Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Monday, 19 April 2010
Distribution of my Rockumentary
Distribution and exhibition of a product is very important within the media. By choosing the right portals and outlets to distribute and screen certain medias will help increase popularity and potentially help gain a wider audience for the product. Particularly with short films, we have to be careful where we decide to distribute the material, as some places aren't appropriate for particular films. However in contemporary society, we are very lucky to have a lot of online portals that are very accommodating for a lot of short films, whatever the content or genre.
Because the content of my short film Rockumentary is very subjective and subject specific I believe that the main suitability for its distribution is only online or at music related events or sites. Also places such as metal forums and forums of Kerrang and Metal Hammer will gain a lot of feedback and comments.
I am currently waiting for feedback from posting it on Facebook and Myspace and will printscreen feedback in a new post.
For my film in particular I have decided that the main forms of distribution that will benefit me is by displaying it on Youtube, Vimeo, Facebook, Myspace and to submit it to Future Shorts; as this film distribution site deals with music festivals.
I have also e-mailed the Hard Rock Hell festival in Ibiza which I am attending in the summer to ask whether they have any potential slots in which they can screen my film, as the main people who are attending the festival are lovers of rock and heavy metal.
This is a printscreen of the e-mail I sent however it is of very bad quality. However I just mentioned all the above and that I hope to hear from them soon.
Because the content of my short film Rockumentary is very subjective and subject specific I believe that the main suitability for its distribution is only online or at music related events or sites. Also places such as metal forums and forums of Kerrang and Metal Hammer will gain a lot of feedback and comments.I am currently waiting for feedback from posting it on Facebook and Myspace and will printscreen feedback in a new post.
Friday, 16 April 2010
Evaluation- Influences for my own production
There have been a multiplicity of factors that have influenced every element of the production of my Rockumentary.
First and foremost the main influence is my love for heavy metal and rock music, and the culture in general. There are a lot of documentaries and memorabilia that started my brainstorm of ideas for this project. Primarily, Metal: A headbangers Journey is the main documentary that inspired me to create my own mini UK version of the local scene of metal but more so about the culture rather than about specific bands.
This documentary in particular influenced the general content and made me have the first idea for my Rockumentary. However the styling for the interviews and the types of interesting shots were taken from a Nirvana documentary- Smells like Teen Spirit. The overall formation of my Rockumentary has been influenced by the fast paced cutting of music videos where the intro and outro is concerned, documentaries in general for the stylings of my interviews, and vox pop style shots which have come from my radio work, however with a visual element.
The music that I used was chosen because of it being metal, fast paced, and stemming form the roots of what metal sounds like and what I was trying to represent.
Distribution of short films also influenced the content because when I researched companies such as Future Shorts; which distribute and exhibit at music festivals, I thought I could do a music related piece, especially as that is my passion and the industry I want to enter anyway.
All of the work in which I do contributes to me obtaining a job in the music industry.
First and foremost the main influence is my love for heavy metal and rock music, and the culture in general. There are a lot of documentaries and memorabilia that started my brainstorm of ideas for this project. Primarily, Metal: A headbangers Journey is the main documentary that inspired me to create my own mini UK version of the local scene of metal but more so about the culture rather than about specific bands.
This documentary in particular influenced the general content and made me have the first idea for my Rockumentary. However the styling for the interviews and the types of interesting shots were taken from a Nirvana documentary- Smells like Teen Spirit. The overall formation of my Rockumentary has been influenced by the fast paced cutting of music videos where the intro and outro is concerned, documentaries in general for the stylings of my interviews, and vox pop style shots which have come from my radio work, however with a visual element.
The music that I used was chosen because of it being metal, fast paced, and stemming form the roots of what metal sounds like and what I was trying to represent.
Distribution of short films also influenced the content because when I researched companies such as Future Shorts; which distribute and exhibit at music festivals, I thought I could do a music related piece, especially as that is my passion and the industry I want to enter anyway.
All of the work in which I do contributes to me obtaining a job in the music industry.
Feedback from the questionnaire.
From presenting and displaying my final piece of work to ayear 12 class, I was able to gain a diversity of opinions that were unbiased.
Overall the comments for my piece were very positive and I think the class with one or two exceptions enjoyed most things about my Rockumentary. The main positive things I got from presenting this and having the questionnaire was that the public were very popular and funny and it represented that heavy metallers are nice people with good personalities! Most comments said they would have enjoyed to see more form the public ands that was the best bit because it was diverse and funny and edited well.
Other positive aspects were the intro and outro and how that was edited, giving a true representation of rock and metal culture, which seemed to enlighten a few people who were oblivious to what it was all about.
A few things that were things to improve on were that the interviews were quite long and that there could be an interview from someone who is against metal, to gain a more diverse outlook on the genre. Otherwise the only negative comments were really form people who are adamant that metalheads are angry arrogant people which is not the case.
I am very pleased with the response from everyone who kept an open mind and was accepting of my video. I will take into consideration the negative comments for when I decide to create my feature length version or another similar film in the future.
