Behind the scenes

Heres the behind the scenes for Train....

Train. Behind The Scenes. from Petalblossom on Vimeo.

Ooops forgot about you!

K i haven't posted in a while, must have slipped my mind which is not a good thing at all. But anyway here's whats gone on in the time I haven't posted:

- New Project, so the project was to make a 6 minute film in a group. We were in groups of 7 and all had a role to play, I was the producer. I got the role because basically I just asked for it and it seemed that no one else wanted to do it. Was quite happy about that one! Some of the other roles were fought over but sorted out nicely. After we agreed on the roles we read our script, Train which was written by Jools. At first we didn't like it that much, we didn't think that it ended very well so changed it, MASSIVELY!!! then a whole lot of organising and planning went ahead. I found the location which was a student house in west bridgeford that suited the script so well, it was if the house and street were made for the story! so we got risk assessments and recce forms all made up and we were set to make a proposal to the group and our lecturers. OK so all was good, or so we thought...turns out we got the script so wrong and jools was furious (in that situation he seemed it, I bet he really wasn't that bad) so he explained and we saw the error of our ways and changed it. All coming together nicely now. We got our second set of storyboards done and then it came time to rehearse. Rehearsals went really well, this was when we met our actors for the first time and they were perfect, this made director, assis director and I really excited to film now.

The day was finally upon us, shoot day! so i had all the equipment in my car and the actors wanted to drive themselves to the location which meant all of us had a ride there and back which was amazing! it started of slow, this was no ones fault really was just a case of getting used to how to work with the actors and get the best performance and footage. it all started to flow better and everything was done....There were no hiccups really, just losing the chalk a few times and Alex losing his keys which after 20 minutes of searching found them in his pockets.

Now were are just waiting for Alex (Editor) and Andrew (sound) to finish it all up and then we can all move along.

Another thing that happend was the Network Essay. I quite enjoyed this essay, didnt find it as boring or pointless as the last one I did and also got a desent grade on it, B-, think il just say B from now on!

Researched Companies

Just some of the companies that I have been looking at for context 2 Essay:

Company 1 – Raw Cut TV

www.rawcut.tv
Small company based in London

Creates Police/crime shows however delving into new areas and shows

already completed 2 weeks of work experience there

Company 2 - Radical Media
www.radicalmedia.com/
Large Company (International, base in London)
Music Videos, Adverts, Entertainment, Photography

Company 3 – Scorch London
http://www.scorchlondon.com
Based in London
Web videos, Cinema/TV Adverts, Short Films

Rejected Companies
• Skeleton Productions
- www.skeletonproductions.com
- Nottingham

• Hub TV
- www.hub.tv
- London

• DocuMovie
- www.documovie.co.uk
- London
- Makes Very short documentaries

• Landmark Films
- www.landmarkfilms.com
- Documentaries

Fasion Show

KK so me and will got some work filming a fashion show for Baa Bar. It was an experience but really hectic...

We went there a week in advance to see the venue and get some ideas, one the night (a week later) all was going to plan until WIll realised that we were running out of memorey, fast! so after 10 mins, £10, awkward taxi convo and me catching a cold we had more memory.

Other than that all went well and hope you enjoy...


http://vimeo.com/16194833

Fashion Show rehearsal edit

So we went to the rehearsal fashion show on Wednesday, I got a parking ticket which I'm not happy about. However it was a real eye opener! There were so many idea going about and me and Will were just bouncing those ideas off each other.

Will went back to his because the videos were not working on my computer and just threw this together. I was listening to loads of tracks and found this song, "Battlefields" by Fenech-Soler. The song goes amazingly well with the video and the way we want it to turn out, So i gave it to Will and he added it.

Hockleys Test Footage Cut from william on Vimeo.

BMX vid

Not really a big fan of BMX vids but as soon as this video started I couldnt take my eyes off it.

I think it goes on a bit but i really like the slomo they use and the lighting is amazing.

See more funny videos and Funny Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Fashion Show

So on Sunday my mate Will went to film the rundance event happening in Lace Market. He got talking to some people and got a gig filming a Fashion Show next week. He told them about me and got me involved.

So me and Will, are off to rehearsals for the Fashion show tomorrow. We got the equipment out and are trying to learn how to use the new Panasonic Camera before tomorrow. Ive been watching some fashion shows and taking notes because i have no idea what to expect.

But I will update on how it goes and hopefully will get some more stuff to do from this...

