My university work, Inside and Out

Proposal

2010-10-26T04:21:00.000-07:00

In order to fulfil this briefe I intend to make an audio visual piece of around 2-3 minutes in length. this video is designed as an informational video regarding what digital piracy is and what effects it has had and may have on the media industry.
I intend to make the video focus on the information about piracy and as such the visual side will be fairly baisic and will revolve mainly around showing different breaches in copyright laws. The information given will be linked to what is seen on screen and while talking about the problems it causes for the music industry I intend to show a band playing, as the music can not be heard this could regard re-releasing copyrighted songs or simply a band that is suffering becuase of ilegal downloads.
The product itslef is designed to inform people of the dangers of digital piracy and as such will be open ended. However as i want to show media companies could suffer I want to show the band's equipment neglected in a dark room and an un-attended video camera in a green screen room while the video talks about the companies suffering.
The video will also feature some one talking about the amount they download and this will filter into the information of the voice over as by this point the information will be about how much downloading is being done.
The production of this video should costs no more than £30 and will take one day and one evening to film with an additional day to edit and I have actors ready to help on this production when ever they are required.

Script information

2010-10-26T04:19:00.000-07:00

Digitial piracy is the downloading, copying or re-production, in part in full, of any copyrighted material you do not own the copyright for or have express permission for by the copyright owner. this includes films, music, games, programme software and animations.
Digitial piracy has become a problem for many companies as there are downloads available for so many productions, this in turn has led to substantial loses for the work produced. as a lot of this work is expensive to make companies may not be able to fund their work, if ilegal downloading continues.
Downloading has already had a significant impactin the media industry, this can be seen by looking at music companies which have suffered a lot because of downloading. In the UK there are now only two companies of music superstores. the companies that own musical copyrights have tried to combat this by making legal downloads of their music, available for certain prices, however the creation of the software costs money, and the fact that free downloads are available, means that loses are still being made.
The gouvernment has also tried to combat this in their own way by making it so that copyright owners can recieve the names and details of people who seriously break copyright laws and internet service providers are able to suspend the accounts of these people. However despite this digital piracy remains a problem and if downloading is not stopped the media industry could be in serious trouble.

Script for voice over, client project

2010-02-05T02:01:00.000-08:00

On July 10 1642 a Royalist raiding party tires to burn down buildings at Hull, however they were repulsed by gun fire from the walls and parliament decided to raise and army under the command of the Earl of Essex on July 12. On August 12 King Charles and parliament officially go to war after Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice join the King and he raises the Royal Standard at Nottingham Castle. On October 24th the Royalists defeat the Earl of Essex at the battle of Edgevile as he tries to halt their advance.
On February 1st 1643 peace negotiations were set up in Oxford where the King had set up the Royalist head quarters, these continued for two and a half months before the finally broke down on April 14th. However even during negotiations Newark was under it’s first siege.
Newark became one of the most important towns in the civil war, both for the King and for the Parliamentarians, for both sides these two roads, the Great North way and the Fosse way, were important but more so for the King as Newark connected the Royalist head quarters in Oxford to other Royalist towns and garrisons in the northeast.
The first siege of Newark was only two days long as Major-General Thomas Ballard tried to take the fortified town with the help of other loyal Parliamentarians on February 27th 1643, however he quit the field the following day when it appeared he would not be able to take the town.
By 1644 Parliament had a strong control over most of the Midlands, however the Royalists had eight major garrisons each one undermining Parliament to the point of stopping tax collections in those areas and even in some they thought they controlled. Among these garrisons was Newark until the end of February 1644 when the Scottish joined forces with Parliament, as troops were sent from Newark to repel the invading force, Parliament took their chance and laid siege to Newark once more. Sir John Meldrum led parliaments troops to siege Newark calling on 6,000 men to help him while the royalists could only field 3,000 at a time with 5,000 in the keep.
Prince Rupert was sent to aid Lord Loughborough as he held Meldrum at bay with small but fast attacks. He arrived at the battle site on March 21st in the dead of night and took Medldrum by surprise forcing him back onto an island in the River Trent, cutting of all escape as the held every bridge. Meldrum and his men were given safe passage off the island and allowed to leave while the Royalist cause gained extra supplies from the enemy camp.
Newark was soon trapped as the Royalists were defeated both north and south of Newark. In November 1645 Newark was attacked from the north of Scotland and the south my Parliament and Newark was forced to defend on both fronts. During the winter Scotland built up siege works manned by 16,000 men and started to starve Newark as they flooded the river Deven and laid siege to a town suffering from the plague, money became scarce and tokens were made in it’s place. The town suffered as many people were forced to eat horses and dogs when food grew scarce, but it still stood against the siege until Charles the first was captured and forced to surrender. One of the terms of his surrender was that he must order Newark to surrender which it did on May 8th 1646.
One of the storied regarding Newark and the civil war tells of how the spire of the church was hit by a cannon ball, this hole in the spire can still be seen to this day, however closer examination shows us that the hole looks to be too small to have been made by a cannon ball.
Where the bakers oven now stands used to be the site of the Mayor of Newark’s house during the war, the plaque outside tells of how the Mayor dreamt of his house being hit by cannon fire on more than one occasion, so, fearing for his life, he moved out f the house which was struck by a cannon ball the following day.

File sharing software design

2009-11-26T22:40:00.000-08:00

Below are the designs I have made for the mock file sharing system I intend to use in my filming, these designs are based on the research I did inot other file sharing softwares. All of these designs were made in Adobe Photoshop except for the download box which has only been slightly modofied for my filming.

The above picture is the basic blank file share software I intend to use, I also used this blank template to make the finished download page.

This is the design for how i intend to the download page of my mock software to look, this will be used in my film to help demonstrate that the character in the film is file sharing.

This image is the completed mock file share software with all of the information to mkae it look genuine.

This is a slightly changed download box which will be used after the character in my advert clicks on one of the pieces of software to download.

This box will pop up on the characters computer screen when he tries to download the piece of software.

File sharing mock software

2009-11-26T22:27:00.000-08:00

As I am going to be making a mock software for file sharing to show in my advert i have been looking at some examples of file sharing softwares, including Limewire and Bittorrent. The following picture is a print screen I took to modle my mock software on.

I have also looked at Bittorent and a few other softwares in order to see what a typicla file sharing software looks like so i can make my own mock software. The designs for this will be posted later.

Script/voice over for simulated client project

2009-11-26T21:25:00.000-08:00

The scene opens in the living room of a young person’s house. A young man of around twenty is sat at a computer/laptop at a table. As the scene opens we see the young man on his mobile phone. As he is talking he is writing something on a notepad next to him.

Tez: Yeah…… (writes on the notepad) Yeah….. (writes on the notepad) I got it, and you want two copies of that one yeah?…. (writes on the notepad) OK then they’ll be ready sometime next week.

He puts the phone down and turns his attention to his computer and types a few words.

On the computer screen is a file sharing software with a list of downloads, as Tez clicks on a link a pop up box appears displaying a message. As the scene fades an information page on file sharing appears.

A constant voice over is present once the phone conversation has finished.

Voice over:
File sharing is a procedure which makes digital information available to multiple sources, this includes films, video games and music, however unless the product has been made by the supplier or they have permission this act breeches copyright laws. If you download or make available copyrighted files you may be fined for each individual song, film, game or piece of software.

Advert Influence

2009-11-05T23:47:00.000-08:00

I have decided to make my advert using a computer screen and a website based on the type of adverts you sometimes see on adverts for car insurance or price comparison sites. The video bellow is the Direct Line advert taken from Youtube and I have used this advert to influence my own idea by using the computer screen to emphasise what the advert is saying.

As well as using the computer monitor to emphasise what is happening on screen I intend to use the screen to provide aditional information to the viewer, therefore allowing me to put less information on the voice over itself.

Simulated Project Proposal

2009-11-05T23:37:00.001-08:00

For this project I have been asked by the Copyright Protection Society to make an advert about when and why file sharing is illegal. Therefore intend to make a simple video which will show a young person sat at a computer on the internet. Before the person on screen does anything on the computer he will be talking on the phone and it is clear to the audience he is downloading things to sell. On the web page will be a list of things such as film and music, he will click one of the links and goes to a list of that multimedia type. When he clicks on a link instead of a download bar a warning will pop up with the consequences of downloading the film/song/game. While the video is on a voice over will explain in a simple way what file sharing is and the consequences of file sharing. At the end of the advert I intend to have an information page telling people how to contact the Copyright Protection Society. If there is not enough time to do this I intend to have the details at the bottom of the screen during the advert.
For the filming of this advert I intend to use the house I live in as it is easily accessible and the room I would like to use looks like a young persons room and will make the set appropriate. The house is ideal for filming as I will have access to anything I might need and the rooms are large enough to film in without being hindered by anything. As the set is at the house I am living at I will be able to easily feed anyone who is in the advert and we can use as much time at the set as we need.
On the desk next to the computer monitor will be a stack of blank DVD cases as a prop and another indication that he is file sharing.
I will not be using a music tack on this video as it is of a serious nature and I feel that music would distract the viewers from the message of the advert. However there will be some sound effects needed in order to make the website seem more realistic.
I have based this advert on similar ideas sometimes seen on insurance adverts by using a web page to aid the advert. I have decided to do this as I think that the style of this sort of advert will be appropriate to this advert due to the nature of the advert. I hope that by doing this it will better explain what file sharing is without having to say it in the voice over as the advert is only twenty seconds long.
In order to make the mock website I will make the pages on “Adobe Photoshop” and put them into “Adobe Flash” in order to make the links work. I will be able to make this easily as it is a simple process and I have used “Adobe Flash” before. As a result it will take a maximum of two days to make the mock website therefore I will be making the website on 9/11/09 and 10/11/09. I will be filming on 12/11/09 and editing on 13/11/09. I will use the following week to show people the video, reflect on what I have done and make changes where necessary.
The budget for this advert is a maximum of £10 as the only thing I will need to supply will be food for the person in the advert as I already have the rest of the items which we need to use.

Information on file sharing.

2009-11-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

In order to help me make my advert I have been looking at what file sharing is and I found the following information on a website, this information has proved useful in telling me exactly when file sharing is illegal and why it is illegal, i have used this information in order to help me write the voice over for my advert.
Is file sharing illegal or legal?
Question:
Is file sharing illegal or legal?
Answer:
Disclaimer: Computer Hope is not meant to be used as legal advise or representation. This document is general information to assist users who've asked this question on our site.
Is file sharing illegal?
No, it's 100% legal. In no state in the United States or in any other country is file sharing illegal. However, if you're sharing content that is protected by copyrights to other users that is illegal. Below are some good examples of where file sharing becomes illegal in many places around the world.
Downloading or sharing a copyrighted movie.
Sharing copyrighted songs (music) to other people who have not purchased those songs or downloading songs from other people when you've not purchased that song.
Sharing or downloading computer software (programs, games, etc.).
Downloading or sharing a copyrighted TV show or program.

Is P2P programs such as DirectConnect, eDonkey, Kazaa, Limewire, Napster, Delgado, etc. or bittorrent legal?
The programs and/or technologies behind file sharing are not illegal, it's data being shared that may be illegal. Using bittorrent or other file sharing programs to download a software patch or update a game demo, movie trailer, etc. is legal. However, using that same program to get a new hit song or a movie still in theaters is illegal.
What could happen if I get caught?
This all depends on your local laws. However, good example of what has happened to other people include: fine for each song, movie or software you've downloaded or shared. If you've downloaded hundreds of songs or other files this could be a large fine if found guilty. In Hong Kong a man has also been sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison for sharing files on a BitTorent website.

This information was taken from:
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001042.htm

I have also found a website which explains file sharing in a clear and concise way and backs up the information above. the following paragraph was taken from:
http://www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,1894,95111-6558-14706,00.html

The Recording Industry Association of America [RIAA] is an umbrella organization that represents, among many other things, the music industry's concerns about the distribution of music files via the Internet. This distribution of files is known collectively as file sharing, and the RIAA's concern has to do with illegal peer-to-peer [P2P] audio file sharing. P2P audio file sharing is illegal because of the U.S. Copyright Law. Owners of a copyright are guaranteed six exclusive rights under the Copyright Law and two of those exclusive rights are the right to control copies and distribution of those copies.

Pirate Bay Research

2009-11-05T23:01:00.000-08:00

In order to find out more about what file sharing is and why it is illegal i have done some research into Pirate Bay and why it was shut down. the folowing information is taken from the BBC website and it is about what Pirate Bay was and gives us more of an insight into file sharing.

Court jails Pirate Bay founders
Pirate Bay's Peter Sunde, speaking on his website: 'We cannot and wouldn't pay'A court in Sweden has jailed four men behind The Pirate Bay (TPB), the world's most high-profile file-sharing website, in a landmark case.
Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde were found guilty of breaking copyright law and were sentenced to a year in jail.
They were also ordered to pay $4.5m (£3m) in damages.
Record companies welcomed the verdict but the men are to appeal and Sunde said they would refuse to pay the fine.
Speaking at an online press conference, he described the verdict as "bizarre".
"It's serious to actually be found guilty and get jail time. It's really serious. And that's a bit weird," Sunde said.
"It's so bizarre that we were convicted at all and it's even more bizarre that we were [convicted] as a team. The court said we were organised. I can't get Gottfrid out of bed in the morning. If you're going to convict us, convict us of disorganised crime.
"We can't pay and we wouldn't pay. Even if I had the money I would rather burn everything I owned, and I wouldn't even give them the ashes."
It is almost certain that The Pirate Bay will keep on sailing, long after today's court judgement

The damages were awarded to a number of entertainment companies, including Warner Bros, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, and Columbia Pictures.
However, the total awarded fell short of the $17.5m in damages and interest the firms were seeking.
Speaking to the BBC, the chairman of industry body the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) John Kennedy said the verdict sent out a clear message.
"These guys weren't making a principled stand, they were out to line their own pockets. There was nothing meritorious about their behaviour, it was reprehensible.
"The Pirate Bay did immense harm and the damages awarded doesn't even get close to compensation, but we never claimed it did.
"There has been a perception that piracy is OK and that the music industry should just have to accept it. This verdict will change that," he said.
The Pirate Bay's first server is now a museum exhibit in Stockholm The four men denied the charges throughout the trial, saying that because they did not actually host any files, they were not doing anything wrong.
Speaking on Swedish Radio, assistant judge Klarius explained how the court reached its findings.
"The court first tried whether there was any question of breach of copyright by the file-sharing application and that has been proved, that the offence was committed.
"The court then moved on to look at those who acted as a team to operate the Pirate Bay file-sharing service, and the court found that they knew that material which was protected by copyright but continued to operate the service," he said.
A lawyer for Carl Lundstrom, Per Samuelson, told journalists he was shocked by the guilty verdict and the severity of the sentence.
"That's outrageous, in my point of view. Of course we will appeal," he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. "This is the first word, not the last. The last word will be ours."
Political issue
Rickard Falkvinge, leader of The Pirate Party - which is trying to reform laws around copyright and patents in the digital age - told the BBC that the verdict was "a gross injustice".
"This wasn't a criminal trial, it was a political trial. It is just gross beyond description that you can jail four people for providing infrastructure.

