25/10

Today me and my group member for the audio assignment, Josh and I begun assignment breakdowns of both Creative Media Practice units. This will enable us group tasks together that can be completed at the same or similar time.



Me and Josh had a tutorial with Dominic later, we expanded on our idea of centring our work around a bathroom. After this tutorial we headed for Adsetts and continued on our idea development.

16/10 - 17/10

16/10
Today the class had a short lecture on how to use the library gateway available through Shuspace and was a set a task of producing a presentation task. I have chosen my essay question and want to use Hitchcock and Scott as my filmmakers of choice.

17/10
Today I finished annotating the 2nd reading we were giving in class. Popular Communication by Espen Aarseth. In the seminar the class viewed clips of Watchmen 2009 by Zack Synder and looked at previous students work of how they approached the first task. I have booked out the Canon XF100 today and recorded with Bronte some clips. The plan is for Bronte and Amy to do the editing tomorrow.

15/10

Today I went to the showcase cinema and watched Sunshine on Leith by Dexter Fletcher and Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese.

Sunshine on Leith is a musical based on the two young scottish men returning from the war. The film is introduced with a montage of army guys singing on their journey. This is a signifier to the audience of what to expect. In my analysis of Love me or Leave me Alone, the same technique is deployed where the audience is shown a somewhat 'trailer' of the film to build expectations. The setting and props of the introductory locations lead expectations of a possible war scene or film to be present. The integration of the out of character singing by lead actors was seamless, the film presented scenarios that invoked extreme actions or emotions from the characters that provided meaning to the songs sung. There were a few of conventions I personally like a lot, which featured frequently in the film they were; the slow zoom ins used to emphasise character's emotions, the deep depth of field used to draw more attention to a specific subject and the silhouette used to make the one of the resolutions in the film more dynamic. In conclusion, the contrast between the relationships was effective. For example: When the three lead ladies walk off away from the men after the marriage rejected, emphasised that all three relationships were in turmoil. Later comparisons come further where the audience is shown where each member of the relationships are at the end. This helped push narrative along and interest in all leads.

Taxi Driver is a crime drama revolving around a taxi driver. The film takes on the taxi driver's emotions and perspective of the world, where the audience is introduced the underworld of the city. From the beginning the audience see an unhappy taxi driver who works night shifts, as the film goes on the taxi driver evolves into a wannabe vigilante. As the taxi driver doesn't actually take on any other crimes apart from the one revolving around the character Iris. He cannot be deemed a fighter against crime. In certain parts of the film, the audience is led to believe that the taxi driver will engage in fights or battles with other characters such as the senator. In conclusion, the lengthy film builds on the idea of a person who is dissatisfy with their life and the occurrences around them. In result, a wannabe hero who tries to do the right thing the wrong way.

References:
Love Me or Leave me Alone. (2003). [Film] Directed by Dwane Hopkins
Sunshine on Leith. (2013). [Film] Directed by Dexter Fletcher
Taxi Driver. (1976). [Film] Directed by Martin Scorsese

Ty

14/10

Started the week off with a camera workshop, our lecturer took us through the basics of recording on a video camera and the class was provided with Canon XF100s to work on. Apart from the delay the fire alarm caused, they were a few things I needed familiarise myself with. They were; the term "Iris" instead of aperture, "ND" in ND filter stands for neutral density and "Blown Out' means when an image is totally overexposed.

I also watched Casablanca, which I really enjoyed. The conventions of Film Noirs always impress me, however I disagree that this films fulfils the needs to be a complete film noir. The narrative does tend to twist up audience when Rick shows his true colours once his real lover is revealed, however I cannot name a noir that 'allows' their lover to run of with someone else for the 'greater good' of the world (when I mention world I mean film world). Another missing convention is the hard-boiled detective. What is shown are corrupt law enforcers, however a detective to solve or follow a case is absent. This film is definitely a great choice to begin the comparison between the film noir genre.

Bibliography/Filmography:
Casablanca. (1942). [Film] Directed by Michael Curtiz

Ty

10/10 & 11/10

Choosing to combine today and yesterday's notes as yesterday I was quite tired, this post may be quite extensive.