Overall the comments for my piece were very positive and I think the class with one or two exceptions enjoyed most things about my Rockumentary. The main positive things I got from presenting this and having the questionnaire was that the public were very popular and funny and it represented that heavy metallers are nice people with good personalities! Most comments said they would have enjoyed to see more form the public ands that was the best bit because it was diverse and funny and edited well.
Other positive aspects were the intro and outro and how that was edited, giving a true representation of rock and metal culture, which seemed to enlighten a few people who were oblivious to what it was all about.
A few things that were things to improve on were that the interviews were quite long and that there could be an interview from someone who is against metal, to gain a more diverse outlook on the genre. Otherwise the only negative comments were really form people who are adamant that metalheads are angry arrogant people which is not the case.
I am very pleased with the response from everyone who kept an open mind and was accepting of my video. I will take into consideration the negative comments for when I decide to create my feature length version or another similar film in the future.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Completed short film
Reflecting on my finished short film, along with comments given from my classmates, I am overall very pleased with the response and comments that my short film had. in both my opinion and classmates opinion, it proved to be a very informative piece that flowed well and was interesting. I had comments of it being framed well and being visually enticing with regards to interviews and the montage, and that it had a good balance between the funny vox pops that were informal and the interviews that had more a professional stance and were more formal.
Technically throughout the levels were mainly consistent apart from at the end where I had a glitch in the audio being slightly louder than the person that was speaking.However the cuts of the shots and the blending of the audio were seemingly timed well and the shots were framed in an interesting way, having a more visual impact on the audience.
Aesthetically my piece was colourful and the interviews all had a similar colour to them created by the lighting that was used. Some shots needed colour correction because of the lighting conditions when filming being poor,
however everything was visible and worked well with the content of my piece. Usually i would use a consistent style and am being fond of shots being black and white or desaturated, however with this piece I believe the natural colours and lighting work well because some shots that are very colourful juxtapose well with shots that are quite bland and have no variation in colour.
My film is 7 minutes long so immediately conforms to one of the codes and conventions of short film by not being feature length. It is of a documentary style which comes under the spectrum of short film, and is subject specific. My film does not have a specifc target audience because that is not how short film works; the content is very subjective and really would only be of interest to a select amount of people, however could potentially be of interest to those who I would never have aimed my film to. I personally think that if I had to give my film a target audience it would be for those who love heavy metal music through all ages or for those who are studying either anthropology or things music related, as it is both about culture, the way people think, and the music that creates a culture within people.
Things that could be improved in my piece and that people would have liked to have seen are as follows:
*A voiceover or concluding sentence at the end summarising my findings of why people love or hate metal.
*I think I could have interviewed someone who is solely against the genre of rock and metal, perhaps someone religious who stereotypes metal as being associated with the devil or bad things.
*Also slight technical glitches such as levels of some music that could be toned down.
*Also more shots of my granddad actually drumming and saying more about the subject.
As I have produced this film on my own I believe I have achieved an awful lot in the amount of time given as I have managed to film interviews, cutaway footage, and edit the whole film by myself. I think that the organisation of the whole process was done quite well and that almost everthing went to plan. I would have liked to have gained more interviews from established industry persons such as the manager of Spinefarm who unfortunately I couldn't get due to him being on a tight time schedule. However I still aim to continue this project and expand on it.
Technically throughout the levels were mainly consistent apart from at the end where I had a glitch in the audio being slightly louder than the person that was speaking.However the cuts of the shots and the blending of the audio were seemingly timed well and the shots were framed in an interesting way, having a more visual impact on the audience.
Aesthetically my piece was colourful and the interviews all had a similar colour to them created by the lighting that was used. Some shots needed colour correction because of the lighting conditions when filming being poor,
however everything was visible and worked well with the content of my piece. Usually i would use a consistent style and am being fond of shots being black and white or desaturated, however with this piece I believe the natural colours and lighting work well because some shots that are very colourful juxtapose well with shots that are quite bland and have no variation in colour.My film is 7 minutes long so immediately conforms to one of the codes and conventions of short film by not being feature length. It is of a documentary style which comes under the spectrum of short film, and is subject specific. My film does not have a specifc target audience because that is not how short film works; the content is very subjective and really would only be of interest to a select amount of people, however could potentially be of interest to those who I would never have aimed my film to. I personally think that if I had to give my film a target audience it would be for those who love heavy metal music through all ages or for those who are studying either anthropology or things music related, as it is both about culture, the way people think, and the music that creates a culture within people.
Things that could be improved in my piece and that people would have liked to have seen are as follows:
*A voiceover or concluding sentence at the end summarising my findings of why people love or hate metal.
*I think I could have interviewed someone who is solely against the genre of rock and metal, perhaps someone religious who stereotypes metal as being associated with the devil or bad things.
*Also slight technical glitches such as levels of some music that could be toned down.
*Also more shots of my granddad actually drumming and saying more about the subject.