Mark Mulligan from Forrester Research says what was different about Pirate Bay"There is a lot of anger in Sweden right now. File-sharing is an institution here and while I can't encourage people to break copyright law, I'm not following it and I don't agree with it.
"Today's events make file-sharing a hot political issue and we're going to take this to the European Parliament."
The Pirate Bay is the world's most high profile file-sharing website and was set up in 2003 by anti-copyright organisation Piratbyran, but for the last five years it has been run by individuals.
Millions of files are exchanged using the service every day.
No copyright content is hosted on The Pirate Bay's web servers; instead the site hosts "torrent" links to TV, film and music files held on its users' computers.
This information was taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8003799.stm

I have also found similar information on:
www.macworld.com/article/143592/2009/10/piratebay_fine.html

"Avatar" James Cameron

2009-04-17T02:37:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to find out more about the upcoming film “Avatar” (James Cameron) which will be released 18/12/09 is shot in 3D but does not require the red and blue 3D glasses. I have been looking at the technology used for this as I believe it is going to become a popular method of filming, it may also inspire other people to come up with similar methods.
The camera that was used for this film was developed by James Cameron and uses two lenses set together at the same distance as your eyes. The lenses are moved to different focus points in a similar way to that of your eyes. This film has already created a lot of media interest which leads me to believe that it will be widely used soon. This video gave me the above information on the filming method from the film.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-241532803911842846&ei=1GbFSaWnNYP62wL-xaHpBA&q=stereoscopic&hl=en

Client 'Live' Project

2009-04-17T02:36:00.000-07:00

For my Client project I intend to do a project that will coincide with Jamie North’s client project. For my client project I am hoping to make an educational documentary mainly focused around Newark Castle’s history, however it may stretch to some of the surrounding areas of Newark. The documentary would most likely be set during the Civil War as the castle was more important at that time.
My intended client for this project is The Gilstrap Centre, which is situated at Newark Castle. This centre does a lot of work about Newark Castle and is used as a small museum. This would be an ideal company to try to put our idea forward to as it can be used to sell on a DVD or it can be shown in the Gilstrap Centre. The Gilstrap centre also looks at Newark during the Civil War (1640) so this is the most probable topic for the documentary.
Jamie intends to make a point and click game where you play as a non combat player, which will allow the player to explore the area and do various small side quests. This game will give the player chance to explore the castle and complete tasks which will follow the historical moment that we use.
My client project is different to Jamie North’s however our projects will link together in a few ways, firstly the client we intend to approach is the same. When the project is complete we will put both the documentary and game on the same disc for use at the Gilstrap centre. In my documentary I will be using some of Jamie’s 3D rendered images of the castle as it might have looked at the time the documentary is looking at. Jamie’s game side of the project will be focused on the same era as the documentary.
From this project we are hoping to make two separate client project, which work well on their own and also work as a joint project, which could be used or sold at The Gilstrap Centre.

More costs

2009-03-25T23:41:00.000-07:00

As well as paying out for these props I had to spend money on travel (train petrol) for people to get to our filming location, i had to pay for the hall, the mini DV tapes and the punching mits. i have included some recipets for some of these however i have yet to recieve my receipt for the hall.

Progress

2009-01-27T20:31:00.000-08:00

Well I think that I may have found my main actor and luckily he lives near by and so I can teach him the bokken work easily, however later I need to contact the police to ask permission to use the forest to train him as I dont have a large enough place to train him.
I have some one is mind for the master as well, I need to go to Newark later today to talk to him to see if he will be willing to do it.
While I was at home picking up the bokken and the katana my friend came over and we began sparring with the bokken, outside my house at 11:30pm but I now believe I have come up with the first of the bokken sequences, I just need to record it and teach it to the two actors.

Budgeting

2009-01-27T20:20:00.000-08:00

I have now began to buy the props i need for this project, I now have the two wooden bokken and the katana. I was pleased to find the katan arrived blunt as I had been worrying that I might have had to blunten it myself which would have damaged the blade. So far I have spent around £50 on this project and I have copied the recipets from ebay and these are bellow.

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6 Minute script draft 4

2009-01-20T23:43:00.000-08:00

By Richard Norman

21/01/09

INT: LARGE TRAINING ROOM (WOODEN FLOORING)

We see two men sat across from one another, the first is a plain
looking man wearing a plain black top and baggy black
trousers. he has a blank expression on his face. The other
man is wearing a martial arts gi, he is slightly older than
the other man but not old. The two men are engaged in a game
of chess, the match is clearly quite far through as there
are few pieces on the board. The Master is playing the white
pieces.

MASTER
You have been here for three months
now.

INT: LARGE TRAINING ROOM (WOODEN FLOORING)

We see The Master holding a large pad for kicking as Martin trains
furiously on the pad the Master is holding. The Master’s
face is impassive giving the audience a sense of power from
the Master.

INT: LARGE TRAINING ROOM (WOODEN FLOORING)

CLOSE UP:The master takes one of Martin's pieces.

MASTER
you have learnt everything possible
from me...

EXT SUN RISE. HILL TOP

Martin is sparring with the Master using bokken. As the camera
pans to Martin we see there is no emotion on his face, some
of this will be shot from a distance so we see mainly
silhouettes.

INT: LARGE TRAINING ROOM (WOODEN FLOORING)

The master takes another piece.

MASTER

But you have failed to see the most important lesson. Do you know
what that lesson is?

MARTIN
No Master

The master check mate's Martin.

MASTER
Do you do you want to know what
that lesson is Martin?

Martin knocks his king over.

MASTER
If you believe in any deity i
suggest you pray to them, it may
help.

EXT FOREST DAY

Martin is using a tree as a punch bag, his hands bound in
hand-wraps. He is still as expressionless as before. The
camera passes behind a tree and when it emerges on the other
side the forest has been replaced and instead of emerging at
the other side of the tree we see the tree is now different
and that the scene has changed.

EXT GRASSY AREA, NO ROADS DAY

In this scene we see Martin balancing on one leg, the Master places
a cup of water on his leg, Martin tries not to spill the
water but drops it.

MASTER
Keep balancing and put out your
arms, palms down.
Martin does so and the Master places a glass on either hand. Close
up: martin's face

we clearly see the frustration on Martins face as he tries
to balance the glasses.

EXT GRASSY AREA, NO ROADS, APPROACHING SUN SET

Martin and the Master are once more sparring with bokken, this
time we can clearly see the anger in Martin and frustration
on his face. He is slowly pushing the master back.

INT: LARGE TRAINING ROOM (WOODEN FLOORING)

MASTER
You have finally started to learn
the most important lesson, life is
unfair, you know that, you knew as
soon as you came to me. But you still
do not have what it takes.

WE follow them as they walk together down a hallway.

INT HALLWAY DIM LIGHTING

The master is walking slightly ahead of Martin

MASTER
Martin, when you came here you had
a purpose.

The Master stops and looks back at Martin.

MASTER
But now you have forgotten what you
set out to do because you are too
afraid of your problems.

Martin opens his mouth to speak but The master turns and begins
to walk again, he continues to speak as he walks.

INT BACK ROOM DIM LIGHTING

The only furnishings in the room are a hard backed chair a table
a TV a Video player and a small table lamp. the room is lit
only by the lamp.

MASTER
That is why you cannot deal out the
revenge you want to.

The Master picks up a tape from next to the TV.

Martin looks slightly fearful as the master Puts the tape in the
player. We cannot see what is on the tape as the camera will
be focused on Martin all the time.

Note the dialog of James and the Master is faded in and out and
we do not focus on either one of them. When the voice is
faded out it is replaced by a low buzzing sound.

JAMES
Martin, this is a personal message
from me to you, this is the price
of your failure to pay your
debt.This is your fault and you
will pay one way or another.

MARTIN
Master turn this tape off, please,
turn it off.

However we continue to hear the sounds on the tape making it clear
that the Master did not turn it off. We see moisture
gathering in his eyes. We now hear a woman screaming fading
in and out as well as the voice of the Master.

MASTER
You failed to take action when you
had to, you believe it to be your
fault and as such you are afraid to
face the man who killed her. And
you know what, you were right. It
is your fault she is dead, your
actions caused Michele's death.

Martin looks directly at the master for the first time since the
video was put on.

MARTIN
Get out.

The master turns and walks away, he pauses for a moment at the
door and then walks out. Martin drops to the floor crying.

EXT FIELD DAY

Martin is alone training with a katana, he has clearly improved
in skill and there is a new determination in his face. He
sets the sword aside and begins to do press ups on the
field, after doing several he sets out at a light jog.

EXT FIELD APPROACHING SUN SET

Martin wearing a pair of black trousers and black t-shirt,
he is pulling a black long sleeved top then a balaclavas
finally putting on a pair of black gloves, he picks up his
katana and then begins to run through the field into and out
of an opening.

EXT CASTLE RUINS, NIGHT TIME

James and his men are stood around a fire. They all look slightly
on edge. We hear a noise off camera. James inclines his head
toward the noise and one of his men goes to check what it
was, gun at the ready. The camera leaves the fire and
follows the man investigating the noise

GANGSTER 1
Nothin' here must have bin a dog.

The camera pans back to the fire, one person is missing. A second
noise off camera. Pan to look in that direction. Pan back.
Another person missing. James looks around for the cause of
his men going missing. P.O.V Martin, looking at James and
his last gangster. The camera moves towards the last
gangster, after a moment we can no longer see James as the
camera moves toward the intended victim. We hear the click
of a gun being cocked. We see both James and Martin from a
side on view, James has a gun to the back of Martin's head,
the shot pulls back and we see that Martin has the point of
his sword facing backward hovering over James's heart.

END

6 Minute Fcition Script Drafts 1-3

2009-01-14T23:53:00.000-08:00

The following three drafts are of my script for my six minute fictional piece, they are in the order they are written and I am currently writting another draft based on feedback from peers, friends and lecturers.
6 Minute Fictional Piece.

Characters.
The two main character focuses:
(note no characters will be named during the film therefore any names used are purely for scripting purposes).
Martin (the pupil): goes to the master to learn how to confront his enemies although we are not told until later in the story who he is trying to fight. This character has very little dialogue, keeping to his silence, which it is to be found out later, is due to grief. Martin will be wearing a black top and trousers
James (the killer): this character is not obviously the second central character, but for my story it is as the entire story unfolds due to his one action leading to Martin seeking revenge. We see this character twice and only one of them is in person as the other is a video. This character will be clean shaven and well groomed, always wearing a suit.

Additional characters:
The Master: the main talking character of this film he is charge of Martin’s training but his methods prove to be somewhat excessive to the point of being cruel. This character will be wearing a black Gi. I would ideally like to get my old media tutor Justin Day for this part as he is a martial artist and a drama actor.
Michele (Martin’s Girlfriend): Killed by James we only see this character briefly in the video and in Martin’s memory.

The Film.
So far I am unsure as of how exactly to start this film so that it fits the story and looks good. At this point I think that the best way to open it would be with a simple series of images displaying the opening credits. An alternative idea is to have Martin walking toward his destination, this is a simple idea and tends to look a little amateur which is why I am trying to keep clear of as much as possible.
When the first main scene kicks in we see Martin sat across from The Master in a dojo type room made of wood. I intend to achieve this by green screening this entire opening part. Although this is a typical scene for a fight film it is also necessary to lure the audience into a false sense of security for later on in the film.
In this scene the master will do the entire talking Martin being stoic and impassive throughout. As The Master is talking we see a montage of clips related to what he is saying. These clips are a couple of seconds of footage that will be shown in full through out the film. These include:
An open hand sparring match.
Meditating in an open forest
Physical labour
Training with bokken on a hilltop at sun set.
And finally one shot of Martin screaming and crying.
After this scene has ended we will see the beginning of the training, we will not see the master actually demonstrating the moves, simple Martin doing as he has been instructed. Many of these clips will from the shots above but the full versions, but as well as this there will be several that were not included.
The first of these scenes will be in a forest where Martin is using a tree as a punch bag, his hands bound in hand-wraps. A look of vigour on his face. The camera passes behind a tree and when it emerges on the other side the scene is different.
In this scene we can just see Martin sat quietly in a meditating position in a forest clearing.
This clip shows the master and Martin training at sunset at sunset on top of a hill, some of this will be shot from a distance so we see mainly silhouettes.
In this scene we see Martin dragging a cart filled with bricks. The wheels of the cart are square making it difficult to move. We see him pile up the bricks in a small square up to waist height. When he is done The master puts two thick pillows on the bricks and hands him a hammer. As he begins to hammer with force the camera cuts to his face, the anger is gone and he just seems empty.

In the next scene we see Martin and The Master sat across from each other, food between them.
Martin: “Master what is the point of all of these futile tasks?”
Master: “If you cannot tell me the answer to that then you are not ready to know.”

The scene changes and we once again see him doing his pointless tasks.

The scene goes back to the room where they were eating this time with small differences to make it clear it is a new day.
Master: “What is the point in these futile tasks?”
Martin: “To strengthen my body and mind.”
The master picks up Martins plate and empties half on the floor before placing it back in front of him.
The scene goes back to the pointless tasks.

The scene becomes another meal time
Master: “What is the point in these futile tasks?”
Martin: “To drive me insane.”
The Master empties two thirds of the food on the floor.

The scene goes back to the pointless tasks.

The scene becomes another meal time.
Master: “What is the point in these futile tasks?”
Martin: “there are no futile tasks”
The master smiles.
Master: “Now we can begin training your mind.”
In the next scene Martin is taped to a chair in a basement, across from him is a TV with a video playing on the screen. On the TV we see James holding Michele from behind, he has a knife to her throat and is laughing insanely to the camera as he slits her throat and lets her fall to the floor dead. The top flickers and plays the part with her throat being slit over and over again.
As the camera pans around to Martin he is screaming and crying at the TV, we cannot hear any audio as there will be music playing over it so that we can try and just get the raw emotion from his face and actions.
As the scene changes we open on the master asleep in bed, Martin standing above him with the Master’s sword in his hand a maniac look on his face as he stabs down.
In this final scene we see Martin and James facing one another possibly beside a river or in a warehouse. Both draw swords and stand prepared to fight.
END
First draft. Written 11/012/08.

6 Minute Fictional Piece draft 2

Characters.
The two main character focuses:
Martin (the pupil): goes to the master to learn how to confront his enemies although we are not told until later in the story who he is trying to fight. This character has very little dialogue, keeping to his silence, which it is to be found out later, is due to grief. Martin will be wearing a black top and trousers
James (the killer): this character is not obviously the second central character, but for my story it is as the entire story unfolds due to his one action leading to Martin seeking revenge. We see this character twice and only one of them is in person as the other is a video. This character will be clean shaven and well groomed, always wearing a suit.

Additional characters:
The Master: The master is in charge of Martin’s training but his methods prove to be somewhat excessive to the point of being cruel. This character will be wearing a black Gi. I would ideally like to get my old media tutor Justin Day for this part as he is a martial artist and a drama actor.
Michele (Martin’s Girlfriend): Killed by James we only see this character briefly in the video and in Martin’s memory.
James’s men: three men who will be dressed in suits, each one carries a gun (fake). Only one of these characters is required to speak.

