Panopticism

Panopticism summery by Kelly bruce/Cantrell.

Panopticism is the theory that criminals and deviants will behave and refrain from bad behavior if they feel they are being watched at any given moment.

A panopticon was a prison system that enabled a guard or “watcher” to see into any one of the prison cells at any given time without having to run from room to room, this was done not by the use of modern technology but by the design of the building. Circular in shape, the prison would have a centre that oversaw all the other cells and that way the guard in the middle could simply turn and look into any room of his choice.

The prisoners were not aware “when” they were being watched, they were simply aware that there was a “possibility” that they were being watched at any time and so the panopticon had a reversed psychology effect on the prisoners that ensured their good behavior.

There are many aspects of modern day culture that reflect Panopticism, for example CCTV, everywhere we go we are subtly “reminded” that we are being watched by CCTV, or that we are on camera, thieves will be prosecuted, this is a neighborhood watch area, etc. We see these signs on buses, trains, in shopping outlets, or even in your local neighborhood area.

But does this technique work in today’s society as it may have done back in history? On some level yes it does, when accompanied by other factors such as bright lights, public places and patrolling police officers.

But in cases of solitude and high crime areas people are “not” scared by these messages, but instead “offended” by them, and some may even see them as a challenge to act out worse crimes or acts of vandalism.

Do security cameras make a person feel safe when walking down the dark street at night? In my experience I would have to say no, someone could still attack you or worse, yes their blurred image may possibly be on camera depending on location and availability, angles etc. But what good has that done? Did it stop you from being attacked? No. And the attacker knows this also, they also know that their chances of being caught from CCTV are very low, seeing as we all know how bad the picture quality on a CCTV camera actually is. (thanks to television broadcasts and home CCTV kits, CCTV surveillance in movies etc)

So to an extent CCTV can work but only if accompanied by other more secure methods of preventing crime. It is also down to the individual and their state of mind as to whether they are particularly bothered about the notion of being watched, or if they are so used to it as a way of life that the thought never even crosses their minds. I for one, never feel as though I am being “watched” as such when I walk around the city, although I am aware that CCTV is in place, I do not actually envision anyone actually “watching” it 24 hours a day, at worst someone may review the recordings every so often or maybe even only in the case of a crime being reported, so I don’t really feel as though I am being “watched” in this way.

Interestingly though, if one is to make eye contact with such a device, they may look away uncomfortably, as though “seeing” the camera itself, as a pose to a sign that just tells you there is a camera, makes one feel less at ease, or in some cases more at ease, in feeling you can be seen because you can see “them”. (“Them” in this case being the robotic eyes, or in other words CCTV cameras) This notion takes me back to John Bergers “ways of seeing” essay and the first few lines written about how “soon after we can see, we are aware that we can also be seen”.

Another aspect of panopticism is that of “reality TV shows” in which people “willingly” subject themselves to the public eye by entering an area, house or show in which they are being constantly monitored by a “fly in the wall” surveillance system in order to showcase their everyday qualities and so called “real-life” personalities to the general public.

Although one could argue that this is not “reality” TV because although the people may not be trained actors or professionals, they will still behave differently because they will know at all times they are being watched, on both a conscious and unconscious level.

The same applies to the stressed out parent in the grocery store who finds that his or her children are not behaving as they would at home and is torn about what to do about it in such a public setting away from the norm at home, Even a small child can pick up on this difference and therefore is already being subjected to the notion of Panoptics before they are even learning how to articulate a sentence.

ways of seeing

Ways of seeing, J. Berger

Summery by Kelly Bruce/Cantrell.

Bergers essay on “ways of seeing” discusses how the reproduction of an original work of art mystifies the viewer of the piece and changes the context and meaning behind the artwork.

Through reproduction the entire meaning behind a piece of artwork can be lost entirely or changed to something utterly different. For example one could crop an area of a master painting to change it into a portrait rather than a landscape painting, words can be added to an abstracted piece of work to subtlety lead the viewer toward a hinted conclusion or thesis.

Does reproduction lessen the value of an original piece of art? Or does it in fact increase the value of the artwork? On one hand reproduction enables artwork to be brought to the attention of the masses, rather than the privileged minority it once served. But this also devalues the original in that it can now be mass produced and sold on at a cheaper price, It is no longer a rarity, or a one off piece that you need to go visit in a gallery, but a flat and shiny reproduced image that can be found just about anywhere.

So does this devalue the “original”? Now referred to as “the original” thanks to the commodity that is reproduction, or does it in fact make the original piece of work more sought after, as it has now become a rarity in itself?

The artwork is no longer defined by what it is or what it conveys but by it’s value as an original piece of artwork, and is often only declared “art” when it’s originality and heritage can be proven and certified.

The reproduced artwork’s meaning is lost the moment it is copied and transferred to a different setting, for the meaning and the message behind a piece of work is also seen in it’s surroundings, and in the brush strokes and intensity of the original.

A reproduced image now hung above hundreds of different mantelpieces, in different rooms around the world with different lighting and color schemes surrounding them, a varying assortment of furniture and other items to compliment or shadow the work can completely change it’s context and meaning because it is now “seen” differently, taking into account all these other factors.

Ways of seeing discusses how we “see” things before we can verbalize them, and how what we see around us and who is seeing us in return affects our sense of placement and belonging in the world. The same criteria can then be applied to the artwork, and how the use of the camera affects our perception of the photograph. We see the angles, and arrangement that the photographer, (or artist) wants us to see, we see what they saw, this originality and expression is lost however in the stigma that is reproduction.

The art of the past holds no authority like it once did, it has now become political, and all about the ethics of money, trade and value. Berger states that the “only” reason why art of the past has become so political is because a people or class has been cut off from it’s own past, a past in which that same class of people were able to situate themselves in history in a way that they cannot today.

Essay

How the age of digital media and technology has influenced and toyed with our perceptions of human identities.

By Kelly Cantrell/Bruce.

The Internet has played a phenomenal role in the ways we interact and communicate with one and other as a society. This has also had a direct effect on our approach toward communication and the perceptions we have surrounding identity and belonging in a technologically changing world.

If we examine today’s world of online social networking and 3D virtual communities, (such as facebook, twitter, bebo, myspace and second life) it is immediately apparent how attitudes surrounding personal identity have changed over the last decade, thanks to the internet of course…

“The medium is the message”, is a quote that was famously coined by communication theorist ‘Marshall Mcluhan’ back in the 1960’s, suggesting that the content of a medium is often less important than the difference it makes in us by just having it around.

