My final edit for 30 second advert

What Made Jace Famous "Appearing on Harry hill's TV Burp"

Above is a 50 second video of  Jace Wills he appeared on Harry Hills TV Burp a few years ago after being featured on BBC1 When Teenage Meets Old Age.

Here he is singing Pass Out by Tinnie Temper.

Second edit of my 30 second advert based on Privacy

This is my second edit of  my Say Something Political brief which is based on privacy. In terms of how I changed it one was  by exaggerating the composition and lighting, secondly I cut one scene where jace is struggling to get into a house as he is trying to escape being hounded.

See below:



There are a number of things that still need to be changed before I submit my final edit at the end of term. To get a second opinion I decided to ask my mum what she thought of  my videos once she saw both of them.
She told me that she liked the composition, also how she could hear a noise at the beginning of the ad and also how Jace appears to be out of breath in another scene, as this made the ad more realistic and understandable.

With regards to my first edit my mum felt the point I was trying to get across was unclear and also she didnt like the title's  as they could have been designed better.

Things that need to be changed:

1. To take out the blackout scene
2. Change the title fonts
3.re-record the sound

Privacy my rough edit for 30 second advert "Say Something Politicial"

Below is the first edit of my 30 second advert based on privacy.
It is slightly different from my original concept as I decided to add an interview scene during the course of filming as I felt it gave the concept more of a back story.

Untitled from stephie allen on Vimeo.

Feedback from show and tell sessions

With regards to the feedback I recieved from last friday's show and tell session I felt that although it was constructive criticism it also highlighted many things that need to be changed before my final submission.
Three main things that need to be changed consist of the following:

1. Reshoot the interview scene
2. To get rid of the titles
3. And add in a scene which explains how my actor became famous in the first place

I was overall  pleased with my first attempt considering I encountered a number of set backs,  and by set backs I mean not being able to find an actor who could film on the day,  also trying to find people to help with the production side of things and so forth.

With this in mind next week I will hopefully go ahead with reshooting the scenes which need to be changed and aim to start finalising my final piece ahead of the deadline.

The run up to making a rough edit for my brief

Over the last few weeks I have been putting my theory into practice with regards to bringing my say something political ad.
As my initial idea required hiring an amature actor I decided to contact the Nottingham Arts Theatre to see if anyone there could help me. I eventually came across the sales and marketing manager who kindly gave me details for the director of The People's Theatre.

Once I had these details then attempted to make contact the director to see if he could help me. I gave my e-mail address and also explained what types of actors I required  for my advert. Although I did get a good response from a range of actors I was unable to use many of the actors who came forward because they werent what I was looking for.

Eventually an amature actor called Joshua Belamey came forward and said he was interested in taking part, however he later decided to pull out at the last minute, which left me needing to find a replacement at very short notice. Despite needing to find someone to star in my 30 second advert the day before I was due to film I managed to convince a friend to step in.

Production Roles (Art Director)

1. What are the main duties of this role?

The main job for an art director is overseeing the creative process for either film,  internet, television and video games.

2. What skills and knowledge are needed to achieve this role?

In terms of skills need for this role and knowledge required for this role, a good understanding of art & design is key, secondly managerial skills would benefit as the art director would be supervising people also.

3. In which stages of production does the role operate?

With regards to when the art director's role operates, this happens once filming has begun. The art director will work with set designers and productions designers to start work on artist sceners for the film.

4.What are the tools that this roles needs to do their job?

The type tools needed for this role are computers for the graphics, set designs and camera's to take photographs of what has been made.

5. Find some examples of people and their work. Include images.

 Art Directors

6. What opportunities are available to those wanting to develop into this role?

Feedback from show & tell/ scene by scene my ad

On friday 4th November 2011 we had our final feedback session with regards to our planning, the group shared their final ideas ahead of next week's filming schedual.
We also discussed project management and creating a recca list before filming can take place. Despite changing my location over the last couple of weeks I now have a firm idea of where I'm going to shoot my 30 second ad and I will edit it.
I felt the feedback was direct and constructive, and therefore helped me to establish what exactly I was doing and how I could convey my idea better.
Over the course of this weekend I have taken a series of pictures which will break the ad down scene by scene as illustrated below.

Saturday 12th November 2011 will be the day I plan to shoot my 30 ad, as for tomorrow and the rest of the week I will be booking equipment and organising a crew to help me carry out filming.

Here are the images I have taken over this weekend which break down each scene:

Scene one the staircase:

Scene two the street

Scene three getting closer to home:

During my 30 ad I will be adding stills at the beginning of  my ad and at the end to highlight the topic and its importance.

The images above were taken in various locations, waverly street, lace market and just off of peel street.