The Film.
INT Gym/Dojo/Poorly Lit Room.
Master: “You have been here for three months now.”
INT: Large Training Room (wooden flooring)
We see The Master holding a large pad for kicking as Martin trains furiously on the pad the Master is holding. The Master’s face is impassive giving the audience a sense of power from the Master.
INT Gym/Dojo/Poorly Lit Room.
Master: “you have learnt everything possible from me...”
EXT Sun rise. Hill top.
Martin is sparring with the Master using bokken. As the camera pans to Martin we see there is no emotion on his face, some of this will be shot from a distance so we see mainly silhouettes.
INT Gym/Dojo/Poorly Lit Room.
Master: regret in his voice “...Except for the one thing I have been trying to teach you. You have become so submerged in your own private little world that you have missed the most important lesson. Do you know what that lesson is?”
Martin: flat voiced and expressionless “No master.”
Master: “Would you like to learn?”
Martin: “Yes master”
Master: solemnly “I suggest you pray to any deity you may believe in”
EXT Forest.
Martin is using a tree as a punch bag, his hands bound in hand-wraps. He is still as expressionless as before. The camera passes behind a tree and when it emerges on the other side the forest has been replaced and instead of emerging at the other side of the tree we see the tree is now a wooden shed.
EXT Grassy area, no roads.
In this scene we see Martin dragging a cart filled with bricks. The wheels of the cart are square making it difficult to move as he drags the cart we see his face, for the first time he seems to be getting angry. We see him pile up the bricks in a small square up to waist height. When he is done The master covers the bricks with a thick quilt and hands him a hammer. As he begins to hammer with force the camera cuts to his face, there is now slightly more anger in his eyes.
INT Gym/Dojo/Poorly Lit Room.
Master: “You have finally started to learn the most important lesson, life is unfair, you know that, you knew as soon as you came to me. Now you are about to learn what to do about it, the only problem is you have to learn it for yourself.”
Martin: “How am I to do that?”
Master: “Do not worry, I shall provide the means, you shall provide the result”
INT Basement.

In the next scene Martin is taped to a chair, across from him is a TV with a video playing on the screen. On the TV we see James holding Michele from behind, he has a knife to her throat and is laughing insanely to the camera as he slits her throat and lets her fall to the floor dead. The tape flickers and plays the part with her throat being slit over and over again.
As the camera pans around to Martin he is screaming and crying at the TV, we cannot hear any audio as there will be music playing over it so that we can try and just get the raw emotion from his face and actions.
As the scene changes we open on the master asleep in bed, Martin standing above him with the Master’s sword in his hand and a look of pure hatred his face.
Martin: Softly “Life is unfair master, sleep well for you have created your evil, your time is done”
With a look of pure joy on his face he begins to laugh insanely. The screen fades to black. Off camera we hear the sound of a blade cutting through the air and the thud of the blade hitting the bed.
EXT Castle ruins, night time.
James and his men are stood around a fire. They all look slightly on edge. We hear a noise off camera. James inclines his head toward the noise and one of his men goes to check what it was, gun at the ready. The camera leaves the fire and follows the man investigating the noise.
Gangster 1: “Nothing here, must have been a dog”
The camera pans back to the fire, one person is missing. A second noise off camera. Pan to look in that direction. Pan back. Another person missing. James looks around for the cause of his men going missing.
P.O.V Martin, looking at James and his last gangster. The camera moves towards the last gangster, after a moment we can no longer see James as the camera moves toward the intended victim. We hear the click of a gun being cocked.
We see both James and Martin from a side on view, James has a gun to the back of Martin’s head, the shot pulls back and we see that Martin has the point of his sword facing backward hovering over James’s heart.
END
Second draft written 06/01/09

6 Minute Fictional draft 3

By Richard Norman

08/01/09

TITLE SEQUENCE

We see two men sat across from one another, the first is a plain
looking man wearing a plain black top and baggy black
trousers. he has a blank expression on his face. The other
man is wearing a martial arts gi, he is slightly older than
the other man but not old.

MASTER
You have been here for three months
now.

INT: LARGE TRAINING ROOM (WOODEN FLOORING)

We see The Master holding a large pad for kicking as Martin trains
furiously on the pad the Master is holding. The Master’s
face is impassive giving the audience a sense of power from
the Master.

INT GYM/DOJO/

MASTER
you have learnt everything possible
from me...

EXT SUN RISE. HILL TOP

Martin is sparring with the Master using bokken. As the camera
pans to Martin we see there is no emotion on his face, some
of this will be shot from a distance so we see mainly
silhouettes.

INT GYM/DOJO

MASTER

But you have failed to see the most important lesson. Do you know
what that lesson is?

MARTIN
No Master

MASTER
Do you even want to learn what that
lesson is Martin?

MARTIN
Yes Master

MASTER
If you believe in any deity pray to
them, it may help.

EXT FOREST DAY

Martin is using a tree as a punch bag, his hands bound in
hand-wraps. He is still as expressionless as before. The
camera passes behind a tree and when it emerges on the other
side the forest has been replaced and instead of emerging at
the other side of the tree we see the tree is now a wooden
shed.

EXT GRASSY AREA, NO ROADS DAY

In this scene we see Martin dragging a cart filled with bricks.
The wheels of the cart are square making it difficult to
move as he drags the cart we see his face, for the first
time he seems to be getting angry. We see him pile up the
bricks in a small square up to waist height. When he is done
The master covers the bricks with a thick quilt and hands
him a hammer. As he begins to hammer with force the camera
cuts to his face, there is now slightly more anger in his
eyes.

INT GYM/DOJO/

MASTER
You have finally started to learn
the most important lesson, life is
unfair, you know that, you knew as
soon as you came to me. But you still
do not have what it takes, follow
me I have one more thing to show
you.

WE follow them as they walk together down a hallway to a
room with a TV on a table and a hard back chair. the room is
lit by a small desk lamp.

MASTER
Martin, this is hard for me to do
but you have forgotten why you came
here. You have buried your anger
because you are too afraid of your
problems, that is why you cannot
deal out the revenge you want to.
perhaps this will help.

The Master picks up a tape from next to the TV.

MARTIN
Master, what is that?

The master ignores him and puts the tape in. on the tape we
see a young man in a suit stood behind a woman wearing an
engagement on her finger. The young man has a knife to the
woman's throat.

JAMES
Martin, this is a personal message
from me to you, this is the price
of your failure to pay your debt.

MARTIN
Master turn this tape off, NOW.

The master goes to the TV and turns it off. Martin grabs the
master and slams him into the wall, tears in his eyes.

MARTIN
Where did you get this tape?

MASTER
That is unimportant Martin. The
importance is in the fact that you
failed to take action when you had
to, you believe it to be your fault
and as such you are afraid to face
the man who killed her. And you
know what, you were right. It is
your fault she is dead, had you
payed back what you owed Michele
would be alive today.

MARTIN
GET OUT, LEAVE ME, you cruel sick
bastard.

The master leaves. Martin falls to the floor crying. the
scene fades to black.

INT LIVING ROOM NIGHT

Martin and Michele are sat on a sofa together there is no
dialogue, instead there is music. They are both laughing and
have alcholic drinks.

The scene remains the same but the characters fade out and
fade back in both stood facing one another. Both appear to
be angry and yelling at one another.

The characters fade out again and fade back in, Michele is
sat on the sofa while Martin is holding out a ring,
proposing to her.

EXT CASTLE RUINS, NIGHT TIME

James and his men are stood around a fire. They all look
slightly on edge. We hear a noise off camera. James inclines
his head toward the noise and one of his men goes to check
what it was, gun at the ready. The camera leaves the fire
and follows the man investigating the noise

GANGSTER 1
Nothin' here must have bin a dog.

The camera pans back to the fire, one person is missing. A
second noise off camera. Pan to look in that direction. Pan
back. Another person missing. James looks around for the
cause of his men going missing. P.O.V Martin, looking at
James and his last gangster. The camera moves towards the
last gangster, after a moment we can no longer see James as
the camera moves toward the intended victim. We hear the
click of a gun being cocked. We see both James and Martin
from a side on view, James has a gun to the back of Martin's
head, the shot pulls back and we see that Martin has the
point of his sword facing backward hovering over James's
heart.

END

Backstory

2009-01-14T23:41:00.001-08:00

The following images are take from Jamie North's blogg and is work we have worked on with some others however the main backstory is done by myslef and Jamie, as each of the characters are based on Jamie's friends (including myself) we have all contributed some work to our own character creation, however most of the character profiles are not finished and so they are not available at this time, these will follow as we progress.

Images 1-6: Jamie North: Jamieworknstuff.bloggspot.com

The Map and First Town

2009-01-14T23:28:00.001-08:00

Image 1

This image was drawn by Jamie North and is a map of the island that the game is set on. On a more personal note i have gained a lot of understanding of photoshop by putting this image in, we used an A4 scanner for an A3 page and i had to adjust the levels so they all looked the same and do a lot of cloning to smooth out very bad areas.We have been using this map a lot to help us think of ideas to do with the story and the characters. The following image is handwriten by myself and Jamie North and is all about what you do when you first get in control of the character.

Image 2

Image 1: Jamie North http://jamieworknstuff.blogspot.com/

Image 2: Jamie North and Richard Norman also show on http://jamieworknstuff.blogspot.com/

The Magic and Weapon System

2009-01-14T22:55:00.000-08:00

Image 1
The above image is of the magic system that we have been slowly developing, the system is based on two things. There are is one system that links up the different magics, as these feed into each other they create a different spell or if they are linked to a summon they create an new summon. The second magic is seperate from the first linked up magics and this spell effects the magic on the weapon. The use of the magic names Fire Water ect is purely for example as a typical RPG type of magic use.

Image 2

This image shows how we have designed the magics to be used with the weapons. On the weapons we can see blocks leading into another central block, this is demonstrating how the magics link together in order to create the more powerful magic. Although this picture does not demonstrate it well on each weapon there is a blocker stopping anything from linking to that magic. This is the one that effects the weapons, for example if they use a fire element the sword with do fire damage. This means that the player will have to think very hard about what magics they link and which they make effect the weapon and this set up will probably need to be changed for different situation stratergies.

Image 3

This image is missing some text next to the words electron, energy and conductor is "lightning", this is showing an example of away we could link up magics to make other magics. It also shows how a magic might do damage or effects to an enemy or yourself if the enemy casts it. At the top of the image is how different magics are stronger or weaker than others.

