
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Editing Screenshots

Sense of Space- Photos


Here Dan is using the microphone to record the splatter of water on the floor using a cut in half bottle.

In this picture I am recording the movement of water using a Hydro-mic. I used it at the top of the bath to see if the mic could/would pick up different sounds.

In this picture me and Dan recorded the 'swishing' sound. Dan recorded the sound whilst I made the movement of the water.
Sounds
Sound Effects needed.
Sperm race (swishing frenzied).
Race Jumps.
Sperm, Less swishing
Wriggling
Ping (Victory)
3 minute water throughout.
Muffled music through a solid item.
Bed movement.
Food consumption.
Tv noises.
Hospital Noises.
Baby Crying.
Baby kicking.
Gushing noises.
Drum roll and pop.
Hospital Bleeping.
Bottle squirt.
Muffled plastic being put down.
Sick noises.

Post-Production

We used a mircophone that Dan brought along which was a big help to us as it was able to block out background noise.
Timetable Dates.
Timetable (December)
Thursday (1st) Tuesday (6th) Wednesday (7th) Monday (12th)
.Thursday 1st- Record Vocals for intro to project.
.Tuesday 6th- Create Script and develop on sound ideas.
.Wednesday 7th- Record sounds, edit sounds, and put together sounds on timeline with recorded vocals.
. Monday 12th- Ensure project is together, all sounds are correct. Develop on presentation.
Timeline
Rough Script
Microphones
http://www.shure.co.uk/support_download/videos/how-to/microphone-basics
Introduction...Sperm Race.
(IN STYLE OF RADIO)
We start off today with a new one from William Scott and Amy Scott and it’s called “Makin’ love…”(BED NOISES)
Hello and welcome to wetter than usual day here, for the William Bill sperm stakes coming out of A-Scott, THEY’VE JUMPED THE START…. AND THEY’RE OFF!!!...
(SOUND OF SPERM SWISHING IN RHYTHM WITH THE SOUND OF HORSE HOOVES IN A RACE, MOMENTUM CHANGING WITH COMMENTARY, with fallers less swishing)
Messy start there for some, but it appears 20 million male sperm, 10 million female sperm and a hermaphrodite got away with a clean break, coming up to the cervix now and male sperm 36985 seems to have taken an early lead, closely followed by female sperm 11, AND WE’VE LOST HERMAPHRODITE!, A FALLER AT THE CERVIX, it seemed he/she didn’t know which way it was going!
Lots of fallers there infact and we appear to be left with around 700,000 in the race. Male sperm 36985 still pulls away upfront heading towards the uterus a giant swish there to go clear of female 11 WHO FALLS!!! And she’s taken more than 90% of the field with her, male 118 avoids that wreckage like the experienced semen he is to take second place and close in on the lead.
A test of skill now as we come to the fallopian tube, and Male sperm 118 squeezes out 36985 allowing female 11 leg room to take the lead… NOW THERE APPEARS TO BE 3 LEFT IN THE RACE! A female sperm, male sperm, and tracking them both, A POTENTIAL TWIN SPERM!
Twin sperm takes the lead, followed by female, male and the rest didn’t make it, twin sperm and female sperm are level head-to-head BUT MALE SPERM NOW! MALE SPER< COM ES THROUGH THE MIDDLE TO TAKE UP THE LEAD, FEMALE SPERM FOLLOWS, AND TWIN SPERM IS TAILED OFF… THEY BOTH KNOW THE END IS IN SIGHT AND HIT THE OVUM!! MALE SPERM, FEMALE SPERM This race will be won and lost on the wriggle now…..
(DING/PING and CHEER).
This commentary is full of puns and will be the main humorous part of our project. We look to record this narration with the sounds and for it to last about 1'10seconds.
Initial Storyline
This is the rough storyline of what we want to include;
1. Big introduction for a big reaction (the sounds of conception) leading into immediate character involvement in the form of…
2. The sperm race (narrated as though commentating a horse/sprint race) fast paced water / swimming sound effects with declaration of a winner being….
3. Character introduction for the listener with background effects of - (discovery of pregnancy, congratulations, morning sickness)
4. Continual narration and opinion through activities such as feeding / being fussed over / educated via music, exercise (going for a walk)
5. Sound of hospital visits, easing of movement by mother e.g. watching tv etc. which then sets into boredom of the baby resulting in impatience…
6. Kicking and complaining from the foetus’ inner voice causing the mother to believe the time is ready…
7. Waters bursting / rushing to hospitals / confusion of the baby’s character / the sounds of childbirth (screaming , encouragement etc.) and then to finish the piece, the birth and the end of internal voice narration from the baby, replaced with a cry in a now un-muffled outside world.
We wanted to make sure every second of the 3 minutes is filled with activity, via the atmospheric sounds, the narration, sound effects of a mixture of twos and the three between them. We will get on-board people to play the characters such as the mother, grandmother, friends etc. and we will also contribute largely as the voice of the foetus and other characters e.g. father.
Friday, 9 December 2011
Project Idea 2
Monday, 21 November 2011
Project Ideas
Sound Inspiration
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Project 2, examples.
Meat Factory, Ear worms.
This clip is a short documentary of a man's life entering and working at an abattoir. Within this clip we are given a narrative so we immediately know what the project is about.
Whilst he talks we can hear different sounds in the background creating a sense of space, we are placed directly into the slaughter house, noises such as cows and machinery with knifes clanging together can be heard. The narrator often digressed to his life outside the abattoir, such as meeting up with his work colleagues and finding a way to switch back on after his hard, gruesome day. Whilst he is talking about this we instantly hear car noises and cheery music is played, with the narrator singing along changing the mood of the story. I think the reason for this part is to show us the narrator switching on the end of the day, forgetting the horific sights of the slaughter house.
I found that this clip flowed and I understood from the offset what he was talking about.
My only concern with this documentary is that I didn't fully understand what he was saying due to his dialect, also, because he digressed a lot to happier cheery times, (with him singing and have fun with his colleagues) I did not know if I should have taken this clip seriously or not. All these factors I will take into consideration when creating my own project .
Tunnel Vision
This clip is a short documentary, giving us a small insight into the life’s of two different people, and their feelings upon entering the London tube train.
At the beginning of the clip we immediately hear the stopping and starting of the London tube. The doors open and the repetitive call of the women saying, "please mind the gap'. This sets the scene for the story.
We then hear the narrators commenting on their personal life’s. With this clip I found that it was rather embarrassing to hear as the narrators were revealing secrets, the listener would agree with this as the narrators often paused and coughed in embarrassment. None of these signs were edited out making the documentary very personal. A lot of the clips in this project were interspaced and it skipped from one narrator to the next with interspaced sounds of the tube in the background.
This documentary flowed and had rhythm, it was easy to understand as all the sounds where clear, this clip was enjoyable to listen to and has inspired me.
Creative Media Practice Project #2
Again we had to work in pairs to create a '3 minute', Audio, 'Sense of space'. This project will contain no footage just sound, as no space is silent, sound always exists.
We are asked to look into how we can perceive given space as one of high activity, or of marked quietness. It can either contain that of human presence or even the presence of machines or nature.
Even though this project will contain no footage, I think it'll be exciting to create and experiment with sound as it is a major value to put into consideration.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Final Edit
This project has given me experience with the camera equipment and it has helped me work on storyboards and shot lists which prove very helpful and I cannot wait for the next assignment!.
Editing 2