Practical Sessions *Last week's group work*

Last week saw us being put into groups of 5 and 6 to help us complete three tasks which each took 45mins to complete.
Each task required our group to look at different ways of filming which were more professional. Our first scenerio to work with, however each time we finished shooting our scenes we then had to return to our room to look at the footage and edit it.
I feel this sessions are very beneficial as it allows us to have hands on experience with equipment that we may not have had the chance to use yet.
Here are the pictures

Reaching the end of the theory part

After weeks of presenting my main idea to my group and lecturers it has reached the end of theory part and as of next week I will shooting my 30 second ad.
It has taken me a while to fully decide how I was going to explain idea as I wasn't entirely sure If I knew what my idea was going to be.
I have now chosen my topic which is privacy. There are so many issues surrounding privacy right now that after much thought it seemed like the ideal choice for me to look into as well as give me the opportunity to  express my creativity when it came to filming.

This afternoon I managed to take some photographs of one of the three locations I plan to use in my 30 second advert.
In terms of my idea and I hope it will convey on screen will see the character trying to flee the cameras, I also plan to have the camera peeking out from around the corner to go with my peeping tom concept.

Here are a few ideas:

The staircase idea came to mind when I was walking down them to as I thought to myself,  the staircase is normally a way out for someone to get away or to a destination however in my case it'll be to get away from the camera.

In terms of other locations I considered they consisted of a lift and a toilet.

However after much consideration I decided that they may be deemed inappropiate.

Taking an in-depth look into "The Shinning" By Stephan King

The video clip above is the iconic scene featuring Jack Nicholson in Stephan King's "The Shinning". His character has completely lost the plot and is now on a murderous war path and will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants.
In this scene the camera has zoomed in for a close up of Johnny's wife as she is overwhelmed with terror only clutching a knief for protection as she hides behind a door for safety. This shot really empathsises what her character is going through as the audience begin to feel emotion for the character and willing for her to escape his evil clutches.
With  regards to  the lighting as this film was shot in 1978 the lighting comes across as cloudy and ever so slightly blurry, this I feel adds to the sinister undertone that the film has. As an audience member you become immediately drawn into what is happening as each scene captivates without needing an special effects compared to films right now.

Despite the general cinematography being fairly basic compared to horror films right now The Shinning still managed to scare its audience and left them feeling slightly shaken by the story portrayed on screen.

The Malac script and making it our own

As a introduction to our first week back to uni as 2nd year students, we were each assigned groups and given a script called Malac. Each member of our group was given the opportunity to pick a role which we felt would suit us best.
After we had picked our roles we then decided what the malac should be and where the filming should take place.
To help us with the script we were shown a few previous Malac films from a cuople of years ago which were done by 3rd years. The films were completely different to each other with some coming across as more serious whilst others portrayed a much funnier side.

With this in mind our group decided to have a mixture of both as we plan to start the film off with a sinister undertone but towards the end make it more humourous by having the malac as a dildo, however on the day  of filming we couldn't get  hold of the dildo and instead we had to improvise. In terms of other props we needed  for the shoot, as our director of photography was friends with people on Theatre Design he  was able to borrow a liquid nitrogen machine to create the smoky effect we wanted.

In terms of the location we decided to shoot in a basement of a member of our group's homes, we also hired an actor for the male lead and I was the female lead.
The filming took just over two hours and during this time we found ourselves shooting  and re-shooting scenes we wernt happy with.

When it came to editing the end result was quite surprising as the film ended up being in the style of a movie trailer as apposed to a film.
This caused not only confusion but also criticism from lectures and fellow peers, the group should have been there to oversee the editing instead of leaving it all to one person.

Overall despite the movie trailer inspired edit I was impressed with how the group did and the end result.

My Main Idea

Last week saw the group I was in present three ideas for our 30 second ad called "Say Something Poltical". In terms of what my ideas were the first one would have been based on the cancellation of EMA, this topic interested me because the EMA system was created for the the purpose of encouraging teenagers to attend college on a regular basis.
Also  depending on the income of the parents the teenagers could get between £10-£30  each week which would have paid into their account directly.
However I was then recommended to change the topic as this was deemed not very interesting.

My second idea saw me look into the world of celebrity and our peeping tom society. I feel that over the last few years the media has given us the power to make us feel like celebrities owe us in some way. I then began to look into the rise of  the so called "super  injunction" which was brought into circulation only a few years  ago.
We first heard of the super injunction when Max Mosley requested one to prevent details of his sordid sex life reaching the public domain.
Since then  a number of celebrities have taken them out to try and prevent the same situation happening to them, however my question is if  a member of the the general public requested one for their own personal reasons would the courts allow it? or would they say no on the grounds of not enough money?