Image 1: Jamie North http://jamieworknstuff.blogspot.com/

Image 2: Jamie North http://jamieworknstuff.blogspot.com/

Image 3: Jamie North http://jamieworknstuff.blogspot.com/

RPG game design

2009-01-14T22:29:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months I have been helping Jamie North designing an RPG the following work is what we have been working on over the past few months.
This storyline is written by Jamie North however i helped him with reviewing it and making suggestions for changes. The inclusion of this work is also essential for explaining other parts of the blogg and for the understanding of the game.
"Opening Video- Part 1The opening video fades from black and shows a large mildly Victorian age styled room with an easel centred in the middle facing the wall there is a thick closed book on it, also there is soothing saxophone music playing in the background that fades in also (but it is distorted as it fades in and takes a few seconds to recover.) As the shot pans left it shows all kinds of paintings and ornaments, but there are no windows other than a row of port holes with big bolts holding them shut which are lined along one wall, 5 spaced out, its pitch black outside. As it progresses it shows another wall coming up the left and out of the shot, there is a small rectangle space into the wall with a candle on each side, and in this space is a man who is chained to the wall with cuffs on his wrists and ankles which are holding his legs and arms spread, suspended up the wall away from the floor, he is unconscious and wearing dirty grey torn clothes with big blood stains all over them (most prudently over his chest,) and a grey hood that darkens out his face and blood stained bandages which cover his mouth and neck (those being the only things seen from the hood). The shot stops here and a big black dirty boot steps into shot from the right and walks to the man, he is wearing a standard full English army camouflage uniform for a private, and he has a round black cap with a flat base and a thick dark blonde moustache. He walks up to the man looks him square in his slouched head, chin resting against his right shoulder. The shot changes at this point to both their heads filling the screen from the side so it seems as though the private is looking into the grey hood. (But the unknown man’s face is never seen from the hood other than perhaps the parts covered in bandages.)
Private: You don’t get angry do you? (pause) You just CALCULATE! (As he shouts “calculate” spit flies from his mouth at the man.)
The man begins to slowly lift his head and open his eyes to look him square in the face.
Man: (Calmly) I am anger, you should be afraid.
Private: (Chuckles) Ha! (Looks closely into his face and snarls) That’d be like fearing a caged animal, wouldn’t it.
The private stands up straight and makes a sharp 180 degree turn, half way through this the shot changes to facing the wall with the man behind him as he finishes his turn and he begins to march off the shot to the right. But just as he is nearly out of the shot he stops with his face in clear view, he does this because at this moment in the background he hears (and can be seen in shot) the chains loosen and fall off the wall and his body, the man falls to his knees and stands up carefully but fairly quickly, examining his wrists in a calm but surprised manor. All this time the private is showing a gradually daunting look on his face and finishes by closing his eyes and looking down.
Private: (Whispers) No.
The shot changes to show one of the cuffs and chain on the floor close up, his knee falls down to the right and his dirty scratched hand comes from the top of the shot and picks it up. Now we see it from behind him from where he once hung as he walks away sharply towards the private who doesn’t move (still faced away from him, hands holding each other behind his back.) The man grabs both ends of the chain and cuff and immediately puts it over the private’s head and pulls it tight around his neck. The shot changes to a very low angle along the floor; there is a sound of the snap of his neck and a loud angry grunt from the unknown man, the private’s body falls to the floor faced away (head, neck and shoulders fills the view,) the chain falls after, dropped on his head and neck carelessly. He walks along the room in the background towards the easel.
The shot now changes to behind the easel at eye level, he is already in the shot, he walks further in and turns to face the book which is resting centred and closed on the easel.
Man: (Starts to take angry deep breaths) Its time I set things right, its time I took things into my own hands.
He raises his left arm above his head and a thick curved dagger materialises in his hand, his fingers slowly wrap around it, the blade is emitting a green glow which becomes the main source of light, still his face is never seen past the bandaged area. The shot cuts to facing the book, it’s dusty and brown with a simple faded brass border pattern. He drives the dagger into the book and slices a hole down it and pulls the blade out again. There is a pause before the lighting in the room begins to change, a blood red light starts to shine through the port holes behind him and light the room with direct beams of light, the various candles in the room change colour to red also, and a number of still and moving shots cover all this. The room begins to shake furiously, the man leans forward and holds onto the easel to stay up, a bright white light shines out of the slice in the book and consumes him. As the camera moves away from him the light gets brighter until all that there is left is whiteness. It fades from the whiteness to reveal the shot is looking at him from behind through one of the port holes from outside, as the white light goes away into the hole it reveals him burning with black flames in places and he collapses, slumping to the side onto the floor, and as the camera moves away ghost like spirits and arms begin to claw out of the hole in the book. The shot continues to come away from the port hole and turn about 60 degrees left whilst continuing to move backwards, all this time the 5 port holes are in shot getting further and further away, the shot shows the room is embedded halfway down a giant rock face in a tight valley, almost like a huge crack in the earth, its night time and eventually the bottom is seen which is filled with rough sea water and in the distance is the horizon and the ocean (seen through the end of the valley.) As the shot stops the room explodes outwards into the valley and debris falls slowly down to the sea, immediately in the blown out room can be seen monsters climbing out onto the rock face and dark spirits flying away some flying past the camera to be seen clearly. Music fades in (unknown at this point) and at a certain beat or note the scene cuts quickly to black.Opening Video- Part 2The sun is shining brightly down onto some gardens behind a row of 5 old brick houses separated from each other by narrow pathways; each garden has a lush green hedge bordering it except from the back end of the each garden which has a low white picket fence so to show the ocean. These gardens are on a cliff edge and 30 ft below that are small grassy hills that are suffering from erosion, the waves of sea water can be heard crashing up against these from a distance. The shot begins from the black screen where the previous scene left off; it fades to white and then fades away to show the bright 12 o’clock sun in the blue sky and various small clouds, the camera rotates diagonally right and down to gradually show the garden and stops on a young lad aged 18 lounged on a garden chair and looking into his laptop which is on his legs, he is wearing dark green combats and a thick blue belt with a white zigzag line going all the way around it and a silver buckle holding it together. His t-shirt is black and there is a 5 inch thick silver stripe going around the breast of the shirt, he is also wearing big combat boots and has a short military haircut. The camera is angled low and almost from behind him. The garden is filled with various objects of leisure like footballs, a goal post, a hose pipe left leaking water into the grass, a swing ball post and bats left on the ground, a broken basketball hoop, a spade and half planted shrubbery, also there is a small white table next to the chair on the left the lad is using to keep a cold drink, a magazine and some sun glasses on. The young lad looks up to the sun and casually shields his eyes from the light with his right hand and puts a thin pair of sunglasses over his eyes with his left. He puts both his hands back down to his laptop and continues look up, he takes a deep breath. The wind blows gently and makes the grass rustle.Lad: I can’t just do this every day... (Long Pause, looks around, notes the waves and wind)... maybe I should join the army.
There is another long pause and eventually the wind stops blowing and the sound of the crashing waves begins to get louder. He takes his laptop and holds it away from him as he gets up and places it on his seat, he takes a quick mouthful of his drink and starts to walk towards the end of the garden. The angle changes to looking at him from the cliff edge of the garden as he walks towards the fence slowly, looking at the sky. From here we can clearly see the 3 floor house he lives in. As he reaches the fence and stops moving thunder can be heard beginning to rumble and the sun starts to fade and turn red. Now we see the sky from over his left shoulder as he looks up to the sun. Further down the sky closer to the horizon there is a giant thick cloud illuminated red from the sunlight, a bright white light tears through the centre and the entire cloud spirals around it for a second and stops. The massive beam almost seems to be directed towards him.
Lad: What the fu...?
Just as this is said a long spear like object comes rocketing towards him from the bright hole in the cloud at a phenomenal speed, the camera angle changes to a side view of his upper body and his speech is cut short by the speeding object driving its way through his right shoulder and sending him flying backwards as blood quickly squirts from the wound, the entire object makes it through his body and the shot changes to an extreme close-up of the blade stabbing into the ground out of sight and forcing up a lump of grass, the rest of the object relaxes to the ground as some kind of strip of material which is attached to the unknown blade like a long ribbon. As this happens you can see in the background just out of focus the lad collapse to the ground, hard. There can be seen smoke rising from his wound. The camera starts to move away from focusing on the blade in the ground and begins to move backwards and higher up keeping both it and the lad in the shot, the picture blurs out of focus to white again, all that is left is the continuing sound of the waves out at sea.
The whiteness begins to fade and we see his closed right eye which is mostly filling the shot as he lay unconscious on the ground, the camera is turned so it seems as though he is upright and he is leaning against a wall of grass, all seems well the waves of the sea can be heard and the sun is making everything about the image look healthy. His eye opens quickly, the pupil adjusts itself, he blinks and at that instant everything goes back to how it was when he was struck down, everything about him is tinted red from the bloody sun and sky. The camera begins to zoom out of his eye to slowly show his whole face, there is no sound of waves just a gentle breeze; almost as if the sea stopped, it was a sound he wasn’t used to, silence, living on a small island the only constant sound was the waves of the sea. He sits up with immediate alarm, we see this from his right his whole body is in shot and the garden hedge is in the background. The sky can be seen in this shot, the clouds have all disappeared, the sky itself is like a sunset that has lit everything alight with a blood red colour and the horizon is a yellow almost like the placenta separating from it.
He quickly checks his wound where he finds nothing but a hole in his shirt, he takes a quick look around from left to right and loudly lets out a panicked and confused breath of fear, then looks over his shoulder and feels for the other side, the angle of the camera also changes to looking at him from where the unknown blade is stuck in the ground as he notices it. The lad crawls across to look at it but before he does his attention is drawn to the right of it, a thick leather bound book lay there with a simple square border made of very well maintained silver and a silver clad buckle keeping it closed, it looks like it was just made, fresh from the hands of a skilled craftsman. We see it from over his left shoulder as he goes to pick it up from the ground; his hand reaches for the buckle of the book. Now we see it from waist height, looking up at him reaching to unlock the book. The buckle is loosened, the camera switches to looking square at the hedge to his left, something pushes against it, and the view switches back. He opens the front cover, entrapped into the mission of discovering its contents; the first page is simply titled “The Way”. He turns for the second page after a long look at the title, again the camera looks away to his right this time and we see a harder shove from the other side of the hedge. The camera looks back and we see as he settles the page turned against the other side of the book, a look of confusion develops on his face as he scans the two new pages. Suddenly a flash of white light escapes the pages and consumes his upper body but then disappears within seconds; he is left looking wide eyed at the book, his pupils large and white themselves.
The look on his face begins to weaken and he starts to feel ill, the book turns to black ash in his hands, his eyes examine it with a weary look, he starts to foam at the mouth and falls to his knees in front of our view of him. Then we look at the hedge to his left which is struck from the other side again, this time a top portion of it is pushed in a clump into the garden and something starts to claw its way over, grunts can now be heard, we look at his right side now and the same thing happens to the other hedge. The lad himself is too preoccupied with tending to his sick and weakened state as we see from his right side with the clambering things in the background, he slowly looks to the left at what is going on, we can start to hear his heartbeat over all the audio, he sees the pushed over hedge, then turns his head to the right still hunched over, everything starts to slow down and his heartbeat get faster and louder, the expression on his face drops from a look of pain to a look of panic as he spots in clear view one of those things which had made it over to his garden. We see it panning from the bottom upwards slowly still his heart racing as the main audio, its humanoid or at least it used to be, the skin has become bruised over 100% of the body, all of the flesh is covered in yellow and black swellings, the clothes it is wearing are like rags, faded of almost all colour and torn to the point they are not practical anymore, this one in particular has lost its whole bottom lip, by the looks of the skin left it was just torn off the face. But the teeth are all pointed and from the expression alone he could tell it is hostile. He snaps out of it and we see him from the location of the blade which is in the ground, he dives for it and grabs it by the ribbon attached to it and pulls it from the soil. He gets up and stands ready to fight with the blade in one hand and the ribbon bundled in the other, we see him from between two of these bruised enemies, there are 4 surrounding him from all corners, one lunges at him and without a second thought he immediately attacks, the heartbeat sound stops and the camera starts to rotate slowly around the attack group, he shifts all his weight and rotates his whole body 360 degrees twice and on the second turn he is low to the ground and the blade extended with the reach of some of the length of ribbon, the sharp blade slices all four enemies in the circle formation around the belly area as it swings around him. They all fall back and blood mixed with all kinds of infection and puss leaks from their bodies and runs down them until they fall to the ground one by one, it seems they had nearly no blood pressure for any serious bloodshed.Storyline, first draftAfter the opening sequence our main character is left in the long back garden against the cliffs, if the player takes time to explore through one of the holes created by the monsters he would find an item on the floor which should be some kind of basic recovery. The first objective is to enter the house through the back door and look for his mother inside, every time he enters a room a sound should play of him calling out for her. The player may take the time here to examine things in the house which give clues as to the background of the place and other clues made sense later. Once a note is found that tells him that she is at the local shop the player must leave the house through the front door, when he opens it more of the strange badly infected are outside and force their way in, this introduces the player to the first battle in a constrained area (corridor, and rest of house if player chooses). After this battle the player is left free to explore the village but the only trigger point is at the shop and the player is not allowed to leave the village somehow, all this time there are more of those Puss-heads wandering around some even killing NPC’s. Once you reach the shop a frightened cashier from behind the counter tells you she was on her way back when this happened, also it is obvious that someone has robbed the place of certain supplies.
Mc: (Wide eyed and panicked) She must have taken the back way! (He gets up to leave right away)
Cashier: Wait! Something... (Calmly) something crashed right through that way and blocked it off, take the back way out of here and you should be fine.
Mc: Thanks mate. (Runs off immediately)
The cashier is left looking slightly lost and appears like he could have done with his help, he goes about hiding himself even more when a background scream is heard. The next part presents the first puzzle for the player, this is simply for the player to find the back door and then figure out a way to get out of the loading area by going over the wall and into the back way home. This is done by finding objects lying around then pushing and pulling them so they stack in order to make steps over the wall, there could even be many ways to solve this puzzle other than the obvious one. Once in the back ally the player is introduced to the spawning feature this game includes. As he is running down the back ally Puss-heads are making their way over the walls, crashing through windows and so forth, these become fightable enemies once properly spawned. This leaves further choice whether to fight for a while of keep moving, the game would of course at this point restrict the amount of random fighting you can initiate in because of current level and available health resources. "
Jamie North http://jamieworknstuff.blogspot.com/

2008-12-18T00:12:00.000-08:00

While walking to Basford a few nights ago me and Jamie noticed a poster for a new vampire film. we found that this poster made us quite angry as most vampire films are the same, about how romantic vampires are and how they have a great life. in order to try and change this we came up with a mockumentary idea about a vampire. we have started to write the outline (which is above) and we are intending to start on the script soon. we think that this would be easy to make and we could make it on a low budget.

Sketch show ideas

2008-12-18T00:10:00.000-08:00

the picture above is a scanned page from a note pad we have been using to write ideas down. the page is of the first few ideas we have had for a sketch show. we intend for this sketch show to be quite dark humored with an adult target audience.

My script

2008-12-18T00:04:00.000-08:00

I have begun to write my own feature legth film lately, i have included what i have so far of this although it needs editing as i now know more about script writing.

Un-named Film

A Brief Introduction.
As I was walking the 5 mile treck home one night after a heavy night of drinking I started to have this idea for a film that in a few years time I would be able to make, at this moment it is a little too ambitious to put into production and so I am going to work on it through time and I want to show this to people to get them interested and get people to help work on it over time.

The Outlining Idea.

The idea for this film is fairly simple, the story follows that of the main character as he stumbles through the world in his drug addicted personal little world. Also with the main character throughout is his girlfriend. At the start of the film everything seems to be ok for the couple as they take the drugs and have fun while they do it. Each day they would get up and do the same routine, going out stealing the money to fuel their addiction, then taking the drugs.
However one day everything goes badly for our main character, who henceforth fill be known as Tez to make things easier. Due to a blunder by Tez (the nature of this blunder is as of yet un-known), a new dealer in town loses a large quantity of cocaine. In his fury this new big time dealer threatens Tez, giving him 3 days to come up with the money or he will be killed for his mistake. As the deadline draws ever closer Tez’s girlfriends is taken to act as a motivation for Tez, who is not only feeling the anger and pain at losing his girlfriend and having to find a large quantity of cash but also is feeling the lack of drugs after the few days of not being able to take any.
On the day of the deadline Tez enters the derelict warehouse used for the meeting to meet the dealer. As Tez has only gotten half the money he is knelt in front of the dealer crying and begging for more time, at this point we have not seen the dealer and this scene continues to show him only through the shadows, he agrees to give him two more days as he is a fair man, however he would not give him his girlfriend back as she acts as such a stimulant to him.
On the second day Tez is told to meet the dealer in the open for the first time, they make the meeting public to show that the dealer has no fear of the police or other authorities. As he gets to the meeting place Tez knows something is wrong as his girlfriend is stood unconscious. He is told she has been poisoned and must fight the dealer if he is to save her.
At this point I want to integrate in to the film a scene I thought of a long time ago and think would look amazing if done properly. In this scene I want a full fight scene lasting about ten to fifteen minutes, the fight would take place on the fountain in Nottingham city centre, with the water flying and the fight that could be choreographed I think this scene could be made to be stunning.
Tez fails to get the antidote and kneels with her head in his lap crying and screaming in anguish. He is given a further two days and in his anguish is unable to bring himself to get up and take vengeance.
As he arrives home he finds out he has had his house taken off him and has nowhere to live, sleeping the night in the gutter he begins a desperate struggle to get the money and save his own life, robbing post offices and banks and mugging old ladies.
He arrives at the new meeting place with the money and throws it at the dealer’s feet. The dealer is apologising for the methods it took to get the money but cruelty was needed to motivate him, all the time Tez is not listening and his mind is numb, he keeps seeing himself brutally murdering the dealer. He is brought out of his deep thought by one of the dealer lackeys walking up and whispering to the dealer. Suddenly looking angry the dealer looks at Tez and begins to yell, the cash is over a thousand pounds short, Tez begins to cry and plead, insisting all the money was there before.
The dealer nods to someone in the shadows and in the small sphere of light we can see and arm raises slowly, as it does so he catches sight of one of the dealers henchman and recognises him as one of the police that busted him in the first place, as the gun is raising flashes and interspersed within and we see images of the henchman taking the thousand pound, we see shots before the blunder of the dealer setting the blunder up and he realises what has happened.
We see Tez look up and say a single word “Why?” the only response from the dealer is to look directly at Tez, a close up of the dealers mouth and we see and hear him say “kill him” in a very slightly slowed down shot. The gun is fired from the shadows and Tez drops dead, we see him hit the floor in slow motion and see his wide eyed head hit the floor. As we watch a pair of feet emerge from the shadows and the camera pans up, as the camera gets to the killers face we see the sunken hollow face of his girlfriend, she is crying as she quietly apologises to her former boyfriend. We see a flash back of the day on the fountain and a closer look at the girl reveals subtle differences that explain it was not her who had been killed.
The dealer walks over to her and whispers comforting words to her while shooting up for her, there will be more flash backs of her with the dealer in days before and all though we cannot hear what is being said we get the idea from the images that she was in league with him and that the whole scheme was to fuel her heroine addiction.
The dealer slowly walks her away and leads her to a room that she has clearly lived in for some time, as he chains her to the wall she has no reaction, we hear him talking to her but all we hear is him softly say, “sorry but you too dangerous to me”, she remains stony faced as if not hearing him. As he closes the door he withdraws a grenade from his pocket, removes the pin and throws it into the room. The last shot of the film we see the dealer walking away in slow motion as the room explodes behind him.

The Death of Tez Scene.