People are now willing to share close, sometimes deep personal information about themselves online, seeing it as merely “sharing information” after all the internet seems to be all about sharing information and giving and receiving feedback from your peers, giving out this type of information a decade or so ago would have been considered completely absurd and rather “uncivilised” almost, whereas today’s youth are growing up in this world of social networking so writing a status on facebook about what music you are currently listening to or what you had for dinner the night before is now considered completely normal, an everyday occurrence in day to day life.

So is it the safety of sitting at home behind a screen that makes people act so differently? That makes us loose our inhibitions and shed our media induced idealogical skins in favor of being able to live out our ‘true’ idenitites online?

Thinking about this does beg the question, “are we really living false lives in the real world and being our true selves online? Or are our online identities the fake ones?

James Harkin, London based freelance writer believes that: “The internet allows one to define themselves rather than being defined by others”, whilst some critics would argue that the Internet actually encourages anti-socialism and is a contributing factor toward an increasingly unfit population.

In fact studies have shown that over four out of five young adults under the age of thirty now prefer to spend time on the internet or their mobile phones than sat in front of the TV. (study published in Autumn, 2007, Cyburbia, p167, James Harkin) These statistics demonstrate how rapidly the internet is taking the lead in the publics main choice of media indulgence, it may be mostly popular amongst a younger age group, but of course they will become the future generation and the new generations will also grow up in a world of social networking and cyber culture.

The Chinese government have even gone as far as to ban the opening of cybercafés in China and to legally limit the amount of time teenagers are permitted to play games in such establishments, in an attempt to protect their young from becoming addicted to online games.

However it is not just young consumers that face the possibility of Internet addiction, take for example the BBC documentary: “Virtual adultery and cyberspace love”, which showcases the story of Carolyn, a thirty seven year old housewife in the United States who has a virtual affair with Elliot, a British male who is over five thousand miles away from her.

The documentary is initially very funny and one is not certain if it is to be taken seriously or not, is this really what future communications and identity has come to? Another BBC report has stated that there are now “cyber detectives” who actually work in second life for “real” money by setting up what’s known as “honey traps” to try and catch a particular spouse out in the act of infidelity, although virtual some would argue that this is still unfaithful rather than harmless fun, like in the “alleged” case of Amy Taylor who apparently filed for divorce after twice catching her husband having virtual sex with another women in second life, (this is done using avatars that the user controls) when confronted about this her husband told her he no longer loved her and that it was over.

Hearing this kind of news is very difficult to digest in any form of seriousness, but this crazy world of second life is actually real and home to over thirty thousand residents.

Johnathan Mostow’s 2009 feature film: “Surrogates” staring Bruce willis further explores this threshold of virtual identity, in the film over 98% of the population have what is known as a “surrogate”, a highly advanced robotic double with lifelike skin, eyes and mouth that a user controls from home by laying in a pod that is then wirelessly connected to their surrogate which they have full control over. The user can feel through their surrogate, have sexual relations with other surrogates, run faster, and look younger or slimmer and live out their fantasies through another model rather than risking their own bodies.

This seems to emulate what people are already doing now with their identities online and in virtual worlds, It’s just taking it another few steps further, and with the ever advancing state of digital media these seems highly possible.

“All media are extensions of some human faculty-psychic or physical. The wheel… is an extension of the foot. The book is an extension of the eye…clothing, an extension of the skin.” Marshall Mcluhan.

So is social networking an extension of the soul? Stelarc, the Greek performance artist states that: “Man is beginning to wear his brain outside his skull, and his nerves outside his skin, new technology breeds new man.” Stelarc believes that it is only the next natural stage of evolution for man to become one with machine, one of his performance art demonstrations involved hooking himself up to numerous muscle stimulators on all of his major muscles and then allowing his body to be controlled by internet users around the world- simply by clicking a button.

Another famed performance artist known as Orlac, has attempted to merge traditional art with a new form of contemporary performance art. Using digital compositions of faces from famous renaissance paintings, Orlac has undergone several plastic surgery procedures live on the internet, whilst fully awake in order to “Bring into question the standards of beauty imposed by our society”, Orlac is objectifying herself as a piece of artwork, changing her physical identity by using digital media process’s in order to meet her artistic desires.

However her work has caused speculation amongst critics as to her motives. Art critic James Gardner stipulates that Orlan is just a deleterious example of “the French obsession with refinement and feminine beauty”, another critic, Barbara Rose contends that Orlan is simply acting out “the madness of a demand for an unachievable physical perfection” and Mark Derry, (Escape velocity) hints that Orlac’s description of going under the knife as a cathartic experience “would not sound out of place on the lips of a plastic surgery addict”, Derry concludes that Orlac’s professed feminism and her manifest posthumanism cancel each other out, after the artist stated in a written interview that “we must accept ourselves as we are… but in an age of genetic manipulation, this is a primitive outlook”.

The age of digital media has not only affected national statistics for watching TV, but it has also altered our expectations of film and TV narrative structure.

Stanley Kubrick’s 1956 film “The killing” was panned by critics and audiences for being too non-linear and confusing. Today’s society on the other hand look favourably on these types of films, yearning for dynamic and non-linear narratives that will capture and engage their attention whilst challenging set conventions and perceptions of identity and self.

Films such as “Pulp fiction”, “crash”, “The butterfly effect” and “memento” to name a few also follow this route of non-linear story-telling, there is usually a play on identity and the viewers sense of time is muddled up and non-conformist resulting in lots of little overlapping connections that eventually convene into one giant conclusion… or sometimes leave the viewer clueless and requiring a second or third view of the film.

Because digital media has changed the ways in which we see others, and ourselves. Audiences are now demanding more engaging and less predictable film narratives that actually challenge rather than conform to a set of clichéd conventions.

Because of this, there has also been a major rise in the popularity of world cinema as movie-goers are now seeking out something new and different to a genre that they only know too well. Actors and actresses are now lending their voices and body movements to computer generated characters on screen, movement-tracking technology can now track their movements and thus incorporate these movements into their virtual characters or avatars on screen body language.

Robert Zemeckis 2007 fully CGI movie “Beowulf” replaces actors with realistic virtual doubles of their real selves, (of course using this technology means signs of age can be removed or added as required, actors will no longer need to hit the gym to play a specific role, and the use of make-up and more practical ways of creating special effects may eventually be eradicated or become a rarity.)

Does this mean that we are tiring of pre-virtual identity? Are we now embracing the idea that science fiction may not be science fiction anymore but is a very possible reality?

The Alcor Life Extension Foundation was founded in 1972 and is a world leader in the phenomenon of cryonics.