As I have produced this film on my own I believe I have achieved an awful lot in the amount of time given as I have managed to film interviews, cutaway footage, and edit the whole film by myself. I think that the organisation of the whole process was done quite well and that almost everthing went to plan. I would have liked to have gained more interviews from established industry persons such as the manager of Spinefarm who unfortunately I couldn't get due to him being on a tight time schedule. However I still aim to continue this project and expand on it.
Evaluation of targeting an audience
Overall my Rockumentary is very subject specific, therefore attracting quite a niche audience, however it could prove to be interesting to those of a broad music taste, to both groups of people who both love and hate metal. My piece aimed to be of interest to those who love metal, but again also those who dislike metal and want to learn more about it.
Some people in society are very dismissive and judgemental of some genres and have complete misinterpretations of what is actually behind the lifestyle and genre of Rock and Metal culture. The content of my Rockumentary is again subject specific and targets the subject of why people love or hate metal. Although the majority of opinions are very biased as they are drawn from metalheads themselves, I have also gained unbiased knowledge and opinions from a music teacher who is open to all genres of music, and is appreciative of metal even though it isn't his preferred genre.
The music within my piece is predominantly metal and quite fast-paced, maybe attracting a younger audience and those who are more open and subjective to hearing the music that complements the content of my documentary.
The types of audience for my Rockumentary may also come from where my film is distributed. For example, Future Shorts distribute and exhibit films at music festivals and music events that may collect a wider audience from people who love music, music industry experts, and other people involved in these events.
Other portals that I will distribute my film on will be all social networking sites, Youtube, Vimeo, and even submitted to some short film sites such as Coffee Shorts.
Some people in society are very dismissive and judgemental of some genres and have complete misinterpretations of what is actually behind the lifestyle and genre of Rock and Metal culture. The content of my Rockumentary is again subject specific and targets the subject of why people love or hate metal. Although the majority of opinions are very biased as they are drawn from metalheads themselves, I have also gained unbiased knowledge and opinions from a music teacher who is open to all genres of music, and is appreciative of metal even though it isn't his preferred genre.
The music within my piece is predominantly metal and quite fast-paced, maybe attracting a younger audience and those who are more open and subjective to hearing the music that complements the content of my documentary.
The types of audience for my Rockumentary may also come from where my film is distributed. For example, Future Shorts distribute and exhibit films at music festivals and music events that may collect a wider audience from people who love music, music industry experts, and other people involved in these events.
Other portals that I will distribute my film on will be all social networking sites, Youtube, Vimeo, and even submitted to some short film sites such as Coffee Shorts.
Feedback from audience- Questionnaire.
These are the questions that I am going to ask the year 12's to gain feedback for my piece to contribute to my evaluation. I am hoping the questions will highlight the positive and negative aspects of my Rockumentary and be beneficial for me in the future to improve this piece when I make the full-length one.
Bearing in mind the predominant audience for my film is people who like Rock and Heavy Metal, do you think it is informative enough to make people who dislike metal to have a more thorough understanding of the genre?
Is my video edited to a good standard and pace that will keep the viewers interested? What works well and what doesn’t? I.e. Soundtrack.
Do you think the design of this DVD cover is relevant and conforms to the style and content of my piece?
What have you learnt from this Rockumentary and what was your favourite part?
Do you think it would be good for distribution at music festivals or music related events?
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
How does my film fit the codes and conventions of short film?
Overall I believe my short film adheres to the codes of conventions found in most short films that are produced. It is a 7 minute long documentary, that is quite heavily focused on the editing to make the content be portrayed in such a short amount of time, and is aimed to teach something.
By having a lot of quickly cut shots and mini montages within my short film, it fastens the pace and makes it more intriguing to the viewer. However long interviews within the film are made more interesting by having cutaway shots and trnasitions between different shots of the person rather than one long shot.
Overall I believe I have made an effective short film and am very pleased with the outcome.
By having a lot of quickly cut shots and mini montages within my short film, it fastens the pace and makes it more intriguing to the viewer. However long interviews within the film are made more interesting by having cutaway shots and trnasitions between different shots of the person rather than one long shot.
Overall I believe I have made an effective short film and am very pleased with the outcome.
Editing process of Rockumentary
Overall the editing didn't take half as long as I imaged it to be. I believe I edited efficiently and effectively still with some minor alterations to make, however because I was on my own in a group it allowed me to have freedom in what and how I wanted it to look like visually.
I didn't come across many problems when editing however did have to do some colour correction and adjustments of brightness and contrast when editing dark shots. However because it wasn't a particular complicated piece there wasn't much to do that was complex editing as if it would have been if it were say a horror piece or an avant garde short film.
I managed to add in credits easily from Photoshop and I converted music formats to be able to use in FCP however that was really the most technical part of the editing! Otherwise it was mainly just short cuts of shots and fade transitions that contributed for the most part of the edit.
I firstly used only one song for the Rockumentary throughout, however realised it became slightly repetitive, however when I decided to change it to have two songs it wasn't as effective so I am going to change it back but maybe have a few variations in what parts of the songs I will use.