Now my finalised idea sees me look into privacy a bit more deeper as I explore, celeb phone hacking, the exploitation of ongoing murder enquires and what is the true cost of privacy and can everybody afford it.

Original Idea for "Say Something Political Brief"

My Original Idea was going to be based on the slashing of EMA (Education Maintainance Allowance). I wanted to highlight how it would result in many college students not bothering to go and better themselves.

However Jooles quickly dismissed this as boring.

" Say Something Political" Brief Week 1

As part of my Say Something Political brief I am required to create a 30 second advert of any topic of my choice. I have decided to focus on how us as the general public feel that we own celebrities because of the  way they are portrayed in the media.
In terms of the type of research I plan to collect as many newspapers as I can which have sensational stories printed on their front pages also I will be looking into 30 second adverts which put a more comical spin on serious issues,
Finally as I strongly feel the media have created a "Peeping Tom" society where through the means of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook we can reach any celebrity we desire at the click of a button and in more serious case even contact directly to express our opinion i.e. Twitter abuse.

Here is a clip of "Peeping  Tom" Horror film:

Here are a few iamges of celebrities who have been in the spotlight recently.

Ryan Giggs earlier this year took out a super injuction to prevent details of his affair with Imogen Thomas coming out however he was outed on Twitter by three other famous celebrities who could now face criminal charges.
Most recently Rio Ferdinan tried to prevent details of his 13 year affair becoming public knowledge, however the judge ruled against it and if it was in the public's interest to know.

They say its within our interest to know as the public however if the shoe was on the other foot wouldn't we want to act the same?

Idea one

Third Idea

Animation completed *Scary graveyard*

Untitled from stephie allen on Vimeo.

How do we cope without technology like laptops

Animation *slowly getting there*

These are the stills which show the progress of my animation, from the main outline to creating little props such as fences and coffins.

Main part of visual essay

Main part of Visual Essay

In our current society I feel we have come to depend on technology to help us function when it comes to our day to day lives. Without realising we have become somewhat co-dependent on such things as television, the internet and mobile with their ever evolving models.

However it wasn’t so long ago that we were managing fairly well without feeling the need to constantly upgrade our mobile phones or set top boxes. In a recent study it has been stated that our attention span has decreased significantly from what it was a few years ago, this leads me to believe that potentially our constant need for the use of technology may result in a dangerous pitfall.

Upon visiting the Royal Victoria and Albert museum as well as the Science Museum I took notes on exhibits that caught my interest, with all the information I obtained on our day visit my aim was to incorporate some of it into my visual essay.

With regards to focusing on technology I have managed to relate it one of the exhibits I saw that day and a practitioner.  When visiting the science museum I came across an exhibition which focused on mixed media, technology and health (as illustrated below).

This is a great example of how technology can have a negative effect on our lives without us realising.

places of technology

Here are some images of possible places I am considering conducting my interviews for my visual essay

Practice video for visual essay

Here is a brief interview on technology and how irs changing our lives:


Untitled from stephie allen on Vimeo.

Animation (Inspiration for new project)

As my current animation project requires me to design a scary ride for a theme park or fun fair I have found a small collection of images which inspired when it came to designing my ride on Autodesk 3D Max.

Here are a few images from around the world which illustrate where my ideas came from:

Animation sketchs *Scary ride*

Visual essay

Over the last few weeks I have been exploring technological issues as well seeing how they could affect our future.
As my plan is to make a short documentry I plan to hold a series of short interviews, a few practice ones will be taking place in a well lit area.
As i'm focusing on technology I have taken a number of images of lecture rooms which are filled with computer equiptment and the latest in new software.

For my final series of interviews I plan to hold them in one of the rooms I have taken pictures of in a bid to empathasis my point.

Here are some images:

Japanese unveil most advanced robots yet

Singapore (CNN) -- An event in Singapore is showcasing Japanese robotic technology, which is among the most advanced in the world.

The exhibition was planned by the Japanese embassy in Singapore. It brings together about 10 robots developed by Japanese firms and universities. The aim is to raise awareness of Japanese advanced research in robotic technology.

Visitors were surprised by a 'baby' robot that turned over in bed and crawled. The robot was developed to study human baby growth.

Visitors also saw a robot that was designed as a pet that can provide comfort. The robot is used in Japan in the fields of welfare and education.

Children sat and played with the robots for a long time, touching and operating them. The robots can sing and talk with people, differentiating from among their faces by the use of sensors.
Singapore and other countries in Asia have also been making big efforts in robotic research.