Scene opens.
Tez is walking up a long cobbled drive toward a small but rich looking house. He knocks at the door and a small window is opened. A gorilla sized man is looking back at him. The window closes and the door is opened. He enters and is just about to set foot in when he is stopped and it is indicated he should remove his shoes. He does so. He is lead down a long dark corridor to a room at the end. He knocks and enters. The room is lit by a single desk lamp. We can see a large wooden desk, neatly ordered with papers a computer and a few pens. In the corner nearest the door we see a large pot plant intended for decoration. Along the wall are some very expensive looking paintings. We can hear Mozart drifting quietly in the background. In the corner to the left movement can be seen but the light does not permit the audience to see who is there.
Behind the desk the dealer is sat dressed in a crisp expensive suit. He beckons Tez in. He walks forward and throws the money at him without word. A thug walks forward and takes the money. The money is put through a counter. Tez’s face is blank and hollow we can hear a dull noise in the background blocking out sound.
Dealer: I am sorry for the circumstances in which this arose, but you understand don’t you? After all it’s just business.” He smiles.
Tez just looks blankly back.
The thug walks up to the dealer and whispers to him. The dealer suddenly looks infuriated.
Dealer “I thought we had an understanding, you were to bring the rest of the money or die.”
Tez is stood crying out pleading saying that all the money was there before.
Dealer: (shouting) “I have shown you infinite patients, and this is how you repay me? I gave you an extra four days because I liked you and you dare to come here with less than asked for?” he nods toward the corner.
An arm lifts slowly from the shadow, the camera flashes to Tez’s face, it then flashes to the thug that counted the money, a flash and a black and white image appears of the police officer that arrested him, it is the same man. The camera flashes back to Tez.
Tez (shouting): “You set me up.”
Dealer points to corner.
Tez whirls round and we see his face, looking on from the gunman’s point of view. Tez looks stunned.
Cut to the dealer, closer up on lips.
Dealer: “Kill him” (slowed slightly during edit.)
Tez: (tears in eye’s) “Why?”
The gun is fired. The gunman slowly walks out from the shadows to reveal the presumed dead Debby, hollow faced and crying.
Debby: “I’m sorry”
Flashback.
Debby is meeting with the dealer in the same room, they are sat making plans and discussing things unheard by the audience. On the table we see drawn plans for the blunder and they are pointing to parts and talking.
Present
We see the dealer walk forward and whisper calmly to her, all the while he is attaching a belt to her arm and injecting for her. He slowly walks her back down the corridor to a set of steps leading down. He takes her into her room and chains her to the wall.
Dealer: “I am sorry my dear, but you are far too dangerous, well it’s been fun, see you around” (smiles slightly)
Debby remains silent and unmoved. The dealer is stood at the door; he looks through and removes a pin from a grenade before throwing it into room. He walks away, the room explodes, slow motioned walking during the explosion.

this section is an idea i had an wrote up i have scanned it in and included it here

Four Components for a good Script

2008-12-12T04:22:00.000-08:00

Now that i know more about opening my script, the layout of my script i need to know what makes a "good" script. to do this i have researched into what i should include to acchieve this. The work following is NOT my own and has been highlighted and annotated in paper form, soon to follow once scanned. The following information was taken from
http://www.filmscriptwriting.com/essentialscomponentsofstorytellinginscriptwriting.html
Give Your Character a Goal
Everyone has one major goal in life. Right now yours could be to become a professional scriptwriter, and you’re trying to achieve that goal by constantly writing, reading http://www.filmscriptwriting.com/index.html, taking a scriptwriting class, etc. However this type of goal wouldn’t be very interesting to watch someone obtain. Instead give your character a goal which requires him to practically put his life on the line. Make it nigh on impossible for them to achieve their goal and see how they react.
There should be a point in the story where it seems the character will never be able to achieve their goal but then they pull out that little bit more and get the job done.
Constantly Challenge Your Character
Your story should be set at the most crucial point of your character’s life. Maybe he’s just been diagnosed with AIDS or his life is crumbling around him, he’s lost his wife, kids and job. Whatever the challenge your main character should be going through emotional and/or physical hell.
Always keep your main character on his toes. Just when things seem to be settling down throw a bigger obstacle at him. Put him in the line of fire. By constantly challenging your character you give them the opportunity to develop and improve their self by the end of the story.
Focus On How Your Character Deals With These Challenges
Which challenges does your character deal well with? Which ones does he struggle with? How does he learn from these obstacles?
Every scene in your script should be written around the journey of your main character. While you might have sub-plots the script should always be focused on your main character’s journey. This is the spine of the story, if you ignore the spine then your script won’t move.
Outer and Inner Forces
A story moves forward by conflict. Conflict is represented by two forces, inner forces and outer forces. The outer forces are often the “bad guys” but they can also be natural disasters, complicated relationships or something else. These are the physical obstacles holding your main character back. They need to make the reader wish that they could step into the script and help your character fight against them.
However it’s the internal forces that really hold back your main character. All those emotional hang-ups and neurosis that cause them to sabotage themselves. These behavioural patterns/internal forces have plagued your main character’s life and during this story they will hit him hard. So hard it hurts. But it is in beating these internal patterns that your main character derives true glory. Maybe he will learn how to accept himself or how to share his emotions. One he is free from this emotional baggage your main character can finally walk off into the sunset and lead a happy, fulfilling life.
(http://www.filmscriptwriting.com/essentialscomponentsofstorytellinginscriptwriting.html)

The following picture is this information with annotation done by me so that i can use the important information to help me in my work.

Opening a script

2008-12-12T04:20:00.000-08:00

One of my main problems when it comes to script writing is the opening. Therefore I looked at a guide on different ways in which you can open a film. The work following is NOT my own and has been highlighted and annotated in paper form, soon to follow once scanned. The following information was taken from http://www.filmscriptwriting.com/theopeningscene.html

The Blatant Opening - Within a few moments you know exactly who the hero is and what the movie will be about. The James Bond series are a great example of this type of opening. In this first ten pages of your script you will introduce the hero, the villain and exactly why they oppose each other. The blatant opening works particular well for action films, a fast, intense opening will hook the reader and keep them flicking through the script.
A Regular Day - In this opening you will put over the pace of life in a regular day for your main character. Then an event will happen which breaks the normality of your character’s life, one which they will need to rectify for their life to return to the way it was.
True Beginning - The script starts right along with the start of the story for the main character. They might have just been given a million dollars, or landed in a new country.
Dramatic Irony - This is the only beginning that won’t contain your main character. Instead you give the audience some information that your main character won’t know and will soon affect his/her life greatly. Dramatic irony allows the audience to be in a superior position and sets up both tension and anticipation.
Foreshadowing - This opening takes place before your main story begins and anticipates what is going to happen later in the story. Like the dramatic irony opening the audience is placed in a position to predict what is going to happen. This is often used for doomsday and horror movies.
Narrator - The narrator can be the hero, a secondary character or just a stand alone narrator. The narrator tells the story of the events which happened to the main character at a important time in their life.
Flash forward - The flash forward has two stories running side by side simultaneously. The B story has a narrator who tells the main story, which has already happened. At certain points in the story there’s a flash forward to the narrator who continues with his tail. The A story is the main story, the B story is of the narrator looking back.
Montage - This is a great type of opening if you have a lot of information to get across before the main story begins. Also known as a shotgun, a collection of short clips accelerate through the information until the story proper begins. Then the speed of the story can slow down to a regular pace. In a matter of minutes you can explain years of your main characters life.
http://www.filmscriptwriting.com/theopeningscene.html

The following picture is this information with annotation done by me so that i can use the important information to help me in my work.

Character study

2008-12-12T04:07:00.001-08:00

Name:
Tom Robbins
Age:
25 years old
Home Town:
Raunds, Northampton
Family:
Single parent with a 4 year old son
Occupation:
Day job: ASDA employee
Instrument Played:
Lead Guitar
Band Name:
Arbitors
Time the band has lasted:
Four years.

Tom Robbins is the subject character of our documentary. We have chosen to do our documentary on him as he is in a minority as a single father but as well as this he works a regular day job and still finds the time to be in a rock band named “Arbitors”. We feel that this character deserves some recognition as an ordinary person who has what I feel to be, and extraordinary life. His unique position and caring nature lead to him being an interesting character, who goes against the stereotypical image that a young, single, male parent is not as good a parent as a single mother or indeed a family with two parents.

Dogma and Fifth Element

2008-12-12T01:55:00.000-08:00

As i had not gained much from looking at a supposed structure for a sucessful film i decided to try looking at existing scripts and see what i can gain from them regarding layout, character introduction, non dialogue shots, angles, set descriptions and other things. I had a look at the opening sequences in script format, for two films, "Dogma" by Kevin Smith and "The Fifth Element".
This work has been highlighted and annottated to help me get the maximum learning potential from it.

Structuring a Script

2008-12-12T01:42:00.001-08:00

The first thing I want to make clear is that I am not a writer, I have attempted to start writing a script or two but have not had much luck so far. The first think I really need to know, if I am to research into scripting, is how you might structure a film script.
The following information was taken from a web page I found while I was trying to find out how I could improve my scripts.
On this web page they believe that any script can be written if you stick to the following four point structure:
· “A main character who is driven towards achieving a goal
· An opposition to your main character who will hold your main character back from achieving their goal
· A fight (literal or metaphorical) between your main character and their opposition
· An ending which answers the questions "Can the main character achieve his goal?"
(http://www.filmscriptwriting.com/storystructure.html)
I have found that this was not a very useful piece of advice as I disagree in many of the points. The first of the points I do not agree with is the second point. On this web page they believe that you must have “an opposition to your main character”. If this is the case then a lot of films would have failed, in Clerks there is no opposition to speak of there are a few confrontations but no actual opposition. “Clerks was a highly successful film and lacked an opposition.
I also do not believe that you must have “An ending which answers the questions "Can the main character achieve his goal?" An example of a film which has done well without this aspect is “The Italian Job”, which ends with the thieves stuck hanging off a cliff with a large amount of gold in the back, the film ends there with no conclusion as to whether of not they got out of that situation.

Editing.

2008-12-12T00:42:00.000-08:00

The editing is now also over, for the past two weeks we have been editing our footage together and i can honestly say it has been a nightmare. The first day during capturing and editing the computer crashed, losing two hours worth of work as we tried to sift through several hours of footage.
The next few sessions were not much better, although we did start saving a lot more often, as we all sat in a boiling hot room trying to determin the best shots for use and the best aduio to go with it. Overall i feel we have a good edit but the process was not as expected, we had some difficulty cutting it down to four minutes. In the end me and Kez sat watchin all we had edited trying to be as brutal as possible in what should stay and what should go, removing a second or two of footage at a time making the process a long and torturous one.
With the audio we had a few small problems removing small sound pops and irregularities. We also had to try and match the audio of the band and the footage of the band.
Unfortunatly as editing is designed for one or two people at a time we could not all gather together as much on this part as most of the group would be sat around with nothing to be able to do on the documentary itself.

Filming

2008-12-11T23:46:00.000-08:00

Well filming is finally over, due to good planning and a team effort we some how managed to get all of our footage in one day. In fact i feel we have far too much footage, we have used five tapes in all, some of which are alternative angles from other cameras or of production and fun stuff. in this post I basicaly want to put in some production shots, locations and general thoughts about filming.

Wed 19th Nov, early morning- Everyone is bright eyed and cheery!

As we began filming early on Wednesday it took us a while to get up and get motivated, once this was done however we started to get into full filming mode as we go through the very first shots we needed and our Director went alone to get shots from the car with Tom and Liam. During this time we got creative...

....With a "Star Treck" character! (See if you can spot this figure in our footage!)

Toward midday we started to set up for the interview shots, we decided to hold the interview in the conservatory as there was plenty of light and it was a plain room in which to conduct the interview and would not distract the audience. We spent some time checking that the shot was right, getting people to sit as the subject in the interview while we checked lighting and sound.

However it was here that we encountered our only major problem while filming and that was that there was too much shadowing on one half of the subject. this was due to the Sun's position in the sky and was making things hard. But janet had a brilliant idea.

In the picture above you will notice a mirror leaning up against the freezer, Janet thought of putting this here to refplect the Sun's light on to the other half of the subject, evening up the light to the subjects face. This proved to be an ideal solution as it worked well and cost no time and effort to move if needed.

Throughout the rest of the day we continued to film Tom, Liam and the band mainly just encountering the everyday processes of filming, including, checking sound levels, ensuring nothing unwanted was in shot, looking at lighting and checking the white balance. we did not have many problems while filming, we had the odd shot with a group memebers leg or some bags in shot. One most occasions we noticed these problems almost imediately, but due to the amount of footage, extra angles and re-takes we did we had enough footage to find a better shot on any problems we found afterward.

Me and Kez checking the white balance before filming Tom.

By the time it came to get the train home everyone was relieved to have finished with a job well done and to be leaving for a good night sleep after two days of walking, filming and sleeping very little on a cold floor. However i enjoyed my time filming this project and i think it had a lot ot do with our organisation and pre planning causing all to go well that did it.

Last Minute Meeting

2008-12-11T23:42:00.000-08:00

A last minute meeting was called to ensure that everyone knew the plan, knew the schedual for the next two days and had a contact sheet for each other member of the group. this meeting was aminly to make sure was were orgainsed and had no last problems as we only had one day in which to film. However due to slight complications with train prices we decided on going down to Raunds the evening before filming as we had to get early morning footage.

Group meeting 6

2008-12-11T23:39:00.000-08:00

This meeting was once again held in the Library but this one was a continuation of the previous meeting to try and complete the proposal, the video for this has been included.
Video to follow once problems solved.

Group meeting 5

2008-12-11T23:36:00.000-08:00

We have once more met in the library for another group meeting, this time the purpous is: The Proposal. The video with this post is of this meeting as we try to come up with a decent proposal that we think would be liked and approved. This meeting was probably one of the most difficult yet as we were not coming up with questions and storyboards but actualy trying to sell our documentary to Jools so that we could get the go ahead to film.
During this meeting we also decided that the filming date was to be the 19th of Novemeber with the 28th being the backup date incase anything went wrong.
Video to follow once problems solved.

A Shot I Love.

2008-12-11T23:24:00.000-08:00

In our lecture we were asked to think about one shot we love and write a quick passage saying why we loved it. I chose to look at a one shot scene from "Warrior King", these are the notes i made on why i love the shot (as written in the lecture):
One shot, six minutes, the camera is used well to move over balconies to follow people that fall. Camera moves up the stairs following the action but focus not just on main character, moves into rooms see the wider picture of what is going on and then moves quickly to catch up to the action.
the following clip is the shot I was refering to:

We were then asked how we thought we might incorporate that into our own documentary. The only way i could think of to use Warrior King as an influence would be to actualy move the camera through the house from one focal point to another.

Group meeting 4

2008-12-11T23:09:00.000-08:00

Video to follow once problems solved.

For this meeting we dicided to book another room out from the library, this meeting was to try and fathom out what we would be asking Tom (and possibly Liam) when we came to film.

We have decided to break down the questions into 3 main groups in order to make the most of the time we have. these groups were:

Past:

Present:

And future:

Janet took away the questions we decided upon and begain typing them into a usable question sheet, these questions however are mostly an outline as we also wish to improvise some of the questions depending on the answers we recieve. the main list of questions are as follows:

Past –
1 How did it happen?
2 How did you feel when Liam was born? / When Liam was born did you regret it as it interfered with your plans?
3 Were there complications regarding the custody of Liam?
4 How did the band started? What was the inspiration?
5 (Has there been any money issue? Does Liams’ mom pay allowances towards raising Liam?)
Present –
6 What do you think of the situation now?
7 Has your attitude towards the idea of being a single parent changed compared to your initial feelings about the idea?
8 Would you consider having your current girlfriend around be an advantage towards Liams’ up-bringing and why?
9 What is your biggest worry regarding the struggle between career and Liam?
10 Tell us about your career and what is happening right now?
11 Is there anything you regret? If you had a chance would you have done anything differently?
Future –
12 Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
13 Do you see yourself and Liam being a happy family with your current girlfriend?
14 What’s your view on Liam following your footsteps?
Kid questions
15 Do you like school? What is your favourite subject and why?
16 What do you think of daddys’ girlfriend?
17 Who’s your favourite band? Do you like daddys’ band?
18 What do you want to be when you grow up?

Question Types.

2008-12-11T22:37:00.000-08:00

When making a documentary it is important to carefuly chose the questions, if we were to go to the interview without having prepared the questions properly we could get half answers or unneeded answers and this could be the difference between a good documentary and an unusable documentary.
Therefore I have looked at the different types of question we can use and how we would use them in a documentary (if it is even suitible for the documentary).

Open Questions
An open question does not allow for single word answeres, this type of question is used to make the subject offer more information to us than "Yes" or "No". an open question will often lead to them being able to talk about another related subject as they expand upon what they are saying.
For our Documentary we would use a question like
"What is your biggest worry regarding the struggle between career and Liam?".

