Meaning of Quadraphonic - for a four-channel sound system in which speakers are positioned at all four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of each other.
This is to do with audio which is commonly involved in all areas of Multimedia and 'Quad' represents the four pathways of the course... Audio Visual, Web, Animation and Interactive design.
The visual theme could inspired by the film 'Quadrophenia' with photographs like old quality passport photo's dressed in the theme of mods.
'Quadraphonic' could also work well with Aman's suggestion of Andy worhol styled images.
From my research document, I have chosen to continue looking at film noir style. The element of noir i want to concentrate on is 'How film noir lighting affects the audiences emotions'.
For my first artifact, I have taken 5 exhisting film noir stills and asked various questions about them. I did this by setting up a questionnaire on surveymonkey.com. A quick way to recieve and analyse results. See link for questionnaire. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=oeO5CzNpKZOqfVrYrLjSDQ_3d_3d
However, as i feel the people analysing required basic knowledge, I only asked fellow Multimedia prationers to participate. I gathered the required information quickly using facebook.com by setting up a group, adding the Multimedia practioners to it and then asking them to follow the link. This was amazingly officient and worked really well.
As I only asked a limited amount of people, trying to create statistics would prove impossible. All answers were also given in full, making graphs and pie charts pointless. To present my findings, I found the best way was by selecting specific quotes which reflected the overall feel people concluded from each image. I believe this worked really well and found my artifact usefull. For my next artifact i will create my own images. I believe it to be crucial to create each image lit differently but with the mise-en-scene the same in every other area to avoid other elements affecting peoples thoughts and feelings.
As I will require some audio tracks for my piece, I have managed to find a suitable artist's material to use with his permission. He will also be creating some new sounds for me to use which will be excellent. I have already attended a meeting to discuss the project with him further and he seems very eager to get involved. I will be meeting with him at one point next week to see what ideas he may have come up with so far.
Below I have created a GANTT chart to help me with time management. Initially, I was unsure of how to create one but after looking up a tutorial on YOUTUBE, it was easy!
‘No Knives? Positive Lives!’ is a project by Nottinghamshire council with the aim of celebrating and sharing the positive aspirations of all young people and to challenge complex issues relating to knife crime with the objective to give young people an opportunity to have a say. I will be producing a 5-10 minute audio visual piece reflecting this aim. The AV piece aims to capture Nottingham City’s community and culture. I feel this is a key point of concentration as so much media concentrates on London alone. The opening sequence will reflect Nottingham as a vibrant and cultured City and contrast into the less ‘touristy’ areas of Nottingham. Big bright lights, buildings, people enjoying the city at night contrasting with back ally’s, over filled rubbish bins, council estates and police sirens. Statistics about knife crime will be revealed throughout. We will then see interviews with teenage school children. They will be asked questions relating to knife crime. These will be edited in such a way where we do not hear the question asked. The teenagers selected to participate in the interviewed will be teens who may have carried a knife themselves or perhaps would. These interviews will be in a dark room with the subject lit brightly or if the teens wish to be anonymous, the lighting will be darkened to hide there faces. Interviews will also be conducted with the police if possible to find out what sort of knives people are carrying, what damage these can cause and what kind of sentence is involved. This will be approached in a relaxed way so not to come across as a ‘lecture’. An interview with a reformed youth will take place. We will see how they changed their life and where they are going, what advice they give. This aims to act as a role model type. We will then go to a community project of some kind to show what sort of things young people can get involved in. This project must be able to relate to teens so the project in question is very important. Perhaps music related. Shots of MC’s, the music studio, group participation. There will also be attempts to film some street dancers for aesthetic value and interview them. To achieve a good look it will be shot against a wall with an urban city look. Throughout the ‘documentary styled’ piece there will be some scripted sequences. These consist of: • A short film – about a young boy who portrays the image of a criminal. We then come to learn that he is an achiever. • Idents with including the phrase ‘No Knives? Positive Lives!’ (eg: phrase on a record playing that slows down/phrase printed on t-shirt/phrase typed on computer/phrase in graffiti) These idents are designed to attract young people. • ‘Weapon Of Choice’ section. (using actors) With different ‘weapons of choice’ (eg: a microphone/ decks/ spray paint/ wrench) • Cut aways of actors ‘reconstructing’ street attitudes to mix in with interviews
The scripted elements above will really bring the piece together and create an appealing aesthetic for young people. The aim is to create a look which they can relate to and give them something they would choose to watch. The target audience will be mainly 13-18 year old boys as this is the age group affected in the community. The film aims to reach people from struggled backgrounds and show them you can still achieve things. The filming style will be pacey with lots of hand-held shots and close ups. Sharp cuts will be used. The audio style will be based on the music genre ‘grime’ as I feel this will relate well to the target audience and goes well with the theme. Positive grime music will try to be obtained or created. I will collect a variety of sound clips which will also be used to help create the look such as the sound of the school playground, sirens, MC’s poetry, a scratching record…etc. All these ingredients will help attract young teens viewing. A voiceover may be used in the piece depending on whether I feel it is effective in the edit.