In this clip we wanted to show us editing and piecing together our footage.

Editing
We showed our rough cut to our module leader and her feedback was very helpfully as it guided us into make the project have an effect. Our module leader said that the film had more of a dreamy outlook rather than a spooky uneasy affect, she said in her opinion that the project was a bit boring in the sequence we put it in and that newer images should be added.
Luckily, we had quite a lot of footage to look through which was a major advantage, however, due to the rainy weather some of that footage had been spoiled by rain drops on the lense of the camera through no fault of our own.
We then went back to properly editing our work and putting it in a more coherent narrative. As we wanted to make our project spooky and un-sure, we add a desaturation to each clip making it black and white. This worked well and we decided to keep it this way, we sped up some of the clips and even used reverse narrative, which I insisted upon.
Filming in Edale
I was worrying though that some of the footage may be too repetitive and boring.
Another blow to the day as well was our change of mind to our project, we decided that we didn't want to do the seven deadly sins idea. We kept the same storyboard and shot list concept but changed our idea. We wanted to make our project spooky, we also wanted to create un-easy for the audience. Our storyline now is entering the woods by showing close ups, to extreme close ups with the footage getting faster and faster then at the end we zoom out of the trees, exiting.
Equipment list
This is the list of equipment we will bring to Edale:
1) PD170 Camera
2)Tri-pod
3)2x mini DV tapes
4)Climbing Harness (If rope is available)
5)Climbing rope (if available)
6)Plastic bags for rain cover
7)Warm clothing/suitable footwear/waterproofs
8)Food
9)Torch
10)Map of local area
11) Mobile (for emergencies)
12)Planning/work documents
13)Contingency money
14)Back pack to contain some items
Changing idea concepts
SEVEN DEADLY SINS:
Wrath
Envy
Sloth
Greed
Pride
Lust
Gluttony
Shot List