Closed Questions.
A closed question can usualy be answered in one word and although it is not often that used in documenataries due to the fact that it offers very little information it still has it's place. We are going to try and not use closed questions in our documentary but if we were to use on it might be something like:
"How old is Liam?" this offers a very limited answere one of the longest being "Liam is ....... yeard old, in (Sepetember? October?)"

Hypothetical qeustions.
Hypothetical qeustions are questions where the subject is asked to imagine a situation and reflect upon it. This helps to get a better sense of who the subject is. In our case we may ask something like
"Where do you see the band being in 10 years?"
this then offers him the choice to give his thoughts, hope and fears for the situation.

Documentary styles.

2008-12-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

When making any sort of film it is important to look at the existing market, as I have already looked at "Life", "Bowling for Columbine" and "Toughing The Void" as examples of existing work, but this post is intended to look at the different styles of documentary making.
Styles:
Poetic: Organised images, associations and patterns. Example: Body Soul.
Participatory: a documentary which is higly influenced by the film maker who uses themselves to tell the story or get their views across. Example "Farenheit 9/11"
Observational: Looking at life with a minimum of influence from the auteur sometimes known as "Fly on the Wall". Example: "Airline"
Performative: a documentary that relies on the subject matter, actors and stle of shooting to create an emotional response. Example: "Bowling for Columbine"

Group Metting 3

2008-12-11T14:28:00.000-08:00

For this meeting we booked out a room in the library and all got together to discuss the sequence of events we could use in the documentary and to begin the process of storyboarding so that we all knew exactly what we were going to be filming when we got to Raunds.

As with most of our group meetings I think that we have been working well within the team and have worked together thus far to get everything sorted as quickly as possible so that we can get the filming done within the time frame allowed.

Generaly i have been enjoying working in this group as we have managed to get on with the work without having any real conflicts of opinions, but at the same time it has been quite fun, as a group we seem to have a good time and get the work done at a decent pace. for me this is somewhat of a change as I have normaly found that due to lack of planning I am always rushed to get finished where as with this project i am confident in the work we are doing and the speed in which we have done it.

As we have been working on the storyboard and the sequence of events it is also important for us to look at what questions we will want to ask Tom. If this were a different type of project this time would be spent scripting, however as we cannot know what Tom will say in the interviews a script would not be of as much to us.

We have decided that we should break up the questions into groups and for the next meeting we are to try and think of some questions for Tom these should be about: himslef, his son and the way in which his two lives (home and band) conflict with one another.
Video to follow when sorted problems.

My Previous Doumentary

2008-12-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

While at college I made a documentary about Newark during the Civil war, I feel that doing this has helped a lot with this project as my experineces are relevant to this project. o try something However i feel one of the most important parts to metion about my documentary is that we used animations in it. This was an attempt to try something different, we intialy got our idea from "Bowling for Columbine", however our our animations did not work out as well as in Moore's film. We were hoping this approach would work as our documentary was aimed at school age children as an eduactional film.

The animations were used to provide maps, information and funny clips. however we also used conventional methods such as interviews, on screen presenters and a long shot of the presenter still giving information. this technique is often used in childrens shows.

Group meeting 2

2008-12-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

For our second meeting we have once again gone to the Orange Tree, while in the meeting we discussed a schedual for the pre-production work and decided on booking out a room in the library to do the story boards. However we could not get the storyboard done until we had started on the story itself so we started talking about possible scenes we could use to get our message across.
while we were there we also decided that Janet and Kez should be in charge of the storyboard itself and decided on a shot list of what to get and how important it is.
unfortunatly we have yet to find a date that we can go to film at Raunds.

Group Meeting 1

2008-12-11T13:43:00.000-08:00

For this first initial meeting the five of us in the group gathered in The Orange Tree to discuss our intended roles and what equipment each of us already owned so that we could know straight away what we would need to book and how many cameras we would have for the shooting.
During this meeting we established that each of us would fill these main roles:
Me: cinematographer.
Adam: director
Janet: producer
Andria: director of photographer
Kez: editor.
While we were in the meeting we decided that our documentary would be about a friend of Adams, who is in a rock band and is a single father with a regular day job. We will have to film down in Raunds in Northampton time is a major factor for this project and we will have to make sure everything runs to schedual

Bowling for Columbine

2008-12-11T13:09:00.000-08:00

Bowling for Columbine is a feature length film made by Michael Moore as he tries to uncover the truth about gun crime in America. In this film Moore is very much involved, he is often seen on shot interviewing people and putting his views across.
Throughout the film Moore uses his own presence on screen to make a difference to how we see his views. During the film he talks about Marilyn Manson is blamed for the murders that were committed at Columbine, the clip of this is below.

In this clip we see Moore taking the back seat somewhat and letting Manson say what he has got to say, he gives him questions that would shed a good light on him. This is done because Moore does not believe that Manson is responsible for the murders just because his music is different.
However in the following clip we see a different side to Moore’s interview technique.

In this clip Moore is a lot more aggressive and outright than when he interviewed Manson. In this clip he forces embarrassing questions and even films when Heston walks away. In contrast of what he did with Manson this approach made the intended seem more guilty, as this is clearly Moore’s opinion.

I have included this film in my research as it is a good example of how the director or interviewer can use their own presence to get the intended results and show their views to the world.

Touching The Void

2008-12-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

Touching the void is a feature length documentary about two mountaineers who get stuck while they are mountain climbing and have to fight through a snow storm and get down the mountain. Several disasters happen during the film that make it interesting and you get wrapped into the story as you watch.
The story is told by the two men who the documentary is about while they have a re-enactment of the events playing. They use both voice over’s and talking head shots in order to tell the story.
In these talking head shots we get a real sense for the emotions that the two characters still have about the ordeal. They are shot very close up so that you can see all of the facial details of the characters, this helps us to get to know them and gets the audience more interested in them as they get to know the characters. The background is very plain in these shots, this is used well as it makes sure that the viewer is constantly focused on the person talking.
I chose to talk about this film to demonstrate that a mixture of voice over and talking head shots can work to great advantage in getting the audience more involved in the film. In the previous review I looked at “Life” by Karl Pilkington and I said about how the way in which the documentary only used voice over.
After having watched this I have come to see how this technique of using talking heads give you more of an inclusion where as “Life” was more about just giving the facts and you didn’t feel as involved because of the voice over on its own.

Life

2008-12-11T12:31:00.000-08:00

Karl Pilkington: Life

In order to properly make a documentary it is important to have a look at existing documentaries and the styles they use. As we are being asked to make a four minute documentary I have decided to first look at a “Three Minute Wonder”, these are documentaries that are made by independent film makers and are shown on BBC4.
I decided to look at “Life” by Karl Pilkington. In this documentary Pilkington gives his general thoughts on life, museums, the big bang and dinosaurs. As he talks about each of his subject the footage he uses is relevant to his subject. As the documentary starts we are shown an animation of the earth taking up the whole screen, at first this seems that he has made the animation. As it unfold we are shown the larger picture of Pilkington watching the animation in a museum. For the wide range of subjects he has chosen the museum is an ideal place as it relevant to all of the subjects involved.
This documentary seems to work because of several things, the most obvious of which is the fast pace of the editing. For example while he is talking about stones in the museum the footage starts off showing two short clips, which were cut to quite quickly, of small meteorites followed immediately after by a shot of a larger stone. This transaction takes place in the space of time it took for Pilkington to say ”have one, have one big one”. This as well is only held on for a two or three seconds.
Another major factor for this documentary is the humour that is used throughout. Pilkington’s views and blunt out right speech makes this work funny to the audience, this therefore leads to the audience paying more attention to it.
Pilkington uses the voice over style in this documentary and although you see him in the footage he never actually talks to the camera.
Over all I linked this work due to the way it was shot and the humour from the maker. If I was to incorporate any of this work into my documentary it would be the use of voice over throughout, I would prefer not to use the talking head style of interview if possible, this also helps to cut back on time and it means we can leave the questions out of the documentary. In order to do this we would have to ensure that Tom’s answers made sense without the questions.

Analysing a Shot

2008-11-13T05:58:00.001-08:00

In this shot the main focus is on the person in the foreground, who appears to be some sort of prison guard. the focus is only on him while the background in out of focus, this automaticaly draws our eye to him. However the contrast of light on his face makes me think that he has an internal stuggle going on within his own mind.

H.R Giger

2008-11-07T04:11:00.001-08:00

I have decided to use this picture by H.R Giger, for two reasons. the first is that I have always liked his art and it became a large inspiration for me during my school art exam, where I tried to immitate some of Giger's style of mixing elements to create the final piece.
The second reason for selecting this piece is that it uses differnt ways to portary itself. By this I mean the way in which you can clearly see examples of human flesh and bone while it also it quite clearly using machinery aspects to create a sureal picture tat i find to be a rare and interesting way of portaying the subject in the picture.

Networking

2008-11-07T04:05:00.000-08:00

Currently I have had a limited amount of networking, however there have been one or two instances where I have had limited success. For example during my time a college we had a chance to work with a BBC camera operator named Chris Harris who was involoved in a lot of the filming for the news including goin over to Iraq during the oil crisis. through him I was able to go and work at a local Folk Festival where we helped to film bands, clowns jugglers and get interviews with people at the festival, this was very usfeul to me as I am hoping to do more camera operation and working in this public environment showed me how best to approach situations such as this one

my box picutre only

2008-05-07T12:57:00.001-07:00

my logo (revised)

2008-05-07T12:54:00.000-07:00

The buttermarket cafe 2

2008-05-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

unfortunatly unforseen circumstances have meant that i needed to re-write this post, sorry for the inconviencience.

Ian and Michaela
I first started working at the Butter Market cafe in November 2005, I started there after a friend recommended me, I was leaving a job I had little love for in a chip shop, as the new guy at the chip shop I was blamed for wrong orders and mistakes that were not my fault. Upon starting at the cafe I was given a lot more respect than at the chip shop as I was efficient and rarely got orders wrong. It was this that I think made me stay even through everything happening there.
The day I arrived I was told by one of the workers the motto of the cafe “ready steady ****”. I still think to this day I should have left then, but I did not. I found out that the motto was because a used condom was found in the toilet from where the owners had been having sex in the toilets. The cafe was a dirty place to work, the cook would put food containers, pans, lids and such on the floor only to pick them up and use them again without washing them. The cook would break down every week and say she was quitting and couldn’t handle it. People used to work without aprons and food would regally bought back cold as it was never checked, they were threatened to be shut down twice by the health board but got away with it. The cook (who was also the owner) would pull sick days on Saturdays because she couldn’t handle it and would leave me, at that time a 17 year old so not legally allowed to run a kitchen, in charge.
Eventually in 2006 they went bankrupt.

Joe and Rachel.
The cafe was then taken over by Joe and Rachel, two ladies that owned a clothes shop across from the cafe. These two had no idea about running a cafe and would just leave us to it and would lose money from over spending. Within a short time they had given the cafe over as the impending bankruptcy loomed.

Sarah.
The cafe was sold then to Mrs Sarah Harris and her husband, who was at the time the head of a doorman company. Sarah quickly changed the kitchen from a horribly grimy place to work into a clean and enjoyable environment. Most of the staff was replaced by more trained staff and others left, in fact since I had arrived there I was the only one of the staff left except for Val who we all call gran as she is like a nice Granny.
The food became hot and to the health regulation’s temperature, aprons were worn, health hygiene was enforced and cleaning rota’s were bought in, whereas before none of this was done.
Working there became more enjoyable, everyone gets along and the food is good, the business even better, the work party’s were always good and Sarah a very understanding boss. We rarely get complaints anymore and there are a lot of regulars who enjoy the same thing over and over again.
In 2008 Sarah lost possesion of the cafe for reasons I cannoet reveal for I am biased in my opinion of the matter. Sarah hopes to deal with the issue and be back in control of the cafe as soon as possible.

The Kevin Smith films

2008-05-07T12:52:00.001-07:00

For those of you who do not know Kevin Smith is the genius who bought us the Jay and Silent Bob films. Kevin Smith’s films seem to have a very unusual humour that most women do not seem to like, that is not to say that they don’t understand it as I know a few women who like it, more they just have a different sense of humour. But I will say that if you like one you will like most of them.
Clerks.
The beginning of this set of films is Clerks, a film made on almost no budget but which was a huge success and became very famous. In this film we follow the story of Dante and Randle who both work in the Quickstop and video store. We see a lot of things happen between these two, including, serving young children cigarettes, arguing with customers and attending funerals while they are meant to be working.
We see appearances from Jay and Silent Bob (Silent Bob played by the director himself Kevin Smith)
I wont say much more about this will except that it is a must see film.
8/10
Mallrat’s.
The film of Mallrats follows the story of T.S and Brodie as they spend their day hanging around in the Mall, both have just split up with their partners and are moping around, T.S spends his time trying to win back his girlfriend and they both get into a lot of trouble with the security staff with the help of Jay and Silent Bob as they appear once more, Silent Bob now thinking he is a jedi.
7/10
Dogma.
Of all of the Kevin Smith films this is possibly the most influential and at the same time controversial. In this film we see Bethany put onto the path of religious pilgrimage to stop two renegade angels from entering heaven and at the same time un-creating all of mankind.
This film completely changes how people look at religion, saying it is biased and it has been changed by the churches to make it seem that religion is corrupt.
This is also by far the best of the films, not only the best storyline but the best shot and funniest of the films thus far.
9/10
Jay and Silent Bob.
Of all of the Kevin Smith films this is probably the worst of the set, we see Jay and Silent bob travelling across country to stop a film being made about them, along the way they get caught up in a diamond heist and steal a monkey and several other things. This may be the worst as it is the most improbable and worst shot of the set.

Clerks ll.
The sequel to Clerks see’s the Quickstop burn down and the two friends go and work together at “Mooby’s” during the film they get into arguments with the customers, sleeping with the boss and watching “interspecies erotica”. All in all a very good film but it does not quite fit the same story idea as the original Clerks.

Raymond E Feist

2008-05-07T12:51:00.002-07:00

WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.
Raymond E Feist.
Raymond E Feist is a fantastic author but one, which I am ashamed to admit I only discovered quite recently. This fantastic author has written a collective eighteen books which are all in fact part of one large series about the land the characters live in. The books do however span over many hundreds of years but involve some of the same characters in most of the books non the less as many of them are magicians.
The books are seated around the medieval type days but with a lot more magic and travelling between worlds via rifts and other methods.
Magician.
The first book in the story follows the story of Pug, an adopted boy who lives in the keep with his best friend. One day he is saved from a raging storm by a large man who worked for Kulgan the magician. The story follows pug as he follows the path of the magician. One day while he is fighting he is captured and taken to Kelewyn where he is made into a salve. A few years later it is discovered he has magic and he is placed on the path of a greater magic than he had known as a boy. By the time he is done he is a fully fledged magician who almost forgot where he was from, however he no longer cared he was not at home. However one day at the imperial games he goes mad at the violence demonstrated and breaks free and causes major havoc in doing so.
I would recommend the book to anyone.
10/10
Silverthorn.
The story of Silverthorn follows the Prince Arutha and Jimmy the Hand (a thief) who discovers that the guild of assassins are planning to kill the prince. However on the day they try to kill him Jimmy stops them but the princess is poisoned. The magician pug steps in to stop time and allow them to save her by finding an antidote. But they have a tough question ahead of them: how to fight the waking dead?

