nothing to compare the answers to.
I decided not to scrap the film idea completely but time constraints made me change my last artifact. Instead i made ten stills from five different films and asked five volunteers to arrange the stills in the order that they think they were originally in. With this artifact I aimed to test an audience’s understanding of narrative when each is based in their own version of reality or what it is to be real. Each film being set in a different version of reality or portraying different aspects of what is real. The films were Alphaville, Mulholland Drive, Labyrinth, A Cock & Bull Story and Princess Mononoke. Each film’s representation of reality differs from actors talking directly to the audience ‘out of character’ (A Cock and Bull Story) to the audience having to comprehend alternative dimensions (Mulholland Drive) to magical, fairytale worlds (Labyrinth & Princess Mononoke).
It was imperative to the experiment that the audience member had not seen the films before, therefore a handful of occasions a 5th and 6th participant was asked to take part instead of the original five. The participant was brought into a room with a computer. On the screen were ten still images in a random order. The participant was then asked to arrange the stills into the order that they thought told the original narrative. Upon completion they were then asked to type a short evaluation of the narrative they had created.
The film viewing artifact is now in full swing and i have already shown my first film. David Cronenberg's eXistenZ. A film, released the same year as The Matrix (not the best time to release a sci-fi film about reality) which challenges the audience's understanding of reality and leaves them asking questions as to what was real throughout the film. My second film will be a documentary called Malcom and Barbara - Love's Farewell which is a documentary about a man with Alzheimers and the struggle of the both parties as Malcom condition worsens and Barbara tries to cope with looking after him day and night. (Although to be honest, i really don't want to watch this again and it's heartbreaking !!) The film after that will be Downfall. A film about Hitler's final days. My final film will be A Cock and Bull Story. A film based upon Laurence Sterne's novel 'The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentlemen' which was referenced in my essay.
i'll be in touch......
After a lot of thinking and discussions about my first artifact i decided to scrap the idea of showing surrealist films and asking the audience to come up with a narrative as, as many of you might know, there IS no narrative to the surrealist films i was planning on showing. So there would nothing to compare the answers to.
I decided not to scrap the film idea completely but time constraints made me change my last artifact. Instead i made ten stills from five different films and asked five volunteers to arrange the stills in the order that they think they were originally in. With this artifact I aimed to test an audience’s understanding of narrative when each is based in their own version of reality or what it is to be real. Each film being set in a different version of reality or portraying different aspects of what is real. The films were Alphaville, Mulholland Drive, Labyrinth, A Cock & Bull Story and Princess Mononoke. Each film’s representation of reality differs from actors talking directly to the audience ‘out of character’ (A Cock and Bull Story) to the audience having to comprehend alternative dimensions (Mulholland Drive) to magical, fairytale worlds (Labyrinth & Princess Mononoke).
It was imperative to the experiment that the audience member had not seen the films before, therefore a handful of occasions a 5th and 6th participant was asked to take part instead of the original five. The participant was brought into a room with a computer. On the screen were ten still images in a random order. The participant was then asked to arrange the stills into the order that they thought told the original narrative. Upon completion they were then asked to type a short evaluation of the narrative they had created.
The film viewing artifact is now in full swing and i have already shown my first film. David Cronenberg's eXistenZ. A film, released the same year as The Matrix (not the best time to release a sci-fi film about reality) which challenges the audience's understanding of reality and leaves them asking questions as to what was real throughout the film. My second film will be a documentary called Malcom and Barbara - Love's Farewell which is a documentary about a man with Alzheimers and the struggle of the both parties as Malcom condition worsens and Barbara tries to cope with looking after him day and night. (Although to be honest, i really don't want to watch this again and it's heartbreaking !!) The film after that will be Downfall. A film about Hitler's final days. My final film will be A Cock and Bull Story. A film based upon Laurence Sterne's novel 'The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentlemen' which was referenced in my essay.
i'll be in touch......
Saturday, December 22, 2007
First artifact....
After doing my essay i have a new outlook on my artifacts. My first one for the research module is going to be a viewing of Un Chien Andalou the surrealist film referenced in my essay. I will ask five people to view the film and then try write down as much as they can remember from the film. The film was deliberately made with no meaning or structure so it will be interesting to see just how much of the film the audience can remember. There are a few "shocking scenes" which i'm sure will stay in the audience's mind but that will then lead me onto a new area of research into shock television.
I'm still unsure as to have to collect the information. I am thinking about doing a set questionaire.....
Merry Christmas
Made this last night, i done it for business but then made this little personal one.....
it's four layers of different noise and blur in photoshop put into imageready and animated for the snow effect......
it's four layers of different noise and blur in photoshop put into imageready and animated for the snow effect......
Friday, November 30, 2007
Online submissions
well this thing has screwed me ! my file was too big (my fault) so i had to break it down and email it in in different parts, so now i think chapter's 1-5 have been submitted but my appendix i emailed to david downes might not be accepted and my title page, abstract and acknowledgements must just be lost forever !!
why couldn't we have handed in a bound piece of work along with this online submission ? i know about the Plagiarism thing, which i think is a good thing, but now the paper won't be read or marked as a whole piece as it was set out to be, surely ?
don't like the way i could be punished for a computer error, even if it was my responsibility for the file size, but because i've spent so long working on this piece of work i've got a feeling in the bottom of my stomach i could be fucked !
why couldn't we have handed in a bound piece of work along with this online submission ? i know about the Plagiarism thing, which i think is a good thing, but now the paper won't be read or marked as a whole piece as it was set out to be, surely ?
don't like the way i could be punished for a computer error, even if it was my responsibility for the file size, but because i've spent so long working on this piece of work i've got a feeling in the bottom of my stomach i could be fucked !
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Power Cut !!
Student Living has decided we would benefit from a new kitchen put in half way through term time. I did not benefit from last week without a kitchen and eating take aways every night but this afternoon i started to really play about with the structure of my essay and made some significant changes to it. After a while moving chunks i thought 'i better save this as a new file' quite literally five seconds after i did save my changed the builder's cut off the electricity.
I would have cried......
I would have cried......
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