Storyboard
Further Research
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Project Research
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Deviant art shows a lot of images that are easy to access; me and my partner looked at tree emotions. We found hundreds of images of tree emotions (a lot of these had been photoshoped), we thought in post production we could interpret these effects using colour saturation and various other colour correction effects.
http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=tree+emotions%2C+tree+in
As an avid fan of lost I viewed a clip that I wanted to try and interpret in our project, this would work well with our project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulwWolBrcbo
This extreme tilt up looking at the forest top technique is used in a lot of films and I think it works well and I have always wanted to experiment this, now this project will allow me to do this.
Third Idea
Second Idea


First Idea
For our first idea we came up with the idea of 'Physical and emotional contrast of open and enclosed spaces'.
We thought for this idea we could film Forests to represent enclosed spaces showing claustrophobia and fear, representing all of this we would show an anonymous character cowering and writhing in-between the trees to represent his emotions.
We would also show open fields and the character dancing and smiling representing freedom and calmness.
We would also show different levels of observations, on cliff edges, in bunkers and in vast open spaces.
This idea is simple but can be effective but it may be perceived as a bit ambiguous to our audiences. I also think we won’t be able to capture people’s attention for three minutes but we did have a lot of creative ideas for this piece.
Mind Map 2
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Starting the project.
PROJECT 1-Portrait of a Place.
We was given a project brief on Portrait of Place, asking us to shoot a 3-minute silent moving image on a place, this given place was Edale in Derbyshire.
In the project we could include;
. an exploration of a physical place.
. an exploration of a person/people within a place.
. a fictional place or characters being developed.
. a self-portrait within a place.
Any of these could be used in the style of a;
. Documentary.
. Drama/ Narrative.
. Experimental/ Poetic.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Reverse Narrative
The Scientist is a song created and sung by Coldplay front man Chris Martin. I like this song (even though it's of a depressing one), but I really like the video for the song.
It's quite inspiring as it's about love and apology, it is solely shot in reverse narrative. We witness him waking up and travelling backwards showing us little bits as to what's happened. The main reason of me liking the video is the story behind it, we do not fully understand what is happening or what has happened until we get to the end of the song (in the video the beginning of his day), it is a different concept as to having a video shot normal, and I think this reverse concept keeps people watching.
Another video I found that is shot in reverse narrative, is the video for 'Dead Island' the game. This video is very effective (mainly because of the music) but also the composition of reverse narrative and normal narrative mixed together working really well.
Contractions by Christopher Hewitt and James Cambourne

Whilst watching contraction I did not understand the subject matter. I think the director has created this clip to keep us guessing or to make up our own mind as to what ‘we’ think is happening.
In my opinion I thought the character (man) had died and the female was trying to resuscitate him back to life. When the ground began to move every time she applied compressions I thought it would soon break apart and he would be swallowed into the ground which would mean he has died.
This clip is also questionable as to why they are on a roof, and why he is in that state.
I did not enjoy watching this clip because of the amount of questions around it. I felt like I was watching something that had no beginning or end and wasn’t going anywhere. In my opinion I think the clip was un-successful in dealing with its subject matter as it is so ambiguous.
However, I did like the editing and the sounds, the sound and movement of the floor was what kept me engaged as it is very cleverly done, also, the women saying, “Where did you go?”, keeps us guessing as to what actually happened, even though I did not understand this clip, it did make me think creatively of a story as to what could have happened to them and how they go to be in that situation.
High-rise by Gabrielle Russell
The first shot is of the baby happily playing with a doll on a sofa, we then pan to his mother who to me looked depressed, pale and dishevelled. I think the director has done well in portraying this character like this, the lack of make-up on her shows me that she has given up on trying to look pretty this representing she feels run-down and very un-happy. The camera then pans around the women’s room which contrasts with her character, toys are littered on the floor, the colours are bland and the walls are mucky. We immediately realise this women has no pride in how she looks, or how her house looks anymore she has given up. In this clip we can hear the voices of contestants on a TV show the women is watching, I found this very loud to which I realised this is done deliberately by the women so she can drown out her baby who is making noises in my opinion the baby annoys her and she does not want him.
Throughout the three minute clip I also found out that this female character does not interact with the baby at all, this enforces the fact that she regrets having him.
The baby then throws the doll towards an open window; inquisitively he goes to fetch the doll. The mother sees this and attempts to stop him giving us the hope that she actually cares about this baby. However, she drops to the floor also dropping the baby’s bottle, this proves the fact that she has physically given up as well as mentally giving up.
The women then looks at the baby who is getting closer to the window but does not attempt to get up, we then see numerous shots of the bottle which has begun to drip on the floor. The camera focuses on the milk which in my opinion represents her zoning out from her surroundings, choosing to forget. The milk dripping shows her life dripping away with the burden of having a child, she isn’t able to do things she wants in life because of this baby.
The women then slowly glance towards the door before getting up towards it.