I will be using Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the work. I have chosen this particular software as it is one I am familiar with and which I am confident can help me achieve the desired look for the piece. To create a DVD menu I will be using Adobe encore. I have chosen to create a DVD menu for a more professional and contemporary look. The DVD menu will include special features. Throughout the production process I will ensure I record images not only for continuity issues but to use for promotional purposes on products like DVD covers and posters. I will also be producing a copy of the finished piece for web and a 40 second advert. A time management plan will be created in the program CELTX. A GANTT chart has also been devised to aid further organisation. As a have a small budget I will advertise the acting parts on ‘Starnow.com’. This is a site where I can gain actors who are willing to participate free of charge, however, I will be offering transport fee reimbursement. The piece will be filmed using a Sony Z1 with an aspect ratio 16:9. I will be using a K6 mic for sound and will require other pieces of equipment including: • a set of lights (red heads) • XLR lead • Tripod • Gels • Reflector • Headphones
The simulated project has given me the opportunity to experience coping with short deadlines and the ability to come up with a creative idea under pressure. I feel this experience will be valuable to me when beginning my client project. I feel my idea although simple, was slightly ambitious when involving a cast of 10. Initially as i only needed a few shots per person, I thought this would be easily achievable. When coming to recruit cast i found it very difficult to get 10 people to participate and as this was the basis of my whole idea, it could not be adapted. I also had extremely bad issues with recruiting a crew. When e mailing most people on AV i received a weak response or the willing people were busy. Even though i feel i was very organised and tried to resolve this issue from a very early stage, i was unable to get enough people to create a feasible schedule. This lead me to adapt the schedule to suit everyone. The shoot ended being shot by myself mostly which was a challenge juggling so many on set roles. I am very disappointed with the piece produced but feel it was a good opportunity to experience things that can go wrong on a shoot. This will ensure i can try to think of different ways i could have handled these situations and be prepared.
For my simulated project, the subject I have chosen is sexual health. The area of sexual health I want to concentrate on is the STI Chlamydia. There is a 1 in 10 chance that a sexually active young person has Chlamydia. I propose to create an audio visual advertisement to get this point across and stress the importance of contraception. The reason I have chosen this theme is due to lack of attention to specific areas of safe sex in existing public service information campaigns.
I feel concentrating on one specific area (such as Chlamydia) in more detail has more impact than simply listing the consequences of practicing unsafe sex.
I feel statistics have a powerful impact. Using my chosen statistic with strong visuals I hope to grab the audience’s attention and teach without being controversial. Read on for my treatment below...
I will produce a 1-1 minute 30 second audio visual advertisement based around my chosen subject, sexual health.
There is a 1 in 10 chance that a sexually active young person has Chlamydia. My aim is to convey this fact through an audio visual advertisement to encourage safe sex.
My advert will be aimed at ages 16-25. To ensure my advert appeals to the young audience I must create something they can relate to. I will do this by looking at details such as clothing, soundtrack.
The idea is to use the statistic mentioned earlier and try to convey that the STI is common and not visible so I will be showing short shots of ten normal young people doing daily activities and have a voice over presenting the point.
The shots will consist of a lot of close ups for a dramatic affect as I want the advert to grab peoples attention.
I want to pause between shots to ensure the advertisement stands out.
I will use young actors from a variety of cultures and backgrounds to stress that anyone can have this STI.
To film the piece I will use a Z1 camera for maximum quality along with external sound using a K6 microphone. I will shoot in 16:9 for a cinematic effect. I will shoot hand held for most shots and a tripod for some.
For the outdoor shots I will use the natural light to my advantage by enhancing this with a reflector. For indoor shots I will use redheads with blue filters to ensure a well lit natural look.