The Prince of the Blood.
The Prince of the Blood follows the story of Prince Borric and his twin brother Erland, sons of prince Arutha, who are ordered to go to Great Kesh and represent them at the Empresses’ birthday, however along route they are attacked by the royal house of Kesh and are thrown into a plot to throw Kesh and the Isles into a major war.

Talon of the Silver Hawk.
This book is nearer the end of the set and follows the story of Talon, a mountain boy, as he struggles through life after the obliteration of his people. He is taken in by Pug, the magician from the first book, and is trained as a gentleman of Roldem and is put into the competition for worlds greatest swordsman in order to spy on the Duke of Olasko. At the same time he must track down the murders who killed his race and find out who is trying to kill him and for what purpose.
He even has to go save a village of people who are to face the same fate as his own people.

The King Of Foxes.
This book follows Talwin Hawkins, the previously name Talon of the Silverhawk as he enters the service of the Duke, after a major betrayal Talon must escape from prison with one of his most hated enemies so that he may take down an entire city.

The Exiles Return.
In this book the Duke has retuned in order to kill his arch enemy Talon of the Silver Hawk, however along the way he starts to doubt his motive and when he is confronted with a suite of armour from another world that can attack at will he finds a new motive in life. To contact the gods and seek answers and he must team up with the corporation who took him down.

Spaced

2008-05-07T12:51:00.001-07:00

Spaced is a creative comedy programme made by Simon Pegg before he made “Shaun of the Dead.” In this programme he stars as one of the two main characters, he is a comic artist who hopes to one day work for Dark Star comics. For the time being he works for Fantasy Bazzar where he is the assistant manager, unfortunately the only other person who works there is his manager Bilbo, played by Bill Bailey.
The second main character is Daisy Steiner played by Jessica Stevenson, she is a writer, or so she claims, she never seems to do much work and when we do see her in employment she certainly is not writing.
The story through most of both the series is that Tim and Daisy have moved into a flat together after lying to the landlady and saying they were a professional couple. As the two live there we see them going through a lot of adventures and we see appearances from Edgar Wright who plays Tim’s friend Mike who is on suspension from the TA, to find out why you will have to watch the show though.
We also see them meet up and go partying with their friend “Tyres” who is a parcel delivery boy who is constantly on drugs and can rave to anything (and I mean anything).
Other such adventures we see them on include: paintballing, rescuing dogs, partying (sort of), going to see contemporary theatre with their friend Brian the “Artist”. We also meet Daisy’s best friend “Twist” who claims she got her name because her parents were hippies.
The episodes have very unique styles to them, by this I mean that in parts characters will do something unexpected and unauthordox, this serves to both get laughs and confuse you. Seconds later however you can see that this is just what is going through the characters mind and is not actually what is happening. A lot of the time however it takes a moment of two to realise when this has happened.
A key aspect in this show is the drug references. In order to get teenagers to watch they seem to have used drugs to appeal to the humour of the audience. In one episode we see them smoking a joint, in another we hear Tim say he had been up all night on “cheap speed”, and in another they seem to have been taking ecstasy although we did not get told this was so.
I would recommend this show to anyone that has a good sense of humour.
I give Spaced an over 9/10.

The buttermarket cafe

2008-05-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

The Butter Market Cafe.

Ian and Michaela
I first started working at the Butter Market cafe in November 2005, I started there after a friend recommended me, I was leaving a job I had little love for in a chip shop, as the new guy at the chip shop I was blamed for wrong orders and mistakes that were not my fault. Upon starting at the cafe I was given a lot more respect than at the chip shop as I was efficient and rarely got orders wrong. It was this that I think made me stay even through everything happening there.
The day I arrived I was told by one of the workers the motto of the cafe “ready steady ****”. I still think to this day I should have left then, but I did not. I found out that the motto was because a used condom was found in the toilet from where the owners had been having sex in the toilets. The cafe was a dirty place to work, the cook would put food containers, pans, lids and such on the floor only to pick them up and use them again without washing them. The cook would break down every week and say she was quitting and couldn’t handle it. People used to work without aprons and food would regally bought back cold as it was never checked, they were threatened to be shut down twice by the health board but got away with it. The cook (who was also the owner) would pull sick days on Saturdays because she couldn’t handle it and would leave me, at that time a 17 year old so not legally allowed to run a kitchen, in charge.
Eventually in 2006 they went bankrupt.

Joe and Rachel.
The cafe was then taken over by Joe and Rachel, two ladies that owned a clothes shop across from the cafe. These two had no idea about running a cafe and would just leave us to it and would lose money from over spending. Within a short time they had given the cafe over as the impending bankruptcy loomed.

Sarah.
The cafe was sold then to Mrs Sarah Harris and her husband, who was at the time the head of a doorman company. Sarah quickly changed the kitchen from a horribly grimy place to work into a clean and enjoyable environment. Most of the staff was replaced by more trained staff and others left, in fact since I had arrived there I was the only one of the staff left except for Val who we all call gran as she is like a nice Granny.
The food became hot and to the health regulation’s temperature, aprons were worn, health hygiene was enforced and cleaning rota’s were bought in, whereas before none of this was done.
Working there became more enjoyable, everyone gets along and the food is good, the business even better, the work party’s were always good and Sarah a very understanding boss. We rarely get complaints anymore and there are a lot of regulars who enjoy the same thing over and over again.
Sarah still currently owns the cafe and hopes to do so for many years.

photoshop collage

2008-03-11T04:34:00.000-07:00

i have made this collage for my work:

while it is true i have explained alot of this before, i made this some time ago and there are still one or two things that i have not spoken about. this was one of my first ways of getting ideas on both my box and my avatar.
for example the picture of me as "The Crow" is realated to my friends birthday where hse suggested i go as the crow. the picture of me in face paint is me showing my fun side, my friend got bored so i allowed her to paint my face. most of the rest of this has been explained already so i shal leave it at that

completed logo.

2008-03-11T04:29:00.000-07:00

here is the completed logo

Second Life Diary week 2 to 4

2008-03-10T21:53:00.000-07:00

Week2: Escaping tutorial island and exploring.

Ok so during the first week I had a lot of issues regarding the fact that I couldn’t get the hang of the controls and I couldn’t find away off the island, therefore I made it my mission not to log off until I had found a way off that island. While looking around for the way out I found a random dance stage:

This looked like it could be a good feature on the game itself and it could be fun to go to a club and meet people.

Ok so I’m looking around the tutorial island when the above screenshot occurred. I was at the volcano my comp was being slow and I discovered you can walk on the lava from the volcano. This for me made it seem cheap and took away the little hope I had of it being a moderate game.

After this is finally found a way off the island a proceeded to look round, I tried to talk to people and ask what they did on second life but found that people were not very forthcoming with what they did, I feel this may be because I was some one they did not know and as a result they were untrusting of me.

As I looked around I tried out the fly function and I have to say it did nothing to add to the realism of the game and made it seem quite cheap and poorly thought out as it is (like the volcano) it makes it less believable, from what I have seen this game is meant to be as real as possible, however this is not the case.

Week3: Questioning others.

Ok so this week I have decided that I should try again to find out what attracts other people to second life in order to get a less biased view of second life as I am prejudice against it. I finally found some one willing to talk to me, he said that in his time on it he goes dancing, drives cars, talks to his friends and tries to socialise with new people. I pressed him further by asking him why he did that online while he could easily do all those things in real life, he told me it was easier and cheaper to do it online than in real life and he also said he was a shy un-confident person, being some one else made him more confident and while it was not true socialising he was happy online and he could escape his day to day problems.

I asked several more people their views on second life but all answers were similar or non-existent.

Week 4: Trying out the social side of second life.

For my final week on second life I decided I would check out the social side of second life to see if it truly is worth playing. The first place I decided to go to was a club, I did this due to the fact that a lot of the top places to go in the top places list (bellow), were clubs.

When I got to the club I found there was not a lot to do other than dance, although I did think there was something wrong with the fact that people were dancing for money, this is not a good thing to encourage.

After the failure at the club I tried the “hippie spot” which turned out to be pretty similar to the club, I tried to dance on one of the mats so I could earn money but I could not figure out how to dance.

However I did find one good thing here, although I am not sure what it is used for and that is the picture bellow. As you can see in this screenshot they have integrated a real life picture into the game play.

I have to say that even after 4 weeks I still don’t get this game and I would rather life a real life than a virtual one.

The Wall

2008-03-10T21:52:00.001-07:00

I decided that in order to best illustrate some of the main things that define me I would get items or pictures that showed important things to me, this is helpful for both the box and the avatar and environment. I have included a picture of this bellow.

The three pages with pictures of me on are demonstrating the different styles of hair I \have had within the past two or so years. I have put these up because it will help me to decided on what hair I should put onto my avatar.
The two pictures in black and white are of some of my friends, this is up because I may use one of the links on my box to link to a page about my friends, the pictures will go with a little passage of information about how I met the and what they are like as friends.
The picture of the martial arts gi is to represent the fact that I used to do ninjitsu, one of my main ideas for my environment is to make a dojo to represent that I did ninjitsu and I spend a lot of time working out.
The white ticket is from a gig I went to in London, I put this up to represent them as one of my favourite bands, I may put music on box, this and the Alice Cooper pictures helped me decide to put music on.
As well as the Alice Cooper poster I have and Alice Cooper plectrum (next to the ticket) I caught this plectrum at and Alice Cooper gig I went to. If I use Alice Cooper music it will be “Poison” as it was the song I first heard the got me into Alice Cooper.
The three posters for films are to show they are two if my favourite films and I decided while putting these up that it might be a good idea to have one of my interactive a link to a review, written by me, for a film or TV show.

The Buttermarket Cafe

2008-03-10T21:51:00.001-07:00

From the ages of 16-19 I worked in a café in my home town, as it happens I have quite a lot of history there because it was such a personal and friendly place to work. It also happens that I am quite a significant part of the history of the café as I was the longest running member of staff, other than Val, during the time that I worked there. In fact during the time that I worked there I worked under three different managers, the first went bankrupt, the second had no idea what they were doing, and the current owners who have managed to bring the place from being a vile place to a place that I would actually recommend to others.
Due to all of the above information I have decided that the café is a large part of my past and therefore it is significant in representing my self identity. As part of the box section of the project I am going to include a picture of the café itself, the picture will be interactive and link to a temporary offline webpage promoting the café, which I myself will create and shoe to the owners of the café, with any luck they will want to use the webpage due to the fact that at the moment the café is not very technologically advance.

My Flat

2008-03-10T21:49:00.000-07:00

I have included these picture of my flat as one of my initial ideas was to make the environment for my avatar the same as my flat, although it would be fairly hard to recreate in 3DS Max.

Music

2008-03-10T21:48:00.001-07:00

When it comes to music I like a broad variety of music so music in general helps to identify me, here are just a few of the bands that I have taken to in my time:
Favourite band: Disturbed
Radiohead
AC/DC
Metallica
Guns ’n’ Roses
Iron Maiden
Led Zeppelin
Queens of the stone age
Def Leopard
Tenacious d
Dir en grey
Buckcherry
Linkin Park
Limp Bizkit
Papa Roach
Thin Lizzy
Jimmi Hendrix
Tool
Scooter
Beethoven
30 Seconds to Mars
Meat loaf
Alice cooper
Motorhead
Daft Punk
Lost prophets
The eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster
aero smith

Hair

2008-03-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

Hair

This may be a bit different but I am devoting this piece to my hair. Due to the fact that my hair changes so often it plays a large part in defining me, any one of my friends can tell you that you never know when I will turn up with a different hair style and they all look forward to seeing the next. The best two pictures for showing change is these two:

These two are the best example due to the fact that they look so similar, it is entirely possible to think that these two pictures could have been taken within a few days of each other, I just got a hair cut and a lip piercing in this time. However this is far from the truth this top picture was taken two weeks ago, while the lower picture was taken over two years ago.

Derek

2008-03-10T21:43:00.001-07:00

Derek

This short section concerns my snake, Derek. I have decided to create this section due to the fact that, even though she was only recently acquired, I had wanted a snake since I was ten years old, however I was never allowed one until I was offered this snake, which I was given for free, the name Derek was chosen entirely due to the fact that I thought it would just be funny to have a snake with the name Derek.
I am planning to incorporate Derek into the environment by having a snake tank in one corner.

Mike Hine

2008-03-10T21:41:00.003-07:00

Mike Hine
Matthew Calder Devon
Bottles and vases made from wood.
Phone: 01404 812437 Email: matthew@caldergallerys.freeserve.co.uk

Michael Pheby Woodturning
Earring stands, bowls, vases, platters and other small items in English woods.
Phone: 01923 264685
Mike Hine Nottinghamshire
Woodturner using mainly local-grown hardwoods to make bowls, clocks, vases, fruit and toadstools.
Phone: 01400 282690
Paul Horton Devon
Designer maker in wood.
Phone: 01363 866819
Paul Nesbitt Middlesex
Woodturner - bowls, candlesticks, coffee grinders, fruit - funghi made to order!
Sorry, no contact details are available.

I have decided to do this small section on Mike Hine, my Grandfather. This little mention was found on a website I found when I decided to see if my grandad was on then net anywhere. (Taken off http://www.craft-fair.co.uk/exhibitors.cfm?SubCatno=164&category=Bowls%20%26%20Vases).
The site contains information about a craft fare my grandad sometimes goes to in order to sell some of his work. As well as this he used to sell things in his own show room at home.

My granddad is a wood turner, he is one of the main people in my family I look up to, I have helped him create a lot of things from wood including: a tree house, a play house including and mini upstairs, an avery, a chicken run, and he also helped me to learn to wood turn. I feel that this link with wood and my granddad is one of the most important I have used so far. Therefore I will insure to make some part of my avatar or environment linked to my grandad. At this point I think that I will probably make the walls wooden so that it is linked that way.
As well as wood turning my granddad is an acomplished builder, he used to work for wimpy building site and also he built his own home. He also helped me to make my own room at home as we converted the garage into my room.

Japanese

2008-02-19T06:56:00.000-08:00

Due to the fact that particularly recently i have developed an urgeto learn more bout Japan and it's culture i have decided t give my avatar environment a Japanese theme. my main environment will be a Japanese style dojo, in the backround there will be usic by Dir en Grey, a japanese metal band that i listen to (video at bottom of post).
as well as this I will have this as a picture on the wall:

This is how you write Richard in Japanese and as well as being part of the Japanese theme it is directly linked to me. This picture will be a link to some of the work I have been doing on learning to speak Japanese.

Dir en Grey:

The Dragon.

2008-02-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

In order to give people a better view of who I am and my indentity I have decided to inclde a post on the Dragon, a mythical beast that seems to hold a large sway over my life, even though it may not seem so at first. Since I was little I have always been amazed by the dragon, a great mythical beast said to be very large in size and acroding to mythology, breathes fire and tends to reside in mountains and other countries. I beleive that my love for the ancient creature stems from the fact that i was born in the year of the dragon, I think that this sub-conciously makes me drawn toward dragons for example i have the followin dragon related items:

This is the tattoo on my right arm, I bleive that this tattoo is particularly realated to my self identity as I have never seen another person with this tattoo, this is not to say I beleive I am the only person to own this tattoo, however if you were to show a picture of it to my friends they would automaticaly think of me as this tattoo is so rare that they would assume it was me owning the tattoo.

This is a ceramic dragon that i bought when i went to devon wen I was very young, while it may not be so significant that my friends would see it and think of my it is very significant for me personaly as I spent all of the holiday saving my money so that i could buy this dragon that i had seen on the first day of the holiday.