10/10

Today in the seminar we went through pages 61 - 78 of Introduction to Film Studies 5th Edition. Our lecturer gave the class a task to complete in regards to the film Springtime in an English Village. As I did not have my annotated notes I had to briefly read through the reading to collect my previous thoughts. What I will do is read over the readings again and reproduce my notes. I had begun with the first page today.

I have devised a little exercise for myself as I haven't done any editing for a little while now. I will create a short train animation sequence that visually is unique in it's own way. Even though this was very extensive, it gave me a more hands on approach to animation. I vaguely remember coming across train-cinema in my previous year from one of the books I was reading. After a little bit of digging I came across the piece I had read. The book it was from was The Anime Machine: A Media Theory of Animation. Lamarre (2009) opens the paragraph with "So much has been written about the profound connection between trains and cinema" (Lamarre, 2009, p.13). I remember thinking to keep hold of the book, because of that one sentence, Lamarre (2009) continues with "The train cinema interface is almost paradigmatic of the modern" (Lamarre, 2009, p.13). Time can be linked by the types of railway services available.

My example leads me to the Victorian times, in the 1850s one of the most popular modes of transportation was the train journey. Considering just a few decades before the 1850s was the invention of the first passenger train. Trains now look nothing like they did from the Victorian times and the twentieth century saw a huge rise in train demands, including passenger capacity. It cannot be neglected that such demands were supported by the government in times of World War I and World War II, for obvious reason of combat. Even through having radical changes such as: The Big Four merge, the train business continues to evolve and is still a popular mode of transportation used. How does this relate and connect with time? As times continue to change the train becomes a spectator of the contemporary and represents it through the transformation of itself. From a simple train film set before the 21st century to a train animation set in the 21st century.

Trains are useful tools to represent transportation within motion pictures, so the interpretation of myself being a traveller can be concluded.

11/10

Today I had a seminar session in Creative Media Practice, the session revolved around analysing and discussing short films. The lecturer put on a few shorts for the class to view and after a group of viewings, we created groups to discuss and explain our own thoughts (thank goodness I didn't sound quite as clumsy as I did in the one yesterday). The short films the class viewed were: Gasman, Salaryman 6, High Rise, Love me or Leave me alone, Tango, Strange Lights, The Life Size Zoetrope, Steel Homes and Christmas with Dad (I still don't know which one is my favourite). As a task everyone in the class has to analyse either Love me or Leave me Alone or Steel Homes (This is where the extensive bit begins) and write our analysis on our blogs.

Love me or Leave me Alone by Duane Hopkins (2003)

The first noticeable aspect of this short film is that it instantly diverts from Todorov's theory. Todorov suggests (1990: 29) "(1) the opening situation of equilibrium; (2) the degradation of the situation through the kidnapping of the boy; (3) the state of disequilibrium observed by the little girl; (4) the search for and recovery of the boy; (5) the reestablishment of the initial equilibrium". The film introduces a problem straight without introducing an equilibrium. This gives thew viewer the task of following the characters' actions and dialogue more attentively to understand who they are. It successfully establishes to the audience that the characters are in relationship and have are currently having a breakup.

The montage before the short title sequence paints a vile and problematic theme for the film, when the title sequence is introduced the expectation that the film will be filled with relationship problems and successes doesn't seem too distant. The audience is given an unofficial trailer of the film, this successfully works to direct the audiences' expectations, however provides an early limiter of expectations too. The film's subject is the journey of a young relationship in Britain, should we expect anymore than that? In this sense, the film repels potential viewers who dislike the idea of love relationships in films, worse yet the depiction of the youth relationships in Britain. Not everyone will agree with gruesome and harsh images. For audiences that do enjoy the unofficial trailer, this technique deployed will minimally quench the thirst of curiosity and have the audience wanted more answers.

The short sequence that appears when the girl is walking up the road facing the left and the guy is in the kitchen facing right further represents the separation in the relationship. From this point on, an expectancy of further separation between the two wouldn't seem impossible.

The semantic essence of the cigarette plays a deep role in trying to further understand the characters within this short film. From works such as Pulp Fiction and Angels with Dirty Faces a pattern can be applied that the 'bad guys' or my preferred understanding, characters with a tough attitude, are likely to be the characters that smoke. Again in Double Indemnity the detective smokes, in a rhetoric way the characters that smoke are likely to hold a strong assertive essence on screen.