I didn't come across many problems when editing however did have to do some colour correction and adjustments of brightness and contrast when editing dark shots. However because it wasn't a particular complicated piece there wasn't much to do that was complex editing as if it would have been if it were say a horror piece or an avant garde short film.
I managed to add in credits easily from Photoshop and I converted music formats to be able to use in FCP however that was really the most technical part of the editing! Otherwise it was mainly just short cuts of shots and fade transitions that contributed for the most part of the edit.
I firstly used only one song for the Rockumentary throughout, however realised it became slightly repetitive, however when I decided to change it to have two songs it wasn't as effective so I am going to change it back but maybe have a few variations in what parts of the songs I will use.
Filming and preparation of Rockumentary.
Overall the filming of my Rockumentary went extremely well. The organisation aspects of about 90% of footage went to plan however I did not get 2 of the interviews I wanted in time, however will hope to do so when I do my feature length version.
I managed to get a lot of cutaway fotoage from clubs and pubs and in Camden, where I even gained permission to film a timelapse from a roof which looked very effective in my piece. I easily gained permission from places in Croydon to film footage and they were very welcoming of it. My production schedule went relatively to plan and I was filming almost every day throughout the holidays. I liked the setup of my interviews and believe the lighting did them justice and were good shots. Although some shots were hardly visible when I shot in the Black Sheep Bar the first time, the next time I took a camera light and it gained much better clearer results.
Overall I am happy with the quality of my filming however wish I had gotten certain interviews with the camera light as opposed to having to adjust the clarity within the editing.
I managed to get a lot of cutaway fotoage from clubs and pubs and in Camden, where I even gained permission to film a timelapse from a roof which looked very effective in my piece. I easily gained permission from places in Croydon to film footage and they were very welcoming of it. My production schedule went relatively to plan and I was filming almost every day throughout the holidays. I liked the setup of my interviews and believe the lighting did them justice and were good shots. Although some shots were hardly visible when I shot in the Black Sheep Bar the first time, the next time I took a camera light and it gained much better clearer results.
Overall I am happy with the quality of my filming however wish I had gotten certain interviews with the camera light as opposed to having to adjust the clarity within the editing.
Monday, 22 February 2010
Who would fund my video?
As this would be a very independent production and not something that would be considered as commercial, I would like to think that someone like MTV or Scuzz music channel would fund and air my 'Rockumentary'.
As MTV has shown films from the likes of Beavis and Butthead who also did rock and metal music videos/mini documentaries I could imagine my Documentary being on a similar wavelength and given a slot on there or a metal music channel such as Kerrang or Scuzz.
As MTV has shown films from the likes of Beavis and Butthead who also did rock and metal music videos/mini documentaries I could imagine my Documentary being on a similar wavelength and given a slot on there or a metal music channel such as Kerrang or Scuzz.
Primary and Secondary research.
For my presentation on my film that I will produce I have had to research a lot to find what will be the main content of my film.
I have created a questionnaire that I have proposed that will enable me to gain information and statistics to use in my film.
The questions are as follows:
• What is the question you would like answered most in this ‘Rockumentary’?
• What elements of Rock culture do you think are the most important? Clothing, the music, memorabilia, artwork, live venues/festivals, merchandise or the culture in general? And why?
• Who do you think is the biggest rock icon ever? (Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne, Jim Morrison etc.)
• What do you think helps keep rock culture alive today? (open question)
• What subgenre of rock/metal do you think is most popular/scene at the moment? (open question)
My secondary research has come from books, DVD's, CD's and videos on youtube that have given me inspiration for the over
all content of the film.
'Headbangers journey', quotes from various music videos such as Silent Civillian and Steel Panther to give instant impact on the video.
I have created a questionnaire that I have proposed that will enable me to gain information and statistics to use in my film.
The questions are as follows:
• What is the question you would like answered most in this ‘Rockumentary’?
• What elements of Rock culture do you think are the most important? Clothing, the music, memorabilia, artwork, live venues/festivals, merchandise or the culture in general? And why?
• Who do you think is the biggest rock icon ever? (Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne, Jim Morrison etc.)
• What do you think helps keep rock culture alive today? (open question)
• What subgenre of rock/metal do you think is most popular/scene at the moment? (open question)
My secondary research has come from books, DVD's, CD's and videos on youtube that have given me inspiration for the over
all content of the film.
'Headbangers journey', quotes from various music videos such as Silent Civillian and Steel Panther to give instant impact on the video.
Visual Style of my Rockumentary.
The visual style of my documentary is very important in the way that people interpret it. The colours used throughout the credits, titles and any artwork will definitely be black white and red as these are the main colours associated with Rock. I have created a mock-up of the style of the logo which is shown above. Names of people who will be interviewed will also come up on screen in this style.
I am hoping to produce a small animated logo as well which will help create the tone and mood of the film.
Questions I want to answer in the rockumentary.
There will be a main question within my documentary that I will focus on however will definitely answer sub-questions that are directly related to the main question.