Professor Minoru Asada of Osaka University said he wants to show not only the movement of the robots, but also the advanced level of Japan's robotic technology.

CNN

orignally posted September 28, 2010

First draft of visual essay (written piece)

For my visual essay I have decided to make a documentary on how technology has changed society as my chosen pathway will be film next year.  I have drawn up a number of questions which will be aimed at people aged between the 16-25 years old because this age range would know most about technology in this current climate.

The next thing I did was carry out mini interviews with friends and family to see what their take on technology was. My main aim for my visual essay is to gain a better understanding of how technology has changed our lives so far.

It was only a few years ago that dial up was the only way you connect to the internet; however with the new invention of high speed broadband and Wi-Fi it is much quicker to reach the internet where ever you are i.e. as long as your location is Wi-Fi enabled you can establish a connection within minutes.

With my short documentary I also want to highlight the negatives and potential downsides to this new technology and to what extent could it reach. As Japanese scientists have already created a fully functional robot which is the same size as a small child, this is a prime example of science continues to grow and rapidly develop.

How religion and society are shaping life

Below is a short clip of a documentry made for BBC Three called "My brother the Islamist. It focuses on two brothers from a white middle class family one is a tree surgon the other is a newly converted Islamic fundamentalist. As both were brought up together with the same values this short documentry reveals how shockingly different they have become due to one's sudden lifestyle change.

Life as we know it

Today I took it upon myself  to head down to Oxford Circus and emerse in the hectic life of  a Londoner, whether they would be going to work or just taking some time out to shop the environment always felt rushed and slightly unsettling.

Here is a quick recording:


Life as we know it a short film from stephie allen on Vimeo.

More research for my Visual Essay

As I have now decided to pursue the pathway of moving image I have been conducting research into the documentries and the style in which they can be shot.

I feel the type of person I am means I like to interact with people on a daily basis and through realising this, deciding to make my own short documentry for my visual essay seemed like a perfect idea.

Below is a short clip from the BBC Three series called "Blood, Sweat and T-shirts"

My website completed Digital Me

Rational
Five weeks ago for my new project I had to design a website by using Dreamweaver CS5, the website would showcase such things as our general interests, work and the type of people we were. I decided to design my website around the type of person I am. In my designing session we were told what CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) meant and how they influenced the design of your website, we also learnt about how HTML codes are used.  As each DW design session was two hours we were then put into groups of three or fours and then told that these were the people we would be working with.

As the websites we were designing would be predominately about us as individuals the first task we had to do was to design a moodboard which illustrated everything that interested us, from music to art etc. This would give us an idea of what we wanted our to showcase. If we had any problems with designing our websites templates were available on the NOW (Nottingham Online Workspace) however we were encouraged to try ourselves before using them as it would be seen as an easy route.

The first page of my website is a brief introduction to the content of each webpage along with images which gives a brief illustration of what to expect. In terms of the layout I feel the colours I've picked suit my personality and also were eye catching. In terms of inspiration I took out a number of books from the library as well as looking at a variety of websites from; musical artists to BBC news.

Over the last five weeks I have attended seminars, workshops and lectures in a bid to help me understand Dreamweaver better. In addition to attending these sessions I took it upon myself to downlaod the software to my laptop so I could practice more.  Each week we were set tasks to complete in our spare time in preparation for the next session, I felt doing these tasks helped me understand Dreamweaver better as during the my first term I struggled with the software and this fustrated me.

During sessions we would also refer to design sites such as Litamatic and W3 Schools which provided tutorials on how to set up and layout webpages which would enhance your digital portfolio.  I found that although both the seminars and lectures were practical one session would be more technical and the other would be more easy going, this made it easier to break down the different parts to making a website.
As with all the work we do there must be some form of progression and I feel that this website illustrates hdow much I have been able to understand and learn throughout the five weeks. The more I was learning the more I begun to feel confident about experimenting with different things such as layouts.

Over all I have found this project challenging but interesting as I have been able to explore design codes, website layouts and hopefully convey some of my personality into my website.

My visual essay questionnaire

Questionnaire on technology

1.     What benefits have you gained from new technology such as; high speed broadband and Wi-Fi?

2.     With social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace becoming increasingly more popular and powerful are you worried about lack of privacy?

3.     As a recent study has revealed that the human attention span has dramatically declined; are you worried that society will begin to solely depend on technology?

4.     Is there anything that you would change in regards to technology? If so what would it be?

5.     Is there anything you dislike about technology now i.e. the new Apple Iphone not allowing you to hold it a certain way?

6.     Do you believe that the new technology now can shape future generations in positive way and if so why?

The questions above are a rough draft of a questionnaire which I will be submitting as part of my research for  my visual essay