As well as these items I have a collection of clothing that has dragons on it, the one most related to me is a tank top which has a chinese style dragon and snake entwined on it, this is the most relevant to me as i am soon to have this tattooed to myself, two of my friends are also getting this tattoo as it is relevant to all of us, we were all born in the year of the dragon or the year of the snake and as we will be the only ones with this tatto it will mean alot more to us as friends than if it was a popular tattoo.

Of course it is not only the items I posses that make the dragon particularly represent me, it is of course the year i was born as well: 1988: the year of the Dragon. In order to learn what this means to me I have looked into what traits and aspects people who were born in the year of the dragon have, this is what I found:
The following section was taken off http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_%28zodiac%29

The Dragon is flamboyant, attractive and full of vitality and strength. In China, the Dragon is the sign of the Emperor of China or the male element Yang. The Dragon is the symbol of power and wealth.
It would be right to say that people born in the year of the dragon have a natural charisma and are certainly gifted with power and luck. It is unlikely for them to escape unnoticed from a party or to take second place in a competition. The dragon person has an active mind and shows an unfeigned interest in the world around him/her. This person is also self-confident enough to know how to create a necessary impression. Because they are larger than life themselves, dragon people like to do everything on a grand scale. They are egotistical self-grandising and ambitious, almost to the point of megalomania. They will stop at nothing to get what they want. A person born in this year wears the crown of destiny, and is capable of great achievements if he or she knows how to harness his or her tremendous energy, intelligence and talent. While these people enjoy being the center of attention, they also have a brave and charitable side to their personality. If a dragon's friend faces a problem or dilemma, he or she will be there to offer help, and when others leave the field of battle the dragon takes a step forward to solve the problem with authority and dignity. Dragons set a high standard of actions for themselves as well as for other people and are surprised when others cannot cope with a task; they are so carried away by the process that they fail to see other people's weaknesses.
Ideal jobs for dragons include kings, military officer, politician, musician, buffers, poet, artist, biological and environmental engineer, stockbroker, athlete, trade union leader, company director, explorer, and attorney.
The Dragon is most compatible with the Rat, Monkey, and Snake.

Traditional Dragon Attributes/Associations
Attribute

Colors: Black, Gold
Polarity: Yang
Element: Wood
Food: Wheat, poultry
Positive Traits: Noble, ambitious, dignified, charismatic, vibrant, magnanimous, expansive, powerful
Negative Traits: Ruthless, imperious, judgmental, arrogant, dogmatic, pompous, despotic, intolerant, demanding

Other than the general list of suitable jobs for people born in the yer of the dragon I agree that i mostly fit in with the characteristics of other dragons, this includes the neggative section.

the logo

2008-02-19T05:45:00.000-08:00

In order to create my logo I have taken a picture of a tattoo I have on my right arm (above). The next few screen shots run through the steps I have taken to make this into my logo.
Below is the image at the start of the editing process.

In this screenshot I have begun to cut away all of the flesh and hair and shading around the tattoo. In order to cut out the flesh and hair I have used a polygon lasso tool to cut around the parts I want to cut out.

This screenshot is just the same as the last shot but it is further along the road to completion than the last shot. As with before I have been using a polygon lasso tool to cut out the parts I do not want on the logo.

This is the completed cut out of the dragon, when I have a picture of my friends tribal tattoo I will be using this behind the dragon to complete the logo a further post will be added when this has been completed.

Dark place

2008-02-19T04:42:00.000-08:00

For this post i have decided to give everyone a small in sight into one of the greatest spoofs of all time. The show is called Darkplace and is a mick take of a 70's/80's TV drama starring Garth Marenghi. In order to give you a better understanding of the show I have included this clip from the show:

So what then is so amazing about this particular spoof? Well other than the fact that it is amazingly random and yet still fits in with the conventions of a 70's/80's TV drama, every single aspect of this programme is a spoof. For exmple if you were to look into who "garth Marenghi" is you would expect to find information about an author, a film maker, a producer or an actor. So then if you do not find these things out about Garth Marenghi what do you find? Well you would find out that he does not exist. Every aspect of this programme is made up, the names of the actors, the books Garth claims to have read, the memories of the actors and of course the show itself, it is all one big spoof.
To me this makes the show even better due to the fact that unless you look into the show you do not know that this is made up therefore making the show a huge sucess.

post modernism

2008-02-07T22:57:00.000-08:00

Postmodernism is a term which is applied to a large set of developments in many areas critical theory, philosophy, literature, and culture.

Postmodernism was originally a reaction to modernism . Largely influenced by the confuison of the Second World War, postmodernism tends to refer to a cultural, intellectual, or artistic state.

modernism is problematic as it works for the ones that fit but dont for the ones who dont.
post modernism valuse everyone it says everones views are equal if they are in right context.

…in contrast to Western documentaries ‐ emphasis on individual protagonists, Indian films relied on the collective in representing its subject, including the collective interview. In place of the private home was the street. …the group rather than the individual and public spaces rather than private ones become the primary sites of political discourse and cultural expression.
(Jyotsna Kapur).

In this quote it is obvious that the western film is modernism film and the indian film is the post modernism, i think this is one of the most prominant quote amongst them.

According to Armin Medosch, in an interconnected environment, individuality or expression are neither important. What's important are the new forms of sharing, spreading and planning the digital work. With collective actions this cultural domain progresses in its entirety, because sharing and collaborating mean learning from each other.
(Valentina Culatti, Neural.it).

in this quote it is obvious that Culatti is looking at the interconneted enviroment should be more of a post modernism environment.

random thing

2008-01-31T20:39:00.000-08:00

ok so week 27 i got carried away... we were meant to be creating a tree in 3ds max, however upon completing it i decided to stay on after the lecture and have a mess about and add some random things, although non of it fits together and it looks odd my main aim was to play with the software and this is what i did and this is the resulting piece.

squid

2008-01-31T20:36:00.000-08:00

this is my atempt at creating the squid from the seminar in week 26, this took me ages as i had alot of problems gettin the timings and raises and falls right. although it is not briliant i am still fairly pleased with it as it is one of the first thbings i have created using any animation software.

the future

2008-01-31T20:12:00.000-08:00

in this task we were asked to watch a video and predict how that technology may help us in the future, or to pick one of the other aspects of the lecture and do the same thing with it. i have decided that i would rather look into avatars with real bodies as this concept seems to interest me more, therefore i went on the net and found this quote:
"Researchers are working to associate online avatars with physical bodies, connecting virtual reality robots with steel and software counterparts. The unification of software and mobility like this results in the so-called 'Ubibot' (ubiquitous robot), which the researchers predict is the future of interactive robotics. In the future, avatars on your pc/cell/pda screen may be able to bring you your tea or scratch your back. 'Two key components of the interface involve the sensor mapper and behavior mapper. The sensor mapper helps Rity get physical (ultrasound) sensor information from Mybot, enabling the virtual avatar to use physical information. The behavior mapper helps Rity actually perform physical behaviors using Mybot in a real environment, enabling the avatar to interact physically with human beings in real environments.'"

this was taken off:http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/14/2137227

from this quote it is bovious that if we can manage this we will have alot more relaxed lives, we could use the avatar for any task including:
house hold tasks
shopping
maintenace around the house/garden
delivering messages

however when you think of this on a larger scale this could be used in other ways for example it would be easy to use avatars to have business meetings so people dont have to fly from all over the world.
if an avatar could be pre-porogrammed then it could be used to help handicapped people or to stop people breaking into to a building.

however at the same time i feel this could be a very bad idea, people would get reliant on machines, the health of the country would dramticaly drop as we use avatars to do anything and it would mean very little for people to do.

avatars with a body a good or bad idea? who knows...

2nd life

2008-01-31T09:33:00.000-08:00

ok so i have finally gotten around to creating my avatar on 2nd life, my impressions so far? not that impressed. as of yet i have found the tutorials confusing, i have no idea where and when i have completed a tutorial and if i can leave before i complete them, the clothing of my avatar randomly changes half way through walking and the graphics keep messing up while i play, this may be slightly due to my laptop admitedly, but still not drawing me in yet, so this is my progress so far:

although it may seem a slightly random choice, the last name of "Bernard" shown in this picture does infact have meaning to me, in college one of my friends insisted on calling me Bernard, so this is my tribute to him.

this is my avatar just after creation, as you can see i have decided to go with the male gothic/cyber punk set up, i have decided to do this as in the past i have been known to dress in gothic clothing and because in the time i had my mohawk i was nicknamed the cyberpunk. in terms of the starting appearance of your avatar i do not think that the programme gives you very much control over how your avatar looks and although you can change your apperance later it becomes hard to get the look you want depending on the look you pick at trhe beging.

This is me editing the aperance of my avatar in the editing window, i actualy found this interface hard to use as you had to take the look you picked at the beggining and completely re-edit that look to get what you wanted this made it much harder than saying, "I want this hair style in theis colour and this shaped eyes, these lips," etc.

this is my completed avatar, as you can see i have gone for the mohawk look, this is a referenace to the fact that i used to have a mohawk, the fingernails and lips of my avatar are black, this is to show that in past i have done both these things as a laugh for parties. this clothing is as close as i could get it to the sort of thing i would wear, i wanted to get the jacket to look longer and leather but couldn't work out how it was done. i have gone with the more bulky of the body shapes to show that i often work out and try to keep in shape.

colour and light

2008-01-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

For my 2 examples of colour and light pictures i have taken 2 pictures from the anime film "Ghost in the Shell"

This picture particularly shows light well, in the image it is easy to identify where the source of light is coming from as it is shinning dirictly off the Major's face and the water or simulation behind her is reflecting the light, this gives the water the impression that is is very vibrant and coulorfull rather than the deep blue it would normaly have been. because of the relfection from the water even the colours that should have been dark and dank have a brighter colour to them.

this images is slightly darker than the last however the light rays bending around the the front of the picture and behind the major contribute alot to the light of the picture and help to make the blue and white stand out more than they would ariginaly have done. in this picture we are unsure as to what the light source actualy is.

test animation

2008-01-23T06:06:00.001-08:00

My practice animation for the next seminar.

Visual asthetics

2007-12-05T05:53:00.000-08:00

Clay Chinese Dragon

The item i have chosen to visualy analyse for this piece of work is an ornamental Chinese Dragon made from clay.
the piece is ahighly detailed dragon sat upon a mound of rocks. in the dragons right claw there is a large crystal designed to make the dragon look more expensive.
for the main part the dragon is various shades of yellows and oranges, which shows the fact that acording to legends, dragons were meant to be able to breathe fire. the ridges on the back of the dragon, and the wings of the dragon, are gold, when coupled together with the crystal, show that dragons are made out to be majestic and rich creatures. the gold and crystal also help to represent the tale that dragons were suposedly guardians of ancient treasures.
in contrast to the majesty of the dragon, the rock it sits upon are very bland, simple and dark. these rocks alos represent that dragons were suposed to live in mountains.
the attention that has been paid to the detail of the dragon makes this item look expensive and as though it has been based on a real creature.

One shot narrative

2007-12-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

So here it is, the one shot narrative:

one shot film preparation

2007-12-03T03:27:00.000-08:00

For our one shot film we decided to go to Newark, where three of our four memebers went to college, and use the old Polish war graves, due to the fact that we wanted to make use 0f the way the graves were set out. Due to luck more than anything else we arrived at the war graves at sunset which meant we were able to get the sun in the background, this made the effect of the graves more obvious and it made a more beautiful shot than it would have been before.

the narrative for this one shot was meant to be very simple, a realative of a dead war vetaran paying his respects to his dead realtive. this seemed very apropriate when we made the film as it was close to rememberance day and poppies were all about in memory of the war veterans. i'm not sure that the narrative was very well shown however once it is known what the narrative is it is alot easier to see it.

in preperation for this project we went to the polish war graves ad took pictures of the intended set, i have included these below.

pixilation references.

2007-11-29T06:38:00.000-08:00

For this project we had two main influences, the first was "Austin Powers Goldmember" the section we took the influence from is this one:

The section we used was from where they go behind the screen and the sailor is watching the shadows cast and it looks as though Austin is giving birth to Mini Me, we used this section to influence the part where it looks as though it is an operating table and the doctor is removin far too large objects from the patient.
The second film we used as an influence was "The Lord Of The Rings, The Fellowship Of The Ring" we used the scene in which Gandalf dies, this section is easy to see in our pixilation as we have directly take the staff slam from the film.

week 16

2007-11-13T15:07:00.000-08:00

As i have yet to do many posts on this i have decided to start doing more with it to keep a sort of mini update on how i feel the course is going. so far we have created 2 pixilation animations and done on picture with a pinhole camera. this week we are making a serious go at our next asignment which is creating a 30second film using one singular shot. in order to try and discover what makes a good one shot film i went on to single-shot.co.uk and watched a few of the videos that other people had created, the main aspects that most of the videos i saw had in common were:
Little or not narative.
no talking
followed the characters through a continuous pan

we have taken this into account when trying to decide what to create for our own one shot film, our initial idea is to travel to Newark and film a piece in the graveyard where all the war graves an memorials are taking advantage of the poppies that are linked in with this time of year and rememberance. we are hoping to edit this piece so that it is in the style of Sin City and Shindlers list in the way that they have are mainly black and white but show certain colours to emphasise aspects of the film, we are going to use this to bring out that red of the poppy against the white of the grave.

lev manovich

2007-11-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

Lev Manovich

For this review I have chosen to review a section of “the language of New Media” by Lev Manovich, I have chosen to look more closely at the first main section “What is new media?”. I have chosen to look at this due to the fact that I have entered a higher education course in multi-media, new media therefore is a highly important factor in learning everything I can about multi-media.
In this section of the book Manovich looks in detail at the history of new media, this include the transformation from making films using stills shots and linking them together, to the modern day technology we enjoy today. The section also shows how new media is not only about film but about all forms of media, there is a large section on how computer programming links into new media and also how games and music can be sold as part of a film package, with the film as the “base” to the set.
In general I found that this section was useful as it taught me some of the stuff about the history of film and also showed how other sections of new media link in to the whole cycle. However I found that a lot of the language in the book was confusing and hard to comprehend.
I found that the most useful section of this chapter was “the language of new media” taught me a lot about what different things in new media meant, I found that this was useful as it helped to understand new media in general as well as in the book. However it did not teach me anywhere as much as I would have liked to have found out.

first uni prog

2007-11-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

my first project, take a look see what you think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mRDNIPcBXY

reflecting in action

2007-10-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

"Schon found that when effective practitioners were faced with a probelm in their practice they worked through it instictively drawing on previous similar experiences, they tried and tested out various possibilites until they resolved the issue."

in general i have found that this in the best way for me to work, for example we have recently been asked to read and review a book for our tutorial seesions, though out my college life we did alot of work that require reading and summarising and altough in most cases it was on a smaller scale i found that it was easy to use the same methods for this task as i used in college. i feel that if a method has worked well in the past in should work just as well in each case, however this is not to say that changing the method is a bad idea, there are always new and better ways of doing things depending on the situation and how you work.

me

2007-10-09T02:11:00.000-07:00

As i dont really know what im doing with this site yet i have decided to make a simple bloggto let people know a little bit about me, so here goes!
name: Ricahrd Norman
age: 19
current favourite film: Ace Ventura (not sure if prefer one or 2 though)
music: almost anything (and yes that does include classical!)
studying at: Nottingham Trent university
course: Multimedia
most looking for from the course: learning to animate and more advanced editing