They believe that “Death is a neurological process that begins after the heart stops. A stopped heart only causes death if nothing is done when the heart stops. Cryonics proposes to do something.”

Alcor also state on their website, (www.alcor.org) that: “Cryonics is not a belief that the dead can be revived. Cryonics is a belief that no one is really dead until the information content of the brain is lost, and that low temperatures can prevent this loss.”

Does Stelarc’s famous quotation “I sing the body obsolete”, now have more truth behind it than ever with the rise of digital media and technology?

Shirow Masamune’s “Ghost in the shell” franchise which consists of manga comic books, feature length animated movies and 2 spin off series, revolves around the idea of cyber terrorism, brain hacking and the notion that people’s minds can be uploaded and downloaded into various computer databases and artificial bodies.

The lead female Character, Motoko, but referred to in the Anime as “major” is more machine than human in terms of her body, the only parts of her that remain organic are her brain and spinal cord, and in one episode she is shown to be having herself “uploaded” into the system and then “downloaded” into a replacement body within minutes.

A statement taken from the Alcor life extension website claims that: “we do not believe revival of neuropatients will involve anything as primitive as cloning or transplants. It seems much more likely that the patient's own cells will be prodded into regrowing the body that belongs around the brain in a reprise of the natural process that made the body in the first place. This could be done by combined natural and specialized growth programs, and also augmented by direct synthesis of scaffolding and cell placement by nanomedicine.”

Although this technology is not yet in place, and is mainly talked about in science fiction movies and books, it does not mean that in the future it will not be a possible and very viable option. In fact, looking at the ways in which medicine and technology are being combined and utilized in research facilities and hospitals presently only further endorses Alcor’s statements regarding nanotechnology and future medicine having every possibility of preserving human life.

As Alcor themselves have stated, they do not believe in the practice of reviving “dead” people, what they are doing is “preserving” the information and memory content of your brain so that future technology may be able to restore your identity in a newly grown and healthy vessel.

Alcor’s home page states the following: “Alcor seeks to prevent loss of information within the brain that encodes memory and personality identity, which is the true boundary between life and death.”

This brings about some serious questions about who we are as human beings, are we merely machines with data chips that can be transferred and copied onto another hard-drive when the first one breaks down?

Religion stipulates that god made man in “his” own image; so one could argue then that mankind has also made machine in our own image… so it is very possible to theorize that god may too have been merely some primitive form of biological or even spiritual machine that created humanity in it’s own image?

James Cameron’s 1984 hit feature: “Terminator” emulates this idea that men make machine, and then machines becomes “self-aware” and declares war on mankind, this theme can be seen perpetually in a myriad of science fiction movies to date.

Human physical identity as well as our psychological identities is already in a state of question as more and more people are experimenting with artificial bodily replacements such as pacemakers and artificial limbs, even reconstructive and plastic surgery has altered our perceptions of identity and let’s not forget the effects of the media, photo-shopped imagery and airbrushed supermodels that barely resemble anything close to what a real person looks like.

Cynthia Jackson who appeared on the Jenny Jones show in 1993 is a perfect example of how the media has taken the structure of “female” identity and severely misrepresented it by re-structuring it into a one dimensional and ideological re-imagining of how a female should look in the eyes white western society.

Cynthia has undergone 19 cosmetic operations in order to look like mattel’s famed “Barbie doll” in an effort to ‘expand her possibilities’ and live a better quality of life. Jackson herself stated “she cannot walk down the street in L.A because everyone is a Barbie over there”.

It seems that people will forever seek to change their bodies and thus their identities as humans as there will always be commodities to be consumed, it is doubtful that there will ever be a limit to body modification with the constant development of cosmetic surgeries, liposuction, collagen injections, laser treatment, breast, buttocks and calve implants, face-lifts, etc, it is highly possibly that gene splicing will be next and probably a whole new level of microbiological body redesign will follow.

Joanna Zylinksa, writer of “The cyborg experiments” claims that the body is “invested as a fetish, and is used as a fetish in a desperate attempt at identifying oneself”.

The body is no longer seen as “I” but as an “it” to be improved, and the rise of digital media has only further helped to encourage and redefine human identity as two separate entities, the body and the mind. And with the advancement of technology, digital media and the media’s obsession with pushing a generic standard of beauty on top of a population already hooked on superficial identity, It is highly likely that in the next hundred years or so human-kind will have completely and totally obliterated our natural form of identity and belonging within the human race in favor of custom made beauty and genetic alteration that is enforced by ideological standards of beauty, it is in fact very possible that if this were to happen, humanity will end up being the very opposite of what they set out to be.

Get a life and Cyberspace love critique

Second life love, critique.

Kelly Bruce/Cantrell.

I had the unfortunate experience of experimenting with second life myself during the first year of my course, and at the end of it was thankful that I would never need go on it again or even think about it for that matter. However I now find myself unfortunate enough to have to again revisit second life in order to write this critique for a critical studies assignment. Oh the joy.

“Virtual Adultery and Cyberspace love” is a 40 minute BBC documentary that was aired in 2008 and features a few couples and their experiences with second life, the 3D virtual environment brought to us by Linden labs.

Carolyn, a 37yr old mother in the U.S. began using second life because she was depressed and fed up with her mundane life as a typical stay at home domesticated mother/housewife so she stumbled upon second life one day and soon found herself creating a sexed up barberella type avatar and flying around in second life chatting, shopping and living the life she so dreamed of.

She soon met a male avatar and they began a year long emotional affair, resulting in Carolyn spending more time in second life than in her real life with her husband and children. She was then willing to fly over 5,000 miles to be with this virtual other, and leave her husband and kids behind, whilst they waited for her return.

Another couple met on there, got together and then went back on second life to get married! And of course there are the people that build properties and design clothing etc to be sold on second life for linden dollars that can then be exchanged into real dollars.

So why do we hear about these kind of stories in the news? I even read one about private detectives setting up virtual agencies on there in order to catch out virtual cheating spouses, it almost sounds like a joke right? There are also strip joints and sex parlors on there that have been pre-programmed so that if you put your avatar into a virtual bed or chair that has the required action scripting built into it then your avatar will carry out the actions programmed, for example inappropriate sexual gestures or dance moves.

My view is that there is a minority of people with addictive personalities, a minority of bored repressed housewives with a poor quality of life, men going through a mid-life crisis, horny teenage boys, sex-obsessed middle aged men who pretend they are going on there for “business” opportunities when really they are just bored, have probably had too many affairs and visited one too many strip joints and are now seeking out some new form of sexual stimulation.