The main question I will be answering will be "WHAT ELEMENTS DEPICT THE MAIN STEREOTYPES OF ROCK CULTURE"
Other questions that will be answered throughout which are relative will be decided via my primary research by a questionnaire that will help me see which questions would most like to be answered by people who participate in 'rock culture'.
The answers that people give will help me see what people in todays society who are interested in this subject would like to know and find out. I am doing this documentary for research purposes and to try and establish a wider understanding of the lifestyle I lead.
The main question I will be answering will be "WHAT ELEMENTS DEPICT THE MAIN STEREOTYPES OF ROCK CULTURE"
Other questions that will be answered throughout which are relative will be decided via my primary research by a questionnaire that will help me see which questions would most like to be answered by people who participate in 'rock culture'.
The answers that people give will help me see what people in todays society who are interested in this subject would like to know and find out. I am doing this documentary for research purposes and to try and establish a wider understanding of the lifestyle I lead.
My final idea for my short film.
I have finalised my idea for my short film and am definitely going to stick with the idea of producing a 'Rockumentary'.
I have made a proposal which depicts the content, structure and visual style of my Rockumentary in the format of a powerpoint presentation.
I will copy and paste the written content as follows:
For my short film idea I am proposing the production of a ‘Rockumentary’. A ‘Rockumentary’ is a documentary but of the Rock genre, culture, and livelihood. I am hoping within this 3-5 minute documentary to find the answers to a specific question I will propose throughout the film. I am hoping to use a number of filming styles, I want to include standard filming which would be complementary of typical documentary style films however want it be more visually interesting by having short montages of shots associated with the subject with a voiceover and music playing along with it. I want to input stylish credits and titles for each part of it, for instance interviews.
Structure of my ‘Rockumentary’:
Intro: Discuss who I am and what my aim throughout this documentary is. Propose a question and how I will try to answer it. (See question ideas below).
Shots I will possibly include: Interviews with relevant persons. Shots of venues, clubs, pubs, shops to make a montage. Things associated with alternative rock culture and alternative lifestyle. Live bands. Studios. Camden Town.
Credits: Make credits to go with each section that are relevant to ‘Rock’. Distorted and interesting. Possibly made in either After Effects or Motion 4 or Livetype.
Elements to cover throughout the documentary: Artwork, books, CD’s, DVD’s, memorabilia, merchandise, venues for hosting live music.
Possible interviews: Fall Mckenzie- Artist for bands. Dante Bonutto- Band manager, Mina- classic rocker, My Grandad- Drummer.
Other elements to use: Royalty free footage of festivals? Shots of typical Rock n Roll behaviour. Already use interviews I have conducted to be voiceovers etc.
I have made a proposal which depicts the content, structure and visual style of my Rockumentary in the format of a powerpoint presentation.
I will copy and paste the written content as follows:
For my short film idea I am proposing the production of a ‘Rockumentary’. A ‘Rockumentary’ is a documentary but of the Rock genre, culture, and livelihood. I am hoping within this 3-5 minute documentary to find the answers to a specific question I will propose throughout the film. I am hoping to use a number of filming styles, I want to include standard filming which would be complementary of typical documentary style films however want it be more visually interesting by having short montages of shots associated with the subject with a voiceover and music playing along with it. I want to input stylish credits and titles for each part of it, for instance interviews.
Structure of my ‘Rockumentary’:
Intro: Discuss who I am and what my aim throughout this documentary is. Propose a question and how I will try to answer it. (See question ideas below).
Shots I will possibly include: Interviews with relevant persons. Shots of venues, clubs, pubs, shops to make a montage. Things associated with alternative rock culture and alternative lifestyle. Live bands. Studios. Camden Town.
Credits: Make credits to go with each section that are relevant to ‘Rock’. Distorted and interesting. Possibly made in either After Effects or Motion 4 or Livetype.
Elements to cover throughout the documentary: Artwork, books, CD’s, DVD’s, memorabilia, merchandise, venues for hosting live music.
Possible interviews: Fall Mckenzie- Artist for bands. Dante Bonutto- Band manager, Mina- classic rocker, My Grandad- Drummer.
Other elements to use: Royalty free footage of festivals? Shots of typical Rock n Roll behaviour. Already use interviews I have conducted to be voiceovers etc.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Inspiration week- Proposal Ideas.
As aforementioned I have proposed two ideas that were inspired by secrets on a postcard.
However one completely different idea that I gained from a film that was very inspirational to me was the idea of a 'Rockumentary'. I am very interested in Rock culture, rock iconography and in general the whole subject, as this is the industry I want to pursue.
The film in which I watched was 'Heavy Metal- A Headbangers Journey'. It was an american documentary formed by a guy who- like me, is very interested on the whole culture of rock and metal and where it started, and how its progressed into todays society.
I was thinking I could do a mini UK version that researches into all different aspects of Rock and metal alternative culture. Clothing, venues, artists, pubs, artwork etc would all be aspects included in my 'Rockumentary' and I would interview people throughout who are significant to it. I think this would benefit me in many ways and is something I would have never ocnsidered doing until now.