Another video im a fan of

Sorry but over the summer ive seen some preety cool stuff and thought id share. This video is really good, goes so well with the lyrics and you notice something new everytime you see it. I should know, iv seen it over 30 times!!

Best thing ive seen in a while

Have to give these guys some credit, not only a catchy song but what a video! Genius!

Back to uni and work experience

So the course has started again and im surprised at how many people are doing moving image! However they all seem to be good guys and hopefully good to work with this year.

After working a part time job and a bit of work experience I am looking forward to start learning again. Not that the job and work exp wasn't fulfilling but i guess i get a lot more out of this course now.

The work experience that i did was with a company called Raw Cut tv. This company produces Street Wars, Police Interceptors etc. I got the job because my dad knows the Boss as he was on the show a couple of years ago from being robbed. So i had one week planned to go and work for them.

I knew the jobs that id be doing; mainly making tea, washing up, cleaning, sorting etc and i was right! but while i was there i realised how much i could learn from the people working their, with actual experience of the industry under their belt. So i started talking to everyone there (it was a small company) and asked what uni they went to and how they got the job. By doing this, i got a lot of information on what to do in the future and what the industry expects. at first this made me panic as i found out that making tea is a big part of it! However with anything you want, you have to work hard at it and be persistent. After my week was done, i got a call from the Boss asking if i wanted more work, even though i had plans that week, i would have been a fool to turn it down. So i went in with the expectation of making tea for another week. But this week was different, some of the staff had gone to Glastonbury to film for Green Peace and they had a lot of footage that needed to be watched and sorted. This was really good as i got to see the fun side of what i could be doing in the future. The best part of the whole experience had to be the last day. One of the Assistant Editors (he was like my sensai) asked me to have a go editing some footage of a skate park that was made from recycled wood for green peace. He put me on a mac with final cut pro and taught me the basics. so i was on that for the whole day and what i made i was really happy with. My sensai came in to look at it and was shocked, a real confidence booster! Unfortunately i was unable to get the video off their system as it crashed and was my last day. But i will get it!

what a documentary...or should I say ROCKUMENTARY!!

I just watched Anvil, a documentary about a Heavy metal rock band that started off 30 years ago and got nowhere.

As heavy metal goes, im not a fan at all. But this film was amazing! it had great music during the scenes when it mattered, great shots and most of all the story of the band was great.

Really recomend it!

House

I just watched the new episode of House and realised how they used light to show a flashback or in that case, inside House's mind.

Every light or reflection of light was really bright and glared across the screen. It was a really good way of showing that what was happening wasnt happening at that exact point and was a recollection of what had already happened.

Update

I havent been on this is ages and therefore have not written about all that gone on in the past few weeks.

So the film is now finally done...after 4 attempts. I'm just finishing editing it and it looks good, the sound has come out better than expected but of course there is a a lot that i don't like and need to get rid of. We all worked really well as a group and there were only three of us which meant that we all had two jobs each. It was a bit more work but 100% worth it.

Now I'm starting my 3D lair, which i have decided to not make a "secret lair" but just a lair. My inspiration has come from a film i just saw a few weeks ago, Centurion.

The film was about a Roman Legion and there were many scenes inside big tents with elaborate furniture and weapons scattered around. It really interested me so i decided to base my lair on that.

I have also spent a lot of time on my Visual Essay which im not so cinfident about. I think i have included too much writting and completly missed the whole point. However i like it and think that it shows what i really do enjoy about my chosen path way...its a work in progress.

Seriously Strong Chedder

My friend showed me this advert which i thought was so clever and funny, thought id share it...

Disaster

So we got a new actress for our film really quickly, this meant we could get straight onto filming. Everything was going well, we had the storyboard and shot list to hand and everything went smoothly. There were some hick ups, the tripod was loose again but that happened just at the end and the camera battery ran out.

Today we went to edit the film and capture it...

However we couldnt because the picture was awful and this is because the camera heads were not clean. SO all our footage has to be scrapped and we wont be able to do any until after term. On the positive side, the shots looked amazing and everything went to plan. Hopefully this is just something we can learn from and take positives from it.

Long Two Days

After filming last week and deciding that we needed to re shoot most things. Me and Will have come up with a new storyboard, new shot list and even new script. We Have also encountered a major problem. The actress that we used for the first day of filming cant do this week. This means that we cant use any of the previous footage because we will have a new actress.