The syntactic technique deployed of the girl's attitude is interesting. When after it is seen that the girl has tried on numerous occasions to get a hitchhike lift from anybody passing-by, the boy gives pursuit to catch up to the girl walking down the road. He stops in front of her and the music that she is listening becomes slightly louder to a noticeable level. At the point where she walks passed him, we see no hesitation in her actions and have upbeat music amplifying her sharp negligence of the boy. On screen, this successfully creates the representation that the girl is not even remotely interested in the boy.

Towards the end a neo-noir suspense is built where the girl makes it clear that she cannot further see the boy. The mise-en-scene deployed in this sequence provides a mysterious confusion as to what to expect by using low-lit characters and harsh shadows; whether the boy will go on a rampage from being rejected or whether the boy will accept the rejection with 'open arms'. What is clear, is that without the sound, this mystery would be unsolved.

In conclusion, the film is effective in creating a strong moral of contradictions. Audiences will have to use moral and ethical judgements to decide whether they agree with narrative. Impressive film-techniques are deployed in regards to visuals and sounds, further taken the director has thought about some of the possible interpretations that would be assimilated by audiences by the choices he has made. The final choice being aimed at the tertiary audience of the film, an open ending. Leaving numerous amounts of possibilities for sequels or fan-made products.

Steel Homes by Eva Webber (2008)

The conventional opening is deployed where the shots of the settings around the subject are used, however what is the subject? From the sequence introduced it is leading to believe that the first speaker is the subject of the documentary. When further speakers are brought forward a connection can be drawn the speakers that they have all lost somebody, it isn't made clearer until further into the film that the deceased people of the speakers are different people and of no relation. This result would disappoint any viewer trying to string together a connection between the speakers. What is shown are shots of what the audience believe the to be the speakers in this one familiar place. The sound used does not constitute making the location the primary subject at the beginning of the film or throughout the film, apart from the hearable dialogue from the interviews, there is no major recognition of sound.

The arrangement of the film is powerful. At numerous points, sympathy is invoked by the recollection of the deceased and strong dialogue points. In the film a speaker mentions in similar words, one of these boxes, is my life. Inadvertently the connection between life and the steel boxes are created, however the arrangement of this particular answer alongside close ups of the steel boxes is a creative decision by the producer trying to amplify the emotions at this one point.

In conclusion, their is a strong invitation for sorrowful emotions to be felt behind this production, the lack of sound recognition will not cause the film to suffer lack of quality as their are no clear disturbances within the piece. The flow is maintained and selective decisions were made to get the audience to connect with the subjects.

(I got a lot more to write, I may attempt to extend this day tomorrow in a separate post)

Ty

Books:
Nelmes, J. (2012). Introduction to Film Studies: 5th Edition. Routledge
Lamarre, T. (2009). The Anime Machine: A Media Theory of Animation. London: University of Minnesota Press

Films:
Springtime in an English Village.
Gasman. (1997). [FIlm] Directed by Lynne Ramsey
Salaryman 6. (2002). [Film] Directed by Jake Knight
High Rise. (2002). [Film] Directed by Gabrielle Russel
Tango. (1983). [Film] Directed by Zbig Rybczynski
Love Me or Leave Me Alone. (2003). [Film] Directed by Dwane Hopkins
The Life Size Zoetrope. (2007). [Film] Directed by Mark Simon Hewis
Strange Lights. (2010). [Film] Directed by Joe King and Rosie Pedlow
Steel Homes. (2008). [Film] Directed by Eva Webber
Christmas with Dad. (2008). [Film] Directed by Conor McCormack

9/10

Today I had a lecture on my research module today, which begun my questioning of adaptations. The lecture was based on adaptations and without a doubt providing me with some really useful insight and questions to begin researching into the process of adaptations.

In particular I was providing with a reading from Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture. Aarseth provides theories an idea of the different kinds adaptation and his theory delves into the effectiveness and risk taken with adaptation. Saying this I have not read the whole book, which would hold more information on the subject, however for the task I have been set I need to focus on game to film and comic to film adaptations. From these processes I will explore the difficulties and benefits.