I mean let’s face it, how much money can you “actually” make on second life? And who would want to? From my perspective I think that all of this is a front to cover up the seediness that is really “second life” and yes I am going to get a grilling for that from those that like to spend time on there, because I guess it has educational benefits too, and some of the surroundings and scenery I have seen are fantastic and require real skill, imagination and dedication to build.

However just as money makes the world go round, and sex is the number one marketing tool in any advertisement, it is also the driving force behind late night cable TV, the internet, and of course the sex industry is probably the richest sector in the world, sex will also be the main driving force behind second life whether intentional or not.

I can see how some who are not used to the world of gaming or even computer generated movies and animation may become hooked on the 3D world that is second life and may find themselves in complete and utter awe of the graphical capabilities, but as a gamer myself I found the graphics laughable, and not one bit gripping, second life was not a place I would like to stay in for long as visually I find it a bit of an eyesore.

Again it depends on your personality, some may not be bothered at all by the blocky graphics and slow loading times, or the glitchy interface, they may instead be enthralled by the 3D building capabilities and ability to create whatever your imagination allows, and then to own the intellectual rights to your creation…

Me, I would rather blast some zombies on my playstation for entertainment or read a book about the fundamentals of cat behaviour, I just sincerely hope that this will be the last time EVER that I have to waste any of my precious time thinking or writing about the travesty that is second life.

film studies assignment 1, the western

Film studies Assessment one

Conventions Of The Western.

By Kelly Cantrell.

(623 words)

The western as a genre concentrates many set conventions, including exploration of the wilderness, early westernised society, a lone protagonist who in most cases has a conflicted past or who struggles with identity, corruption and good vs evil are also common themes of the western movie.

The western film is mostly set in America and is traditionally an American genre of film. The focus is usually on the main protagonist and their inner moral conflicts and outer struggles to find belonging and identity within a conflicted society. This person who will act as the flawed anti-hero in most case will be faced with a moral dilemma involving a community and or a family or local group of people. For example in the 1950’s western “Shane” the main protagonist had the moral decision of protecting a family or joining the other side, the community in this case, for more money. A similar situation arises in Clint Eastwood’s “unforgiven” in which the main protagonist is given the choice to seek out vengeance for a group of prostitutes against a gang of cowboys who have done them wrong, a corrupt authority is involved and classic western conventions are apparent when the protagonist is tested morally and results in the protagonist solving the problem at hand.

These themes also crop up in Ron Howards “the missing” (2003) in which again an outsider or loner who is struggling with his own inner demons must make a decision in order to preserve the status quo and save his granddaughter from a dangerous sect of sex traffickers, although in this carnation of the western the protagonist is being the hero in order to make peace within himself as well as with his estranged daughter.

All of these films have similarly themed endings which involve the main character going out into the wilderness and or being alone, having now been and done whatever it is they needed to, they come in mystery and leave in mystery.

Another example of this would be Sharron Stones character in “The quick and the dead” with the only difference being that she is a female as a pose to a male protagonist.

Speaking of women, in the western movie women are usually conveyed as blue eyed domesticated blondes and are usually depicted as being motherly and softly spoken. It’s rather interesting how the western film makes these associations with fairness of skin, hair and eye colour as being linked to purity and the side of good, whereas in comparison dark eyes, skin and hair are portrayed as bad, mysterious or corrupt.

The same thesis can be said about clothing in western movies, with the good guys having rather organic and natural looking outfits, such as animal skins, texture and colours that blend in with the wilderness almost, and then there are the darker shades of black and grey, tailored suits and clean cut appearances that seem to go hand in hand with the bad guys or the corrupted officials.

Most western films follow the classic narrative structure in which the status quo is affected, and then the protagonist is either tested or faced with a decision, the protagonist solves the problem but this may result in some form of transformation within the situation or the protagonist, such as feelings of sorrow, loneliness, regret, etc and then the result is usually the same, the status quo is fixed or changed and the protagonist is often returned to their usual position of being a lone wanderer out in the wilderness, this may be visually apparent or it could be depicted in a metaphysical manner such as with Tommy Lee Jones character in the missing.

Film studies assignment 2, film noir.

Film Studies Assignment two.

Expressionist Style in the Film Noir.

By Kelly Cantrell.

(915 words)

Film noir is a term used to describe a style of film that was predominantly made in the 1940’s and 1950’s, with the last one being made in 1958. (A touch of Evil) there have been returns to film noir in the form of pastiche and neo noir.

Of course the word “noir” means black in French and the term was used to described films that were dark in nature, both visually and emotionally.

Themes of corruption, anger, jealousy, despair, violence and femme fatal signified strong elements of film noir and most of all film noir was concerned with it’s visual style and a strong emphasis on light and dark, shadows and high contrast between the two. Film noir was just as concerned with style as it was substance.

One of the key elements of film noir would be it’s expressionistic style, which was introduced to America by immigrant film directors from Europe who would keep their running costs down by sticking to night filming sessions, the stories were contemporary and did not require elaborate or over the top sets and props as did most Hollywood films at the time.

There are many films today that for me pay tribute to film noir of the 40’s and 50’s such as Frank Millers “Sin City” which too focus’s on strong contrasting arrangements between light and dark, dark themes of corruption and an underlying current of sleaze and filth in a grimy run down city, anti-heroes a plenty and hard boiled detective type voice over’s.

“The cat people” by Jaques Tourneur (1942) is a good example of film noir mixed with another genre, in this case, superstition or the ghost story.

The film is highly stylistic and the attention to detail within the shadows and lighting is very apparent when watching the film, for example, the camera angles draw your attention to the shadows cast by objects on several occasions and there is a very strong emphasis on silhouette and the contrast between light and dark. The music whilst not overbearing or invasive, is subtly creepy and a little un-nerving and works hand in hand with the visual style to evoke feelings of tension, mystery, betrayal and despair.

There are many key scenes in which the director uses simple lighting techniques to convey a sense of anti-naturalism in order to make the viewer feel even more unsettled at key moments, for example there is a scene in which Uraina, (our lead female character) has followed Alice to the local swimming pool, the film focus’s on the watery shadows cast on the walls by the pool for quite some time as Alice shrieks and splashes in the water, it’s almost as if the imagery of the shadows in this scene act to convey a living breathing entity that you can’t really see, so in this case the mystery of Uraina’s true identity.

This technique is used a lot throughout the film, and there is a strong sense of pattern and movement, over-lapping effects and even some animation is used to add to the otherworldly perception that we have of the lead actress.