I was quite adament on doing a dark gothic avant-garde film/music video and now I have gained inspiration from another media that has made me really want to do this subject and distribute it virally to inform and entertain people about the way I and the majority of my friends live and why we live that way.
However one completely different idea that I gained from a film that was very inspirational to me was the idea of a 'Rockumentary'. I am very interested in Rock culture, rock iconography and in general the whole subject, as this is the industry I want to pursue.
The film in which I watched was 'Heavy Metal- A Headbangers Journey'. It was an american documentary formed by a guy who- like me, is very interested on the whole culture of rock and metal and where it started, and how its progressed into todays society.
I was thinking I could do a mini UK version that researches into all different aspects of Rock and metal alternative culture. Clothing, venues, artists, pubs, artwork etc would all be aspects included in my 'Rockumentary' and I would interview people throughout who are significant to it. I think this would benefit me in many ways and is something I would have never ocnsidered doing until now.
I was quite adament on doing a dark gothic avant-garde film/music video and now I have gained inspiration from another media that has made me really want to do this subject and distribute it virally to inform and entertain people about the way I and the majority of my friends live and why we live that way.
Inspiration week task 2- Secret postcards.
Within this lesson we had to gain inspiration from postcards in which had other peoples secrets written on them. The secrets had to be turned into a narrative which could possibly be an idea for my short film.
The first secret I got was: "I thought I was in love with him"
This is the idea I formed from this secret:
He stood there in the wedding dress and dramatic make-up, staring at himself in the mirror. He went to drastic lengths to try and turn his unrequited love into mutual feelings. No matter how hard he tried to stand out and conform to what he thought his love wanted, it never seemed to suffice.
Trying to love a straight man and make him see the beauty both on the outside and inside of a male body was excrutiatingly painful. So one day he wiped the make-up off and threw the dress away. He thought he was in love but in fact it was just a fantasy.
The second secret I got was: "All my life people have told me I'm not special....I'm very easy to replace. After 43 years it has finally sunk in. I finally get it"
The ideas I brainstormed from this secret are as follows:
The woman makes a suicide tape and forms ragdoll that resembles her in every way- to resemble that she is easy to replace, in the form of a doll. The doll is placed next to the dead womans body after she commits suicide and has been gagged, and taped up to stop her blood flowing. A needle was beside her. She has seemingly overdosed and made a replacement to take over her life, to prove she unerstood she was easy to replace- the doll.
Both of these ideas above formed very avant-garde dark ideas in my mind for a short film. However the formation of the films were quite difficult in my mind to see myself creating effectively.
The first secret I got was: "I thought I was in love with him"
This is the idea I formed from this secret:
He stood there in the wedding dress and dramatic make-up, staring at himself in the mirror. He went to drastic lengths to try and turn his unrequited love into mutual feelings. No matter how hard he tried to stand out and conform to what he thought his love wanted, it never seemed to suffice.
Trying to love a straight man and make him see the beauty both on the outside and inside of a male body was excrutiatingly painful. So one day he wiped the make-up off and threw the dress away. He thought he was in love but in fact it was just a fantasy.
The second secret I got was: "All my life people have told me I'm not special....I'm very easy to replace. After 43 years it has finally sunk in. I finally get it"
The ideas I brainstormed from this secret are as follows:
The woman makes a suicide tape and forms ragdoll that resembles her in every way- to resemble that she is easy to replace, in the form of a doll. The doll is placed next to the dead womans body after she commits suicide and has been gagged, and taped up to stop her blood flowing. A needle was beside her. She has seemingly overdosed and made a replacement to take over her life, to prove she unerstood she was easy to replace- the doll.
Both of these ideas above formed very avant-garde dark ideas in my mind for a short film. However the formation of the films were quite difficult in my mind to see myself creating effectively.
Inspiration week task 1- Fold over story.
To give myself and the class inspiration about stories that could possibly be used and storylines that will contribute to our short films, we wrote a fold over story and passed it around the class to form a narrative that would be an idea for a short film.
Mine came out as follows:
A man called pedro was a manicurist, a women is called Candy and she is a drag queen. It was a cold night, 10pm on the dot. Ding dong ''Hi love it;s me!'' ''who?''. She woke up and said ''OMG I gave birth to a kitten in my dream...''. The man picks his nose and snot flies everywhere. He then sneezes all over the females chest and exclaims ''phwoar look at the snot on them!''. The next month a shocking discovery was made; they were actually brother and sister. What were they going to tell the children?
I translated this story into one which resembles the Torodov theory with equilibrium, disequilibrium and restoration.
When two opposite characters meet at night, sharing no similarities in personalities, a new era has begun. With the male a manicurist, the female a drag queen, they both had strange dreams. Candy was disturbed during the night by being awoken by a nightmare she had been given birth to a kitten. The next day Candy had even more bad luck because Pedro her partner sneezed all over her chest and snot flew everywhere. They made babies and everything was fine again, but then found out they were brother and sister. This disturbed the family so they broke up and started their lives again.