Another reading is Hollywood Gamers: Digital Convergence In The Film And Video Game Industries. Within the first chapter, Brookley proposes the meaning behind cross-media platforms and the inspirations behind it, with supportive evidence and even reference to my previous reading from Aarseth. My lecturer has selected Chapter 1, 2 & 4 as a recommended reading for the class. I plan to read both chapters tomorrow, if not I will do 1.

The next film I watched was Tim Burton's Batman, which starred the undeniable face of Michael Keaton. What puzzled me was why I recognised his face so easily, sure I've watched Batman Returns numerous of times, however it was any of the Batman films I thought when I saw his face. After a bit researched it was the film Johnny Dangerously a while back that my dad had shown me, which gave me question to why I knew his face, but not a name. Playing lead in this film also, clearly Keaton had a reputation and name before being lead in Batman as well. Undeniably why he was chosen as lead. Instantly this tells me that to maximise profits, Warner Bros utilise the star system and take advantage of the comic superhero's fan base (arguably a hero) to create a motion picture they are sure would make money and why not. In later scenes the utilisation of attractive females are deployed also to encourage a more masculine appeal with the females following the stereotype of the 80s contemporary times. Slim ladies, skin revealed ladies with blonde hair. Such deployments can be seen in a film such as Pretty Woman. Back to my examples, both Bruce's and Jack's (Joker's) adulteresses are both blonde and draw a seductive attention in later scenes, also the sequences they make their appearances portray with in an attractive light by either dialogue or actions.

#1 - Jack's adulteress introduced by her edging to get closer to Jack

#2 - Bruce's adulteress first meets the reporter in this scene and he gives her a clear indication that he is interesting her via dialogue

Overall this was a film that attempts to recreate the superhero feel behind the masked comic superhero, it succeeds in doing this by using a classic character from the franchise with other notable commodities from the franchise for example the Batmobile.

Thinking to watch Blade Runner next

Ty

8/10

Today I learnt some important information in regards to film production, blagging. Although the term may incite others to lie about their work in the definition I found of the process in involves secretion and exaggeration (if not obvious).

I also viewed some more short films, as I see myself becoming a filmmaker I will begin with shorts before I attempt any bigger projects. I made another visit to staff pick section and vimeo to see what I could find and came across these titles: Knife Point, Beyond Nature Iceland Timelapse, Outlines and Brighton

Knife Point was kind like a religious, murder (crime) film. For starters, the way the audience is painting an image of the first main character introduced. A guy with a stack of knives putting them away as the radio presenter of the radio discusses a murder, first question is he the murderer? This assumption lead me to believe that he would kill someone visually. When he sets out to go meet his father and ends up in that cafe with the girl playing the arcade game, I thought she was likely to be the next victim. That was the expectation I was building. The portrayal of the travelling family is a bit creepy as well, as the father slowly shows he is extreme believer of his religion and slowly tries to more forward about other people who don't believe in his religion "America is at war". Another commonly used convention of an insane character is the taking of medication. Normally to portray characters that are either ill or have nothing to lose medication is used. In works such as Memento and Shutter Island, the main characters are either given or taken medication as a sign that they are ill and are later exposed to the audience as characters that are not of the right-minded civilian. The relationship between the daughter and hitchhiker create an interesting turn in the narrative, which cannot been seen till the end. Had the plot not followed in the pattern it did, the hitchhiker would likely be dead. The possibility of the father finding out about the affair the hitchhiker was having with his daughter could of invoked another stem of reactions as well. Some I would expect to be similar to the marine father in American Beauty. The cinematography impressed with the bright and colourful grading used after the daughter and hitchhiker's confession, there is a relation between the temperature of the shot and daughter's emotion as can be seen in previous shots where she tries to seclude herself and be silent, a lot of dark and dull colours are used in shots. Overall the film does a good job on building tension in the narrative, utilises conventions from other genres and uses sound to emphasise moments i.e the gunshot.