Going back to music, there is yet another scene in which Uraina is following Alice after seeing her at a restaurant with her husband. There is no sound, only footsteps and the use of light and shadow are used to convey dread and fear, we do not see Uraina from this point on, only her feet do we see and then shadows and sounds, movement and suggestion to allow your imagination to fill in the blanks, again with this scene pattern and timing are used to great effect with the lamp-posts signifying the stopping and starting of the chase and adding to the overall suspense created within this scene.

The women in this film are also interesting in that the director has played with and twisted our perception of the usual set of conventions, for example, the wife in this case is the brunette shrouded in mystery rather than the blue eyed blonde that we may be familiar with from the western movie, and the seductress outside if the marriage is seen as a blonde instead of the expected sultry brunette.

But the director has played with our perceptions in that although the seductress is the blonde, the husband still identifies with her the most and almost see’s her as his significant other throughout the film and admits he is in love with her by the end and wishes for her to be his wife, so ultimately she still becomes the usual model for the typical wife figure. Uraina on the other hand may start out as the doting wife, but she is shrouded in mystery and is confused about her identity and mental state of mind, she is presented to us as both a femme fatal type character but also as a victim, she is portrayed as sad, lonely and lost.

The film ends on a rather tragic note, which reminded me of the western in the sense that the main protagonist never quite fit in where he/she was and ultimately returned to his/her former routine and finally found belonging despite the consequence of being alone and or dead.

The recurrent them of superstition vs science rears it’s head once again at the end to tell us that superstition won and that our heroine was not so crazy after all.

Film studies assignment 3

The Auteur as a filmmaker.

Film Studies Assignment three

By Kelly Cantrell.

(427 words)

The films of Alfred Hitchcock often deal with themes that he as a film director may feel reflect his own personal concerns, such as themes of jealousy, obsession and femme fatale women.

Hitchcock’s films often feature similar looking women, often with blonde hair, that may be pinned up for the first half of the film and then may become looser and looser until it reaches the point that the hair is worn loose, this may be symbolic for female sexual liberation or the insinuation of seduction and femme fatale connotations creeping into the narrative structure.

There is also a lot of repetition to be seen in Hitchcock films, places are shown several times or more either in dream format or real-time. Alongside this Hitchcock films embody themes of fear, lack of control and powerlessness, this is apparent in the characters that James stewart plays in both “Vertigo” and “rear window”, in Rear window the lead character is rendered powerless and feels isolated and powerless as he is confined to a wheelchair in his room, and the character he plays in Vertigo has a fear of heights that leads to vertigo and a lack of control when placed in a situation in which he is face to face with his fear.

These themes of being watched, as in rear window and psycho, being followed as in vertigo, the themes of jealousy, fear and powerlessness, along with the lead characters state of mind often in question are what make an Alfred Hitchcock film identifiable and recognisable as a Hitchcock film, these films and similar films have also been coined as “Hitchcockian” for the similarities in atmosphere, narrative structure and themes.

Hitchcocks films therefore feel as though they are a personal extension of his own persona as they do not follow a set formula of conventions of typical genre films, the same can also be said for director/producer Tim burton who again makes films that reflect his own personality and thought process, when you see a Tim Burton film you instantly know it’s a Tim Burton film as you can see, hear and feel his own personal stamp on each film even though each film may be entirely different in terms of story, casting, setting etc.

The recurrent themes and stylistic qualities of the Auteur as a film maker directly influence our perception of genre and play on the psyche, ignoring typical conventions and genres in favour of the directors own personal and often unique ideas and perceptions.

Film studies assignment 4

Cinema Verite

assignment four

by Kelly Cantrell.

(520 words)

Realist cinema to me is a “style” of film making in which the director attempts to “capture” reality by making the film gritty, realistic and simplified in terms of style, sound and setting.

By this I mean, no elaborate sets, big name actors, glamorous costumes and ideological portrayals of characters and situations.

Instead the director will often go for a “low budget” feel, opting to use hand held, low end cameras as a pose to high end high definition Hollywood style cameras.

The sound is also very important, focusing on creating a “realistic” soundscape, rather than studio recorded voices and background music.

For example, one could state that the 1966 BBC television drama, “Kathy come home” by Jeremy Sandford follows the conventions of realist cinema in it’s stylistic approach but also and perhaps more importantly for the subject matter that the film revolves around. Homelessness, unemployment and mothers loosing their children to social service agency’s are issues that were not hugely popularized by the media at that time and therefore this film was breaking through these boundaries and bringing public awareness to these issues, in a realistic and truthful portrayal of a middle class couple who have kids, obtain a nice “modern” home and then due to circumstances beyond their control are forced to deal with eviction, poverty, homelessness, hunger and the loss of their children.

This is not documentary, but rather a comment on very real issues within society, that is presented to us in a realistic way, and therefore the public can relate to and empathies with the situation because it is presented to them in a way that they can understand and see as truth.

A documentary on the other hand is a case of interviewing real people, in real settings, about them or other people’s real life situations or circumstances, with the intent to show the public reality. Then there is reality TV, one famous example being “Big brother”, is this realist film? They are real people, in a real setting, or a purpose built setting, but in my opinion it is not realist film, although it could easily be confused with realist film as it follows some of the same set of conventions in term of style, however the themes and motives these reality TV shows are concerned with do not really represent real life, but instead attempt to create a false reality, that’s main concern is with popularity, sex and fame. It does not attempt to address any of life’s harsher realities as the documentary “Kathy come home” did.

There are also a train of films that use realist conventions in terms of style, such as “The blair witch project”, “Cloverfield”, “rec” and some that mix realist and documentary style conventions with other genres such as horror or action, this can be seen in both “District 9” and the French film “District 9”.

I feel these films use some of the stylistic qualities from realist film, but are not true realist films because their subject matter is purely fictional or a false portrayal of idealistic media romanticism.

Film studies assignment 5

Dumplings movie review Assignment 5.

Film Studies by Kelly Cantrell/Bruce.

PLOT summary.

Dumplings is a Chinese cult horror film directed by Fruit Chan, after a string of predictable Japanese horrors and a outbreak of Korean Cinema China was somewhat left behind in the horror stakes…

Until now.

Dumplings does not follow a typical set of conventions that you may be familiar with when watching Asian horror movies, in fact this is not a ghost story, nor is it torture porn, it is simply more horrific in terms of it’s social implications on mankind and morality and takes a nice blunt controversial stab at both the beauty industry and the media.

The film revolves around a retired movie actress known as Mrs. Li who’s husband is cheating on her with younger women and so she seeks out a way in which to rejuvenate herself and bring back her youthfulness and vitality in order to please her husband again in the hope that he will stop cheating on her with younger women.

