Reverse Narrative

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqWLpTKBFcU

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ialZcLaI17Y

Lost quote

"Live together, die alone"-Jack on Lost

Contractions by Christopher Hewitt and James Cambourne

Contraction is a short drama clip with an ambiguous meaning.
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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbQ41VR6AZE

High-rise by Gabrielle Russell

High-rise is a short drama clip which is about a woman who seems to suffer from post natal depression, who lives in high risen flats in Leeds.

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.

We are then located into a dark corridor where she shuts the door, this symbolizing she’s blocking out what’s happening in the living room. The hallway is dark which shows she is hiding from the fact she knows what may happen to the baby. Sound is used cleverly in this shot as all we can hear is her breathing cutting out all sounds around her she is seizing the chance to change her life.

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.

Steel Homes

Steel Homes is a short documentary based on a storage facility that harbours peoples belongings, this documentary is very personal to the people who narrate it as they find comfort by coming to the warehouse to look/feel the belongings that are stored away.

I think the primary aim of this documentary is to show the endless storage homes and how many people are linked to them, I think the director is also trying to put across how people come attached to items that remind them of their past, or items that are linked to a certain event in their life and how they store them away so they can come back to them to bring some happiness once the storage doors are opened. However, I also this think this documentary has a sad undertone, there is no music within this short film which I think is done deliberately to symbolise loneliness, this also links with the people who enter the warehouse as they keep themselves to themselves, they don't get involved with other peoples belongings or life's.

Another thing I found sad was that some of the storage houses where crammed full of items, some of which the narrators would possibly never see again (due to the limited space), this is upsetting to see as it shows some people cannot let go and this obsession will only carry on.

The interior of the storage house is not of a warm atmosphere, each 'home' is identified by a number showing the lack of identity of the owner, the director shows us the endless, bare corridors and we hear the harsh metallic sounds of doors opening and closing. I got the feeling that the warehouse is a depressing place for a person who cannot let go of their past and the warehouse is a sort of drug for them. I think this is what the director wanted to portray.

More over, we are not shown into peoples storage containers and I think this is has been done deliberately so we dont invade peoples belongings/space, but it leaves us guessing what the stories are behind the items hidden inside.

The documentary is narrated by several people each explaining their stories and struggles as to why they store away their items. I like this documentary because of the narration plays a key part in telling the story, we are left questioning who is speaking as it does not show the identity of the narrators, (just as we are left questioning what items they harbour in their containers.)

Overall i found this documentary very intriguing, it not only showed us the warehouse, but we got to hear the about peoples life's within this warehouse. I think the director was successful in dealing with its subject matter as it kept me watching and wanting to know more. I felt like the narrators wanted to tell their story to explain how they find comfort within the 'steel homes' and they did this well as I understand more about these storage facilities and why people use them.

Lost

Lost the Tv series was (and still is) a massive inspirtaion to me, having watched the programe from 2004 to 2010 i would say i am an avid fan!...Lost had opened up a creative portal in me having witnessed nothing quite like it. The storylines, character development, the edge of the scene action and cliff hangers kept me watching religiously.

Lost inspired me into what i wanted to do in the future (Film) as Lost introduced alot into its series, such as varied storylines of each characters and how it developed them, which intriqued me massively. Damon Lindelof and J.J Abrahams wanted to create something different and new which would have great ratings but also be watchable for a wide audience to enjoy. I think the creators of Lost created the best Tv show that i have ever viewed, Lost will always be my number one tv series.

R.I.P LOST-2004-2010

Book Inspiration

Having read Desperation for the second time I have to say it's possibly my all time favourite book!

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...

In one of the lessons our group was asked to input creative websites onto a list for us all to share. These were websites to show our inspiration and influences.

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.

Good 'Ole' Movie Quotes.

"Movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative."-Scream 1996.