Mine came out as follows:
A man called pedro was a manicurist, a women is called Candy and she is a drag queen. It was a cold night, 10pm on the dot. Ding dong ''Hi love it;s me!'' ''who?''. She woke up and said ''OMG I gave birth to a kitten in my dream...''. The man picks his nose and snot flies everywhere. He then sneezes all over the females chest and exclaims ''phwoar look at the snot on them!''. The next month a shocking discovery was made; they were actually brother and sister. What were they going to tell the children?
I translated this story into one which resembles the Torodov theory with equilibrium, disequilibrium and restoration.
When two opposite characters meet at night, sharing no similarities in personalities, a new era has begun. With the male a manicurist, the female a drag queen, they both had strange dreams. Candy was disturbed during the night by being awoken by a nightmare she had been given birth to a kitten. The next day Candy had even more bad luck because Pedro her partner sneezed all over her chest and snot flew everywhere. They made babies and everything was fine again, but then found out they were brother and sister. This disturbed the family so they broke up and started their lives again.
Short film- Inspiration week. What is short film?
Within this lesson we listed as many possibilities as to what a short film could be. Here is my list:
- A number of incidents/occurences that happen that collaborate to make a narrative.
- Something with a message that influences the content.
- Structure- beginning, middle, end.
- Myths, hearsay, elaborated as time goes on through different generations.
- Something from the imagination.
- Grandparents- tradition-religion-generations.
- Books, tales, myths;greek, biblical, legends, fables, folktales, fairytales, tribal stories.
- Once upon a time, the end.
- Setting, plot characters.
- Structure; equilibrium, disequilibrium, restoration. Plot.
- Theme/genre.
- Series of events.
- Made to educate, entertain, inform. Popular culture.
- Cave paintings, Eqyptians, illustrations, hyroglyphics.
- Poetry, all differnet types of media.
- How one follows another. 'Kuleshov effect'
- Stories we tell ourselves about ourselves.
- Stories are culturally specific and give us comfort in life.
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Analysis of About a Girl
About a Girl’ Analysis – 2001
Geoff Boyle - Cinematographer
Writer - Julie Rutteford
Budget - £33,000
9 Minutes long
About a girl vs. About a Boy, warm feeling, innocence vs. guilt, SF vs. mainstream
Messages about content via title sequence, message within technology
First shot, silhouette, scenery, youth culture, fandom, superiority or shot, on hill – Escapism, assertive song, reflects personality? Clouds.
Pathetic Fallacy, where the weather imitates the mood of the action
Britney – Pure innocent Christian – grew up too fast / Girl – not pure, not innocent, secrets – grew up too fast (Identifying with character, singing/dancing
Huge contrast/juxtaposition, character, walls, urban area, trapped in surroundings, gates, isolates, situation, status, secrets, earnings, not hiding being her face, still a child, becoming of age.
Verbal Diarrhoea – strong accent.
Lower class, not close to her family, only talks to herself
Gritty housing estate, playground, dogs, siren, atmosphere setting scene
Swearing at her dad, problems, realises what’s going on
Camera moving erratically, in and out, reflects inner turmoil, unpredictable, personality
“I’m not a kid!” – Trying to show she’s growing up, pregnant, static shot! Dad shows no interest in daughter – unemployed.
She wants to be included with her dad, but wishes he thought about what she wanted.
Has maternal comments – pity – bless
“I’ve had enough!” – Shot panning away, full colours, grey de-saturated. “Stronger than yesterday.”
Wants’ to be famous – girls together smells perfume. Leader authoritative personality. Smart
Got a lot to say, she’s assertive, cheeky, ambitious
Escapism, Stereophonics, Madonna, pop culture. Dream World.
More sinister air to it, strawberry sauce, blood, references her vulnerability. More stationary shots.
What’s in the bag? Becoming darker. Foretelling what happens
Talking stops her thinking.
Kills baby, dismisses it, sings to hide it, wants’ a 99 flake. Hard hitting issues. Mum doesn’t pay attention.
Baby in bag, nobody notices. Bag is like her, disposable, throw it away. Gives birth to the baby. Bag floats towards the grate, trapped.
Symbolic of people in society being so dismissive and not conceiving issues that are hard in society.
Geoff Boyle - Cinematographer
Writer - Julie Rutteford
Budget - £33,000
9 Minutes long
About a girl vs. About a Boy, warm feeling, innocence vs. guilt, SF vs. mainstream
Messages about content via title sequence, message within technology
First shot, silhouette, scenery, youth culture, fandom, superiority or shot, on hill – Escapism, assertive song, reflects personality? Clouds.
Pathetic Fallacy, where the weather imitates the mood of the action
Britney – Pure innocent Christian – grew up too fast / Girl – not pure, not innocent, secrets – grew up too fast (Identifying with character, singing/dancing
Huge contrast/juxtaposition, character, walls, urban area, trapped in surroundings, gates, isolates, situation, status, secrets, earnings, not hiding being her face, still a child, becoming of age.