Filming Day 1

Today we had an early start so that we could get our film filmed for Fridays lecture. We went to our location and started rehearsing, then we started to get our equipment out and discovered that we had not been given a microphone. This set us back a lot because Ben had to drive back and get it. Once we started, things started to go well. We were getting good shots, the actors were doing well and the location proved to be a good choice. Then we started to run out of time and because one of the actors is in a play on Friday, today would have been our last opportunity this week to film him...So we rushed! this caused us to get the worst shots and to be honest nothing flowed. The sound from the buses outside was awful and this meant stopping and starting a lot. Once we got back we decided to watch through what we had filmed and try and edit it. This just proved to us how much rushing it had cost us. Were planning to re shoot everything next week and hopefully spend more time on it.

Filming

SO our new project is a moving image one which im really excited about because its what i want to move into. We were put into groups (ours is a a group of 3) and then were given a script which we had to read and interpret. We were give the script "Ticket" which was quite a hard read but i think we interpreted well. We then had to choose our roles in the film making... I got Director which means i have to rewrite the cript, create some storyboards and work with the actors. I also have to work with the camera operator for camera shots. Im enoying this project so far a lot more than flash because flash was just me in my room working till late and getting really frustrated.

The other day we went looking for a location to film in...we have altered the story so that it does not take place at a bus stop but a cafe. We decided to try the a cafe which we thought would be perfect first just to get the dissapointment out the way, however we got really lucky and they said it would be no problem, so we had a drink, got some contact details and were on our way.

Now im in the process of rewriting the script, i have all the camera shots on a seperate piece of paper and am including them in the script. I just have the last scene to write which is the one we are adding.

The wrestler

Iv just seen the film the wrestler and really liked the way it was filmed. there was a lot of documentary type filming even though it wasn't, this was mainly filming over the main characters shoulder and following him about. The ending was pretty cool as well, it just ended with him jumping off the turnbuckle with no definitive ending of what path he takes.

Finally finished my quiz

I think iv sorted out all the problems except one which is that the music does not stop when the button is clicked to go to the next question. I have made a note on it on the quiz but that does not sort out the problem...Iv added a bit of animation and from the feedback that i got from some users i decided to add some colour as they said it was boring, Even though i was going for a simple look.



Match It Final by ~uri3200 on deviantART

Match it - Interactive Quiz

Just a taster of the quiz, still have to work out how to make sound when the button is pushed and make the ending more exciting



Match it by ~uri3200 on deviantART

Flash is killing me

I was up till 5 last night trying to put sounds on my buttons, this meant watching hundreds of tutorials and a lot of trial and error. I realised that i couldnt put sound on with another efffect i had on the buttons. The buttons now move out to the right when the mouse is over them and back in when the mouse moves off. I like this effect but will still try to add sound and if not will put sound in somewhere else.

Flash Quiz

I'm half way through my flash quiz and am having doubts...the idea is an association game which would include images, words, sounds etc. I tried to base the design on a famous online flash quiz, The stupid Test. However i really don't like the idea now, and i think that i will hate going along with it, so I'm going to keep the idea of the game and questions that i have made and start redesigning it.

Cool short film 2

Found the original website for "Whats in the box"....

http://babel-research.eu/witb/stream/

Cool short film

I was watching some short films and came across this one which i really liked...only short but leaves you gagging to know what happens next which is annoying as i don't think they brought out another one. Its not great quality, couldn't find the original one which I've see before, but still a good short film with great effects.

What's in the box? 'Test Film 2009' video

3D Edit

My friend came to stay with me this week and showed me this video which i really liked and have watched a couple times since seeing it the first time. Its a 3D edit of a cod movie which i have been told the skills are bad. However the editing is really clever, i like how they made someone fall through the ceiling when they were shot through the floor, which doesn't really happen in the game.

Zero de conduite

This week we watched a french film called "Zero de conduite" (Zero for conduct, 1933). The film was based around the experiences of Jean Virgo, the writer, in a boarding school. The film was created in 1933 and banned in France as it was seen to start influencing rebellion. It was the first film to include slow motion in it as well as being a very influential film to future writers.

However i did not enjoy the film so much as i found it hard to follow. I thought the scenes were too scattered which i wouldnt have minded it they connected better, but they didnt.