She hears about a women who makes famous dumplings that are said to return your youth and help to keep you young looking and so she tracks this women down in order to buy some of her famous dumplings.

However it is what is inside the dumplings that gives the film it’s elemental horror status and the fact that people will willingly eat this in order to stay young can also be seen as a stab at the beauty industry and the lengths in which people are willing to go to in order to attain a generic standard of beauty that is put out by the media.

Our “chef” used to work as a doctor and so doesn’t seem to have any problems in obtaining her foetal dumpling filler from the abortion clinic, which she then takes home and hacks up into little pieces for her dumplings.

According to Aunt Mei, (the chef) the older and fresher the foetus, the greater the effects it will bring upon consumption.

She herself claims to be her own walking advertisement as she herself has been eating these dumplings for years- hence the reason why she looks so good for her age, although her true age is not identified at this point so it is not clear if the dumplings really work or if it is just the placebo affect.

MOOD.

One of the strongest aspects of the film’s direction seems to come from the mood that the film conveys and the feelings it evokes, for example when watching the film you automatically envision the colour green, representational of the emotion’s “jealousy” and “greed”, this is cleverly done using low budget qualities such as subtle green lighting filters and various shades of green scattered throughout some key scenes, mainly in miss Ling’s apartment where the dumplings are made.

The scenes that depict the wife’s husband are bright and expensive, allowing the audience to see his richness, laid back millionaire lifestyle and his adulterous affairs with younger women.

A key moment also occurs her when Mrs. Li’s husband is seen eating an egg that has an under-developed manky looking bird foetus inside, which he scoops out and lavishes down his throat as though he is eating ice cream! The way this is presented to us makes it seem like a normal everyday occurrence and you get the feeling that this is totally acceptable for him to eat this.

I also found it much more repulsive than the foetus dumplings, which at least looked tasty and edible by the time they were cooked, the rotting bird foetus on the other hand looked so grotesque I felt I could smell it through the screen and would happily eat the dumplings over that. This makes me question the directors motives behind this scene, it’s as though he is almost trying to make his audience actually hunger for the dumplings by making them appear pretty and tasty looking in comparison to the dead bird that appears to be an everyday dish.

I felt the director was trying to convey a strong sense of irony and morality within this scene, asking us to question what we eat and what we don’t eat, and why can one thing be acceptable yet another thing so grossly unacceptable?

When the lead female character Mrs. Li visits miss Ling for the dumplings, she is initially rather anxious and a bit reluctant to eat the dumplings, but her desire to regain her youth and looks over-ride these feelings and it’s not long until she is eating the dumplings with more and more pleasure, another key scene shows the wife coming to the apartment for the dumplings over a period of time, she is seen to be eating the dumplings repeatedly, and it is apparent that she is enjoying them more and more each time, and by the end of this scene any signs of disgust or shame are completely gone, the greed has now consumed her and she is clearly hooked on miss Lings life altering dumplings.

Aunt Mei often sings to her clients whilst they are eating to make them feel relaxed, I found this quite humorous, but in a dark and slightly disturbing way, she can be seen dancing and singing around her apartment in her bright garish outfits whilst her quite, upper class and seemingly reserved client is sat munching on aborted babies in the hope to win back her husband!

I found this very funny and also highly suggestive in terms of ideology, the art world, (upper and lower class, high art low art etc) and the media.

Another major key scene and probably the most controversial scene in the entire film is when a mother brings her young daughter to Aunt Mei’s apartment begging her to perform an abortion on her daughters 5 month old unborn child, it is known that Aunt Mei used to be a doctor, and so the mother begs her for help.

Initially Mei refuses, stating that it is too dangerous. This shows the audience a more caring side to her persona as she seems to be thinking of the girl’s health before the money she could make if she were to use this to her advantage.

However after the mother begs and pleads, informing Aunt Mei that the girls own farther is the farther of the child, she decides to help them and perform the termination.

This is shown in some detail, which a lot of viewers may find very disturbing, but to cut the scene out or hide specific details would undermine the very core of the film and the message behind it.

Characters.

I would say there are 4 main characters overall, with the 2 women being the lead roles and the husband and the mother/child combination being the 4^th.

Aunt Mei is probably the most mysterious of all characters in the film as we never truly know who she is, what her game is, where she came from, why she is not a doctor anymore, why she appears to be poor, or indeed how old she really is and if her dumplings really do work or if it is just a money making scam.

Although she appears to be in her 20’s, she does not have a curvy sexual figure, this could be deliberate or it could be just a matter of cultural preference in her being so skinny and shapeless.

Despite her looks, Mei does not act how you would expect a 20 something year old to act, she clearly has an underlying wisdom and authority about her that alerts you to the fact that she may not be all that she seems.

Her methodical approach to cooking aborted babies also gives to the impression that she is older than she looks, (in that she has experienced more in life than a typical 20 year old) this approach makes it seem as though she is psychologically immune to what she is doing, she even eats some of the materials whilst she is cooking them as though they are simply prawns!

Mrs. Li on the other hand comes across as being quite shallow and lonely, rather than just leave her husband and move forward with her life, she becomes obsessed with trying to acquire something she feels she has lost, this is clear to the viewers when she cry’s whilst watching film footage of herself when she was young. She appears to be more concerned about this than her husband’s adulterous lifestyle, as though she is taking his infidelity as a personal insult towards the way she looks, and she feels that if she were young again she would win him back, although I am not sure if this is for love or obsession and ownership.

Mrs. Li’s character changes from reserved and hesitant, she is at first anxious about what she is eating and runs from the apartment on 2 occasions after seeing aunt Mei preparing the dumplings in the kitchen, but her desire and emotional need for the product drags her back to the apartment where she continues to devour and enjoy eating the product she so desires.

Her anxiety quickly turns to impatience as the film progresses, this is shown by her body language and facial expressions more than words in the film which I found rather interesting, she starts by being in a rather tense position at a table with a repugnant look on her face, but several scenes later she is relaxed, and walking around, watching the food being prepared with glee in her eyes and then eating with enthusiasm and anticipation.

Key Scenes.

After eating the 5-month abortion that Aunt Mei reluctantly performed on the young girl in an earlier scene, Mrs. Li gets a phone call to say that her husband is in the hospital with a broken leg, she excuses herself after wiping her mouth and leaves.

The hospital scene is interesting in that when the husband calls his wife to the hospital, their roles as the dominative and the submissive partner switch, she taunts him with words such as: “so now you need me, now you notice me” etc her new gained inner confidence shines through and he is immediately attracted to this. She teases him with a glass of water, displaying authority and control and they end up having sex on the hospital bed.