Beyond Nature Iceland Timelapse works on stunning the viewer with amazing visuals. It furthers the narrative of the film to lead the viewer to believe this is the journey the filmmaker makes. Whether or not that is true is based on the viewer's ideas of what makes a film. The appeal of this film comes from the hope that the viewer enjoys landscapes and open spaces as much the filmmaker does. The music chosen is definitely an incentive to lift the viewer and immersed into the world of what we can call the eye of the filmmaker, whether or not this is successful is based on once again the hope that viewer can enjoys landscapes. Arguably we would not expect music to play randomly in the background as we cross from one plain to another. The apparent change in time is something we can also note, as the filmmaker makes no attempt to hide the fact that the speed of time within in the film is not connected to or anywhere near real time, however this makes the art work even more abstract as it forces the viewer to indulge on the visuals shown without choice of thinking. The editing follows the rhythm of the music, which makes the film even more adventurous for the viewer. The expectancy of change can be anticipated with careful ears. Overall a beautiful piece of work, only a vampire would object (A great use of the timelapse technique).

Outlines is a promotional and inspirational piece, it follows a particular base jumper in a short documentary format and provides a bit of insight into who he is and what his life is about, base jumping. The filmmaker has made a clear consideration for the English speaking audiences as he has supplied English subtitles to go with the movie, however with these kind of decisions, normally an option for subtitles is provided. For viewers that can already understand the dialogue, this could seem as a disturbance or nuisance. As we follow the base jumper, he speaks about some of the troubles he has in his life and the decision he has had to make, which provides the inspiration behind the movie. The viewer is stunned with extreme jumps and movements made by the base jumper, what was very interesting is how other extreme sports such as skiing featured in the piece as well. Where the man has given a bit of information about extreme sports a short montage of extreme sports are shown. Overall this film would appeal to people ranging from the smallest to moderate interest in base jumping and possibly extreme sports and to people who are interested in the lives of another person, however the likeliness of this appealing to people who want are into the common feature film of today is minimal.

Brighton was interesting as the centre subject of the film was to do with someone, better to say with a couple, however it featured no dialogue. The narrative of the film ran on the visual captions the audience needed to follow in order to understand. This already demands the eye of the viewer to really pay attention to what is happening on-screen. The sound is possibly neglected or of bad quality, which is why the filmmaker has chosen this structure for the film, in the end it makes a successful attempt in carrying the plot of the film. The film is about a couple that moved to Pennsylvania and begin a farm, this follows the documentary format as we follow the factual subjects, or leads the viewer to believe the information presented is factual. With the captions of time and shots used. This was another inspirational film or the feeling of inspiration was an intended feeling for the audience. The montage where boyfriend beats cancer will bring a tear drop to any dragon, instantly any viewer would feel bad once they realise another person has caught cancer, regardless of which kind. The message to beat cancer is apparent and the feeling of inspiration is once again invoked by the ending sequence and the credit sequence. In the ending sequence the couple get married and live happily ever after, in the credit sequence the couple just hold each other as the credits appear. Overall a film that appeal to the majority as love and relationships are scenarios everybody can relate, promotes the message of people beating whatever life throws at them and intentionally makes viewers pay more attention to the screen. With this technique, however it does mean the sound is given a lesser role in production with a music that plays all the through. Arguably the music supports the message behind the film, which can combat the argument of sound being the lesser in this film.

Links:

Mirabella-Davis, C. (2013) Knife Point - http://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks/74499750

Aprilgarden Film. (2013) BEYOND NATURE Iceland Timelapse - http://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks/75736121

Goransson, P. (2013) Outlines - http://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks/75721711

Zagar, J. (2013) Brighton - http://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks/75962134

I may watch the old batman tonight

Ty

7/10

Today I listened to BBC Radio 4 in hope that they would play some radio dramas, instead what I head was a rerun of the Any Questions debating show that I heard before and another episode of 15 minute drama (kinda worried that they have run out of shows.. or I got bad luck). Either way next time I will visit the website and find out when different radio dramas are broadcasted (there was a long running radio drama, but I can't remember what it is called, damn).