To help my time management I will be using the programme CELTX to schedule tasks to ensure I am organised.
My aim is to shoot the advert in 1 day however I will schedule time in case I over run.
Here are some test shots of the look i am going for.
The next stage of my work whilst in the process of editing my peice is to begin thinking about a way of presenting an interactive trailer. My initial idea is to have a menu screen with various images that when rolled over with a mouse will start an audio track (eg: sound of a football match, football being kicked). When the images are then clicked on the main character will say something and then you will be navigated to another area. This is all very well having an idea but as my experience with flash is limited i may have to simplify my idea. This title screen idea is not final and above is just a few images i have found on google and put together to test my design.
During the easter break, I visited the V&A gallery in London. I saw some great pieces and even viewed a temporary exhibition linked with NTU theatre design which really excited me as this is a great area of interest to me. There were many stage designs and costumes to view and even a live activity going on with people creating other stuff.
Some audio visual peices on display
a stage design model
My favorite peice! A costume design for panto star widow twanky
another complex design
a modern take on a design of the character 'the beast' in Beauty And The Beast
A couple of weeks ago, i was lucky enough to attend the film premiere in Leicester square of the Rolling Stones docu-film 'Shine A Light' directed by Martin Scorsese.It was an amazing night. The film was introduced by the stones themselves and even got to walk down the red carpet and talk to the press. I could get used to that side of the film industry!I really enjoyed the film. It was basically the filming of a intimate gig in New York with other snippets documenting the Rolling Stones huge success. There was one shot in particular which i absolutely adored. It was a close up of Keith Richards in black and white and he spits a cigarette out of his mouth. The shot is slowed down to give a more passionate look to it and i thought it was superb. Not even being a particularly huge fan of the rolling stones, i really enjoyed it and would recommend it. It was a great experience.
We have been asked to produce a 40 second pilot for our films to give a sense of the approach and style of our individual films. I found this particularly hard as 40 seconds was a very short space of time to try and create something exciting. I chose a key scene in the film where frank and shanny first meet. It introduces us to them and suggests their intentions. I found it difficult not to create a trailer type piece but feel i have achieved what a pilot should show. The quality of this is quite bad and i will have to work out a way of improving this for the actual copy i hand in.
Now that filming is over, i can now estimate a realistic idea of how much money my film would cost to produce taking equipment rentals etc into account.
The most useful website i found for working this out was: http://www.filmscapemedia.com/gripsandsupports.html As it had most of the industry standard equipment for rent on it, which we also used when creating our films. Will get back to you with my budget....
On the morning of the 21st and 22nd of Feb me and my crew made our way to Fade cafe to shoot one scene of the film. The day began very organised as i had already picked up my equipment the night before and had, had a pre-production meeting with the crew so everyone was happy. I then recieved a phone call from one of my cast members to notify me that she would not be attending. Thankfully her presence was not essential and we were able to go on without her. Richard Morris, a talented actor, who played Shanny's father thankfully arrived on time as we were setting up. Once the mic had been switched on we were then ready to roll. I feel the scenes in Fade went well and i captured plenty of footage. This scene made me realise the amount of setting up you have to do for such a small segment of a film and started to get me slighty worried about whether i had scheduled enough time. Thankfully we had great natural light in Fade which saved us time on lighting the scene. As this was the very first time i had directed i was quite nervous. I felt i was reluctant to tell the actors exactly what i wanted which i feel i improved on drastically by the end of the shoot. Fortunately after the scenes in Fade were complete, we were quite ahead of schedule which meant a tea break. We then filmed the lounge shots. I felt my shot list was very accurate and was an amazing aid to helping us meet deadlines regarding time. There were a few shots i decided to take out of the list as i felt they had already been achieved and some shots i added whilst on set. The crew were really helpful. Everyone worked their roles amazingly and also made helpful suggestions towards helping me achieve my desired effect. I feel i did well with listening to all my crew and cast members and gave them the attention they needed at the appropriate times. After the first day of the shoot, i was able to review the footage to see if there was anything missing from the scenes. I was very happy with it and was able to prepare myself for the next day. On the Friday we began shooting in the arboretum for the required outdoor shots. Cold, early and with a 30% chance of rain researched i was worried about how things may turn out. The weather held out for us minus some innocent spitting and all was ok. The only concern was that the mic seemed to be picking up the sound of the wind strongly which is something that couldnt really be helped and also be dealt with in the edit. I felt by this time i was more confident about my direction. spending more time with my actors and crew helped me form a friendship based working environment which was perceived as enjoyable to everyone. I feel lucky to have worked with such enthusiastic people throughout the process and hope everyone else had as much fun on the shooting days as me. Once we had gathered the shots for outdoors we returned to the house where we completed the bedroom and kitchen scenes. These also went on schedule. The most difficult thing in the bedroom scenes was creating lighting for night time. We needed to see the character yet make it look like the room was dark. We did this by creating a moonlight effect which shone across the bed in a beaming manner. I felt this worked really well. On reviewing all my footage on a television screen i was even more happy with what we had gathered. I feel that the camera screen does not compliment footage or sound at all! It looked and sounded very ammature on the cameras screen but looked much more proffesional when coming to see it on a larger TV screen. I feel i have learnt a lot about the role of a director and feel i had under estimated the role before. You need to have good communication skills and a lot of patience. I have also learnt to ensure you share your attention with every aspect of production to create maximum quality within the film and your work environment. I have also learnt that it is important to black your tapes before filming so you don't lose track of your time codes!!