Colour

I recently watch one of my favourite films....Schindler's list. Other than Liam Neesons amazing performance and Spielberg's fantastic job, i realised what made the film so special...The colour! The idea of making the film black and white with only a bit of colour is genius! it makes things that usually wouldn't stand out; The little girls red coat and the glowing yellow shabbat candles each were there to make an impact and keep the viewer involved in the film. Without saying anything, the viewer can see that there is still a lot of hope withing the Jewish people through the colour of the candles. Spielberg did not want to butify the Holocaust and wanted to make the film timeless, colour adds beauty. This was not what the film was about.

I also played a game recently called 'The Saboter', it is a game set during the french revolution. The game is mostly in black and white to show areas where the morale of the french people is low and Nazi power is high, and Vice-versa.

I have spoken about how sound adds a lot to a film in a previous post, I think colour has the same job and should be used to add something more.

Research

This is the 2nd part of the questions we were asked to answer about ourselves and research.
By doing research, i will be able to see what is out there that i can extend on or make better. I am also able to find different methods that could make what I'm doing a whole lot better. As research starting points go, i stick to the exploratory method. This method aims to look at what is out there and therefore i can get ideas and extend on my own. I also like the idea of Interim research which looks at trends, this way i can see progression of what I'm researching. I'm quite wary of descriptive research as i know how long winded it is, it takes a lot of time to find out something that can be done quicker using other methods such as using exploratory to see what surveys have already been done.

I find that pilot stage is quite irrelelvant, this is because it looks at developing plans on research, this is seen as a warm up and to me....a bit of a waste of time. I usually know what research i want or need to do and just go with it.

The Book of Eli

I didn't realise how much sound contributed to the whole viewing experience until watching this film. Of corse i knew it effected the film, but this film does a very good job at utilising it to add more emphasise to each scene. I cant say much about the film without giving it all away but the only thing i will say is that it is based on god and faith and even though the bible plays a major part in the film, all Denzel Washington can teach us from it is treat others better than you treat yourself, which is bull as throughout the film he is slicing and dicing everyone that's in his way. People that i went to see the film with thought that the ending was great and that you have to think about the film to really appreciate it. I do not think that on the other hand but il let people decided themselves and let me know what they thought.

Past, Present and Future.......and Tetsuo

This is the first part of the homework...i understood it as talking about what i have done in the past, what im doing now and what i want to achieve in the future.

During the past few years, I have not done a lot of work outside of school. Although this may seem a disadvantage to some people, I believe that it helps me push further in the course. I did an ICT course in 6th form high school which involved a lot of designing work on Macromedia Fireworks as well as creating an interactive story for children in flash (which was like the interactive narrative but longer) . With the knowledge of Fireworks, I was able to do little things outside of school that I would have not been able to do beforehand. I designed a few logos, one was used by a friend on an American based site selling electrical products (www.techcrazy.net), I also helped design a website used for a jewellery company. Although this is not a lot of work outside school, it all kick started my decision to take multimedia. I have always enjoyed film and had hour long discussions with friends about what films I like and hate and why. After doing the Oneshot project, I realised this is what I want to do, I also realised after watching Tetsuo: The Iron Man, I knew I did not want to create anything weird with a lot of eerie noises or disgusting images which were obviously there to javascript:void(0)make an impact, but something that people could connect to and realise the situation. This doesn’t mean that I want to create things that happen in everyday life but just things that people could watch and feel something real towards.
While on that subject, that was the weirdest film iv ever seen. At first I was just tired and thought to myself “just get through these two hours”, and then I felt sick due to the disturbing scenes and noises in the film. Honestly a penis drill?! That was a great idea! And why did she it turn his girlfriend on?! All just weird. Also the Uzi at the end confused me, if they had one....why didn’t they use it earlier? However I thought it was a life lesson and a film that I will never watch again.

First Day Back

The first day back started with a 2 hour lecture, we were mixed with the other art and design subjects for the first time which may have not been a great idea. The lecture was interesting as i learnt that all three subjects had a lot in common, I also learnt that theatre design students were scared of progression and had a problem with most of what multimedia had to offer. A student from multimedia said that the progression from 2d to 3d inspired them to take up multimedia, to which some theatre design students replied "in theatre it has always been 3d and with actors it has much more effect than something popping out at you on a screen", this angered a lot of people obviously. However it was a good lecture and am looking forward to next weeks...

We also had a seminar where we introtuced to Dr. David Downes who would be our lecturer for the next 5 weeks. We were told that over the 5 weeks we would learn action script 3 which i havent used before and so dont know what to expect.