I had my first proper peek at Vimeo today, I visited the staff picks as recommended by my lecturer to see what they had in the section. I came across this short film called The Replacement Child directed by Justin Lerner. The short film does a brilliant job of building up an impression of the main character, I understood why people thought he was a crazy lunatic (in polite words) and why he was ill-treated. The cinematography was very effective in a producing a dismal (if that is the right word) appearance and feel to the film, I felt like visually every scene was going to have an even further negative impact on the narrative and my expectations were not disappointed. The sound is pretty good, however it feels as if certain parts were too notably ADR'd. For example 4:26 - 4:36 I think the editor attempts to cover it up by using the 180 degree conversation rule and by not actually having the camera on the person speaking, however in the visuals he did try to match the dialogue with, I see a slight difference in what I would expect in sound from the visuals. Overall, I can look the other way for this little mistake.

I searched on google for the "top 10 poems" and "top 10 poets" (not the best way to utilise the search engine) and came across a few poems that I liked and not soo much liked. My preference in art will always be rhythm, any pattern I can understand and I am bound to like the art, however if I cannot find or understand the rhythm I am likely to not like the art. In no specific order, Shakespeare's Carpe Diem was one I came across, I like the poem for the conciseness and flow. The meaning is nice, however I must intense emotion from a piece to moved. In comparison to another poem I read, Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou. I liked this poem especially as I sense the cheeky side instantaneously. The assurance the writer feels in herself as a woman as she boldly asserts herself above the ranking of a man. I drew a connection between the time of this poem and women rights a few years ago, clearly this was a woman who rebelled in believe that any man was ever above. I researched a little into Angelou just to have a rough idea of who she was and was quite amazed at the talents she held. From Poet to actor to speaker. Another one of her poems I enjoyed was Still I Rise, which supports that she believed in herself. A few other poems I read were The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, If you Forget me by Pablo Neruda, This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams (which has a reading of it by Matthew Macfayden) and He Would Never Use One Word Where None Would Do by Phillip Levine (this one was really good as well).

Later on, I had a sound workshop with my lecturer Ron who gave the class Zoom recorders and allowed us to become familiar with them. I am already familiar with Zooms so it was a refresher session for myself, however I was impressed by the hydrophone (I think that is what it is called) that the class was given to use. The shotgun mic was once again impressive, with the directional sound it picks up, but I was very eager to use that hydrophone and eager to use it again.

Once I reached my place, I watched American Beauty, which impressed me with the narrative. The film did slightly bend at the end from my expectations, however the final ending did meet the build up the film had already triggered from the beginning (I knew he would die just not at the time he did). I really liked the portrayal of the relationship between the daughter and the parents. In a lot of households, it is common for the teenager of the household to try and spend more time with their friends causing mischief and being distant from the rest of the family. I am in total disagreement with the perverted view they gave of the dad finding the daughter's friend attractive, however was satisfied with the conclusive ending between the 2 when he refuses her (or I would of been sick). In a more objective light, their relation between the 2 characters was built up really well from the montage of the dad's fantasy to the slutty whore attitude she portrays within the movie. Makes it believable that they would of had sexual intercourse. 2 main points I will highlight: A great success in leading the viewer to believe when the boyfriend right at the beginning asks if he should kill the daughter's father and she agrees, I was under the impression that the life of the father ends with the boyfriend killing him. Another interesting point at the end, the build up to who killed the father is built within that montage where we cycle through the main characters. Before we get the bloodstained father, I was already guessing that the mother had killed the father and was shocked and satisfied to find the father of the boyfriend had in fact shot him. Overall the film succeeds by the use of narrative.

Ty

Learning how to read... No, watching more films (Before the 7/10)

The past 2 weeks in Sheffield and I have already begun researching to further my understanding of film and the inspirations behind film. One of the best ways to learn about film is to obviously watch film, however it is not the only way. From the advice I have received from my lecturers I need to range in the forms of art I consume (thank goodness I already consume a lot of anime).

I need to look into poems, novels, radio dramas, paintings & any other art forms I can find.

This is too quickly bring this blog up to date with the art I have consumed recently

30/9 - The Shawshank Redemption / Hakkenden 2nd Season Final Episode
1/10 - Amelie 2001
2/10 - History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi (5 OVAs) / Silent Hill
3/10 - Springtime in an English Village
4/10 - 15 minute drama ep 5 & Any Questions (Both BBC Radio 4)
5/10 - 2001: A Space odyssey

Ty