However, we then hear screams to which she immediately runs into the room to which we find out that it’s actually on the telly, the camera then cuts to a shot of the baby who is safe and playing with another toy. She then runs to the window and looks down at the doll which has fallen. I think this shot is shown to make us, and her realise what could have happened. The camera then moves away from the block of flats, this to me is a cliff hanger as to what could happen next, we are left with the questions of. ‘Is she redeemed with the realisation of what could have happened to her baby?’ And ‘what will she do next?’
I really enjoyed watching High Rise, it kept me engaged the whole time and I understood what was happening throughout the clip, the clip touches on the matter of reality, this does happen in day to day lives, and I think the director wanted us to feel sorry for this woman as post natal depression affects millions of women and she is showing us the effects of it. There is no narrative to the clip which I think makes it successful, we are able to determine the situation and what’s happening through facial expressions and sound. I also think the director is successful with dealing with the subject matter’s she creates an atmosphere with mise-en-scene, such as the décor of the room, the use of (or lack of) make up.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Steel Homes


Saturday, 8 October 2011
Lost

Friday, 7 October 2011
Book Inspiration
Desperation is wrote by the legendary Stephen King which is set in the desolate Nervada desert.
Lone travellers are abducted by a mysterious policeman who claims to help them, but instead takes them to the town of desperation which is eerily quiet. A couple of chapters later we are told what has happened to this once bussilng, ex-mining town.
Several of the innocent hostages soon escape and they realise all is not right with the manic policeman who has started to decay externally and internally, but defiantly still stands strong. We soon then realise that the 'entity' in the policeman is able to inpersonate certain members of the hostages which leads to speculations, betrayals and confusion in the group, who are intent on escaping Desperation.
This book holds alot of inspiration for me, the storyline is able to keep me immersed in the book,also, Stephen King has a certain way of getting me involved in the characters lifes. He descibes the characters perfectly so we are able identify who they are with their appearance and personality.
I enjoy stories that involve a band of survivors who have to work together to escape/survive an evil entity of any kind trying to hunt them down one by one, with this storyline we get to know an array of characters and are able to identify each character and their traits, which i find interesting. The book splits into different chapters and each chapter gives us an insight into each characters life and perception on their harrowing events in Desperation.
One day I would hopefully like to create this book into a film using my own inspiration for audiences to see.

Inspiring Websites...
Most of the websites I observed were very useful and influencial. However, two websites stood out for me which i havent come across before that are informative and very useful.
http://www.britishcouncil.com
British Council Film is a film organisation that work to 'profile' innovation,diversity,creativity and excellence of British Films.
BC films also help to promote and arrange UK movies abroad to show the creativity and imagination of British films.
This site allows us to watch continuous expansion of short films, feature films, documentaries and animation produced by British companies.
The site allows me to watch various genres of films and gives me a factual insight into when the film was made, by who, where and how long the film lasts. This site is clean, fresh and easy to navigate.
http://www.animateprojects.com
Animate Project is an arts organisation in the UK that shows experimental animation.
The site aims to realise the potential of animation and allows cutting edge animators the space to take creative risk, to explore new forums, and processes to redefine animation.
Animation is not necessarily something that inspires me nor what i choose to look at in the future. However, upon scanning this website it has opened my eyes to the aray of short stories being created. Animation also helps to create lots of emotions such as the way a character is drawn, e.g to look sad or happy. A real life film would not necessarily be able to portray these range of emotions well within 10 seconds of being viewed. This site has opened my mind more to animation, and i have took it into consideration for the future.
http://www.animateprojects.org/films/by_date/films_2008/black_dog
This short story harbours lots of emotions. The animation is cleverly mastered and craftly works well with how it is produced. This clip has been created with lots of imagination and skill.