Verbal Diarrhoea – strong accent.
Lower class, not close to her family, only talks to herself
Gritty housing estate, playground, dogs, siren, atmosphere setting scene
Swearing at her dad, problems, realises what’s going on
Camera moving erratically, in and out, reflects inner turmoil, unpredictable, personality
“I’m not a kid!” – Trying to show she’s growing up, pregnant, static shot! Dad shows no interest in daughter – unemployed.
She wants to be included with her dad, but wishes he thought about what she wanted.
Has maternal comments – pity – bless
“I’ve had enough!” – Shot panning away, full colours, grey de-saturated. “Stronger than yesterday.”
Wants’ to be famous – girls together smells perfume. Leader authoritative personality. Smart
Got a lot to say, she’s assertive, cheeky, ambitious
Escapism, Stereophonics, Madonna, pop culture. Dream World.
More sinister air to it, strawberry sauce, blood, references her vulnerability. More stationary shots.
What’s in the bag? Becoming darker. Foretelling what happens
Talking stops her thinking.
Kills baby, dismisses it, sings to hide it, wants’ a 99 flake. Hard hitting issues. Mum doesn’t pay attention.
Baby in bag, nobody notices. Bag is like her, disposable, throw it away. Gives birth to the baby. Bag floats towards the grate, trapped.
Symbolic of people in society being so dismissive and not conceiving issues that are hard in society.
Codes and conventions of short films/mainstream films.
Experimental, Micro shorts – under 5 minutes
Low budget, less financial pressure
Small cast
Niche audience – not mainstream
Tell stories
Young, aspiring directors make short films – experience, portfolio, style calling-cards represent style of cinematography, style, genre, script etc
Amateur
Realistic, grainy look and feel, have underlying message
See them at film festivals, art galleries, YouTube, TV - (Channel 4) prelude to feature
Short Film
Feature Length / Mainstream
Under 50 minutes
Over 50 minutes
More visually captivating
Clean cut, edited to a mainstream standard
Low budget, less actors
High budget, big cast, props, scenery etc
Used to display capability or creative style, script etc
Usually already established capability by progressing o feature length
Short production length
Long production length
People are less knowledgeable of them, small marketing – niche audience
Mass audience / mainstream
Feature Length / Mainstream
Over 50 minutes
Clean cut, edited to a mainstream standard
High budget, big cast, props, scenery etc
Usually already established capability by progressing o feature length
Long production length
Mass audience / mainstream
Catherine des Forges: - “Spare economic narratives, interesting storytelling, well structures work, which draws in the audience quickly.”
Gareth Evans: - “Short films are long films that finish earlier.” “A good idea, succinctly Told, less is more.”
Requirements of short films
· They have to have aesthetic complexity- for example, the look and feel must not be conventional and be quite complex.
· Plurality of content- intricate detail must be included and the film makers are not interested in continuity.
· Short films generally break all conventions of mainstream cinema; there is alot of breaking the 4th wall and manipulation of time and space.
· The exhibition of these short films are perfect for internet distribution such as Youtube, Myspace, Vimeo etc to gain other people opinions on them and for viral promotion.
· Plurality of content- intricate detail must be included and the film makers are not interested in continuity.
· Short films generally break all conventions of mainstream cinema; there is alot of breaking the 4th wall and manipulation of time and space.
· The exhibition of these short films are perfect for internet distribution such as Youtube, Myspace, Vimeo etc to gain other people opinions on them and for viral promotion.
What are short films?
What are short films?
· A short film is defined by its length NOT it’s genre.
· There are no set codes and conventions, ONLY length.
· Short films are created through innovation and creative and artistic license.
· Cinema started with short film in 1895. Workers leaving the factory- Sortie de l’Usine- made by the Lumiére Brothers, Journey to the Moon- which was the first sci-fi and the Wizard of Oz which was the first colour film.
· Short films have no precise criteria or characteristics
· Documentaries can be considered as short films. Also black and white films, animations, colour films, fictional and dramas are all other things that short films can have.
· All established genres can be portrayed in a film.
· Short film ISN’T part of mainstream cinema. Short films have been proven to influence mainstream cinema and Hollywood and are generally shown at film festivals or underground cinemas.
· A short film is defined by its length NOT it’s genre.
· There are no set codes and conventions, ONLY length.
· Short films are created through innovation and creative and artistic license.
· Cinema started with short film in 1895. Workers leaving the factory- Sortie de l’Usine- made by the Lumiére Brothers, Journey to the Moon- which was the first sci-fi and the Wizard of Oz which was the first colour film.
· Short films have no precise criteria or characteristics
· Documentaries can be considered as short films. Also black and white films, animations, colour films, fictional and dramas are all other things that short films can have.
· All established genres can be portrayed in a film.
· Short film ISN’T part of mainstream cinema. Short films have been proven to influence mainstream cinema and Hollywood and are generally shown at film festivals or underground cinemas.
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