This in turn leads to a whole new Mrs. Li, she is now seen to be happy again, refreshed and has a new zest for life.

Of course a darker scene is interwoven within Mrs. Li’s superficial happiness, and that is off the young girl and her mother on a bus, yet another key scene, in which the daughter is dripping blood on the bus seat and then continues to bleed to death in the road outside, with tears in her eyes the daughter is dead.

This is showing you, as the viewer that for one woman to gain a superficial and ideological sense of happiness, another has suffered immense pain and death having been the victim of her own father’s abuse, whilst the rich and ignorant feast around a table laughing and complementing Mrs. Li whilst they eat and drink wine.

I find this very commentary on real life society and the physiological barriers that are in place to divide upper class from lower class and underdeveloped countries from overdeveloped westernized societies.

Mrs. Li begins to itch and becomes convinced that she has developed a fish like odor and so calls Aunt Mei to yell at her, this is the only time Mrs. Li shows any kind of anger or aggression in the film, and the scene ends with her crying in the bath tub whilst viewing her younger self on TV.

It is presented to the audience that these are possible side effects of eating an illegitimate and therefore impure baby caused by an act of incestuous rape.

Of course Mr. Li, her husband eavesdrops on this conversation and curiosity leads him to Mei’s apartment, where he tries the dumplings for himself, whilst listening to Mei talk about cannibalism, and how it should not even be illegal in china and all her reasons for justification of what she is doing.

Whilst she is speaking there is some obvious sexual tension in the air and she and Mr. Li end up having sex, it is here that her true age is finally discovered and verified when the husband sees a picture of Mei on the wall in her 20’s, and works out that she is in fact 64 by the date on the picture.

He is shocked initially but then continues to have sex with her until Mrs. Li interrupts them via a phone call.

Lastly there is one more element to the story that furthers the character development of Mrs. Li whom I feel has been developed as a character the most during the film.

This scene is again at the hospital but this time she over-hears her husband’s mistress talking to a nurse about her pregnancy so Mrs. Li arranges to meet her to try and persuade her to abort the child, bearing in mind that she now has an addiction to eating this product.

The mistress tells her that she is having the baby for Mr. Li and that he is paying her for it because he wants a son, this led me to question Mr. Li’s motives behind his affair and whether or not his wife can bear children?

The mistress goes on to say she will charge less if it is a girl, then Mrs. Li offers to double the payment if she aborts the baby now and gives it to her as a trophy.

Perhaps the most disturbing scene in the entire film, and the most important in terms of character development occurs after this conversation.

Mrs. Li takes the girl to a private clinic and coldly and methodically tells the doctor how she would like the procedure performed in order to keep the baby alive, she tells them she wants it for a trophy, the most expensive trophy in the world.

The doctor advises her that this approach will cause more pain for the mother, but she is adamant stating that her pain will only be temporary, perhaps suggesting that her suffering has been far worse.

(2,396 words)

More Videos at IGN.com

More Videos at IGN.com

Heavy rain review

After playing for a few hours now, I thought I'd write a quick first impressions type review, I would normally leave it till the end, but there are so many unbelievable glitches that I felt I had to voice them.

Whilst I find it very disappointing that they could have so many errors in such an awaited and hyped up title, the pure awesomeness of the game over-rides these silly glitches, so I'll get them out of the way first.

most of them are in the first scene in which you play the dad character, after you have gone downstairs to do your work, I sat him down and unfortunately missed the prompt for what you have to do next, (as icons appear for you to press in order to make actions, such as hold up to pick up a pen, or circle to dodge etc) the prompt does not usually disappear until you've pressed it but it did and I was left with no option other than to reset the game, as regardless of what button I pressed the character would not move a muscle!

this didn't happen the second time, but after I had done the required work and walked to the back window, I noticed a very strange glitch! if you look out the window at a certain speed, you'll find you have magically appeared back in your chair in your work room when you let go of the button! I did this several times then got bored of it, I was surprised that the developers would miss such a thing, (hopefully it was a one off and won't happen throughout the rest of the game) soon after this you are playing with your virtual kids in the garden, and the camera suddenly switched to the "haunted workroom" again and showed a pen fly across the room! yes it was very bizarre, again I think maybe a one off as it only happened that one time I was playing it, and I had played out this scene a few times before and also watched friends doing it, so think it was a one off thing!

There have been a few other annoying moments in the game with camera angles, and not being able to see the on screen prompts as a result of the viewing angles but aside from this It's a fantastic game, the graphics are pretty awesome, there is alot of attention to detail, you can go to the toilet which I thought was pretty cool, (my friends laugh at me cause every-time they come in the room and glimpse me playing it as they always see my male characters taking a pee!- well why not? it's not like I can ever do it, I'll bet some of the guys playing will make the women take a pee every now and again, anyway it adds to the realism of the game, you can't let your avatars pee themselves now can you?) The voices are mostly good, with one or two exception's, you'll die at the part in the mall at the start where Jason wanders off, the Dad's parenting skills are highly laughable....I won't even say what I would have liked to have done had I been allowed that amount of control!

Some of the action scenes are very well done, and you feel as though you are watching a movie most of the time so the game is fun to watch if you are not playing, and very engrossing if you are playing, the car scene was very good for example, you actually go through the motions, panic, excitement, etc, it's like this with alot of them, very good at evoking emotion. and again the attention to detail and the innovative control system only further enhance this involvement, I would recommend the game to anyone who likes murder mystery, strategy, films, narrative etc. Those who prefer sandbox games however may feel a little restricted as you have to follow a pre-set structure, but of course you can change things according to your actions and choices, it is very much like Shenmue, and also reminded me of the forbidden siren games, (another innovative and excellent game series, although repetitive well worth a look) Aside from the earlier glitches I haven't really had any more problems with the gameplay, you can adjust the easy-hard settings at any time so if you fail miserably to beat up someone, (not that I did or anything) you can do it again on easy, just to beat that part and then continue the rest of the game on your usual setting, erm I never actually did this, I just figured it out by accident and thought I'd let people know who may struggle with some of the intricate button sequences you have to perform during action scenes, and you do need to be quick and rather nimble with the controller for these parts!

Also if you mess up a chapter and are not happy with the outcome you can go back and do it again, but this over-rides everything you have done after that so you would have to do all the following chapters again too, so if you are planning to do this do it sooner rather than later! (I made this mistake with the highway scene, resulting in 2 broken ribs, but when my friend did it he didn't get any broken ribs so I was tempted to do this scene again, but then I would have to re-do all the following scenes so I think I will just leave it, but it will always annoy me...)

Anyway that's my review for now, I will come back to it when I've finished the game, as I have a feeling I will finish this one and not get bored of it, then I will be onto Alan Wake! been waiting for that one for years!

so if you've just read this post stop wasting time and go buy heavy rain! and if you don't have a PS3, just sell your car or something and get one! I had to starve for a week to get heavy rain, sometimes we have to make these sacrifices in life.

Models for E4

Here are some snaps of the models we created for the E4 Ident, we wanted to have a mish-mash of materials to add to the chaotic feel we wanted so we created some with "plasta-scene", (how the frig do you spell that? can't even find in spell check or the dictionary!) and some were made from felt using bits of glitter, glue, string etc. I made the material models and Hoi Kam made the thingy-scene ones!

Then we wanted to use stop motion photography instead of film to give the whole thing that strange jerky look, we also felt this would fit in with the other E4 idents we have seen them use previously, as stop motion and the color purple are quite identifiable with E4, so we bought lots of purple materials for the set. (of course we later realized we didn't need to as we could have done that with after effects) but at least we got to experiment with some crafting instead of always opting for the computer.

Heavy Rain

Not much to say about this, but I've played the demo and am getting it soon, it looks amazing! and I really like how it controls, the graphics are really pushing the limit in comparison to some other games and the controls are quite innovative for this kind of game, from what I've seen of it so far it looks very intriguing and am looking forward to it!

E4 Sound

For the sound we have decided we want to create the entire sound using our voices, we had so much fun doing voice overs on the last project that we thought we'd take it a step further and try creating music with our voices as well as character sounds.

We want it to have a wacky unusual sound so this way we can make our own thing, it will be creative and unique and we don't have to worry about copyrights as it will be our own sound!

It won't be actual live beatboxing, but we will create some strange sounds and then edit them together, the editing will be the hardest part as it will involve stringing beats together, and I presume some knowledge of music production might be needed, however I have messed around with music 3000 before so I think we'll get the hang of it!

Here is a youtube video done by a guy called Lasse Gjertsen, it was featured on TV some time ago and he was depicted to be a bit of a nut job! but I recently found his youtube page and he has some really interesting and innovative stuff on there, he's only 20 and I think has a alot of potential, I like his use of stop motion, and the way he has edited this video here is what we are going to do for the sound portion of our E4 ident, but with our own weird noises that we want to sound as "otherworldly" as possible!

E4

I have been messing around with the footage some more and here's 2 more with some added effects, I quite like the 2nd one that starts off dark with the bold white outline. Having the video starting in black and white and then becoming colorful, or purple at the arrival of the purple monsters fits in line with the original idea a bit better anyway and I think it looks more visually dynamic and interesting to the eye.

Tomorrow I will make a 2nd video to overlay onto the TV screen in the footage, that will depict the E4 monday night movie logo, (later to be made a sting) and Hoi Kam will be drawing some animated characters over a scene in the footage, we will then have a mixture of creatures, some modeled with plasticine, some made from materials, and some hand drawn. I think this adds to the chaotic charm that we wanted the Ident to have, as it will be made up of many different process and techniques.

E4

I should have blogged this part ages ago as I'm now talking about what we have done leading upto the stop motion video, we basically started by narrowing down 3 ideas to one, one idea was to show a women getting ready to go to work on friday, then getting ready to go on a night out on saturday, then doing housework on the sunday, the idea was for it to come across as being quite hectic and for the women to become progressively more tired looking and for that to also be reflected in her movement as well as her appearance.

By the monday she would come in from work, drop her bag, coat, etc and go and get a hot chocolate, sit in front of the TV and put her feet up, she'd smile and settle back into the chair, as the TV came on with a message telling viewers that it was E4 monday night movie time.

Basically the idea was to tell people that they can relax with a movie after a stressful day at work and a busy weekend previously, but we thought this idea might be a bit cliched.

The other idea was to have a character living out his daily routine, (in 30 seconds of course) such as brushing his teeth, going to the shop, making a phone call etc but he/she was to do this as though they were an action star, for example, they would be in a supermarket rolling on the floor and trying to sneak behind the shelves etc just to get a box of cereal, so someone who had been seriously affected by monday night movies on E4 to the extreme.... however this would not have been cost effective to film and would have been very difficult to acquire locations, actors etc.

So we decided to stick to the first idea which was to have a couple of people watching TV in a room, however the room would be drabby and grey, the characters bored, fed up and miserable.

Until however E4 characters came into the room in a burst of color and light, changing the room from grey to purple, and also making the 2 characters happier, it would end with the TV flickering on and off, (it had been a grey nothingness before) and then the E4 logo appearing with the words "Monday night movies". and then it would end. We are also going to create a sting from this footage which is to be 5 seconds long, the Ident has to be 30 seconds long.

Here are some pictures of the models we made:

Film Studies post one

E4

We have almost finished our E4 Ident now, we have filmed all the stop motion sequences in line with the storyboard, I have a rough copy of the storyboard that I will need to scan at some point and Hoi Kam has drawn a better version of it which should be appearing on her blog, (as she is a much better drawer than me!) we hired out the photography studio for 2 days and got all the stop motion done last week, but due to having film studies this week we have not worked on it anymore but we plan to spend the day tomorrow working on it some more, and we also need to get the sound effects done, something I am looking forward to as we will be creating the whole sound using our voices, so there will be no musical effects, instruments or digital sound effects, it will all be done by mouth and then overlaying the sound. Which I suspect will be fun and an experience as we haven't really done it before, we experimented with voice over for our last project but this will be taking that experimentation that little bit further.

We will then need to just get everything together, our storyboards, design sheets, color boards etc and composite it all onto one disc ready to hand in, as well as doing a word evaluation.

So we will both be scanning all that in over the next week.

I am uploading the videos we have done so far onto facebook so that I can link them to my blog as the blogger video uploader is a load of shit. so watch this space, vidz will follow shortly.

Final purple effect

Grey color effect

Pre-effects

Stop motion photography

For our D&AD brief we are doing the E4 monday night movies brief and have decided that our method will be stop motion photography for the ident as I have wanted to return to this medium for a while now and should have some fun with it, Hoi Kam will be working on a series of 5 second stims which will focus on the idea of character creation and film parody cartoon sequences.

We will then pool our work together for the final result, We will be aiding each other throughout the process, but should get alot more done more quickly this way.

Here is a video clip of some stop motion photography work that I really like and want to do something along these lines and most importantly, I want it to have a quality feel and a professional edge over other shaky and low quality stop motion efforts I have seen.

I would also like to incorporate some Bjork-ishness into the video as I have always felt at my most inspired when listening to her music.