Having secured the main character, 'Frank' a long time ago, everything seems to be confirmed and secured with the actor Howard Taylor. The same cannot be said for the role of the second lead role, 'Shanny'. I have had two actress' let me down, the second only 2 days before shooting! These things do happen and i do understand as shes been offered a role in a music video for the streets and who would say no to that? Not me! However, I have been able to rely on fellow course mate Hollie Marshall who has been experienced in acting/music since the age of 8-18 so im extremely happy about that and after the shoot, the drinks are on me Hollie! My other actors have also been very reliable. i found Richard Morris and Deborah Jackson on www.starnow.com The website has proved helpful, quick and easy. Richard and Deborah will be playing Shannys parents. There are no lines scripted but were gonna work with it on the day by improvising. Watch out for actor profiles soon...
Working with Dena and Chris, professional writers was a really good experience. I felt I developed my script greatly. I feel if we had even more time it could be developed even further. This is something i may experiment with in my own time. I felt the improvisation session was the most helpful as it gave me a look into the possibilities and versatility of a script. I feel they gave me a slight practice at what it will be like directing on the day too. I definitely found these sessions helpful but would have preffered them being a few weeks earlier as they were so close to production week i felt limited in what i could change as i had already secured locations and actors by this point. I would definitely love to have more sessions like this in the future.
Frank is obsessed with football. He is a very good football player. He is narrow-minded and rather shallow. Football is all he has in his life. He has never had a long term girlfriend. He is unemployed. Frank has a cheeky charm which is what everybody loves about him.
Shanny
Shanny comes from a decent family background. She is rather vain and takes pride in her appearance. Shanny is shallow and has always longed to be famous. Shanny is materialistic and quite ruthless when it comes to getting what she wants. She covers up her vulnerability with her sexual confidence.
Struggling with my risk assessment form, i decided to look at the following websites below which helped me understand how to fill out a risk assessment form. I feel it is a very important peice of documentation to carry out. Not only because it is required but because i feel it makes you personally aware and helps you recognise your responsibility to your cast and crew as a producer.
On having my crew organised i decided to hold a pre production meeting to go through everyones roles to make sure they know what they are doing. On speaking with Debs, she decided it wouldn't be a wise idea to take on the role of camera op myself so Leslie Mantock has offered to cover that Role.
The meeting went well and i think everyone has a rough idea of what the plan for the shoot is. It was good to get feedback from my shot list and explain anything people where unclear about.
I was first introduced by John Mayburys when i saw the video nothing compares to you. John Mayburys work inspires me for i love the way he uses flashes of light and colour in his work. It reminds me of when you create a collage in your sketch book, grabbing interesting images, sticking them down and sketching over them.
I have now confirmed dates for my shoot. I will be shooting on the 20-22nd feb. Although i have allocated a 3 day shoot i am confident it will be done in 2 due to the limited locations planned. From talking to fellow students i have now also confirmed my crew for the shoot. These people will be:
Hollie marshall - makeup, camera stills, time codes
Sejpaal Naul - sound monitor
Owais Mohyuddin - lighting
I will be taking on the role of director and also be camera operator. I have currently confirmed one actor who will play the main character 'frank'. I am now in search of my other main character and will worry about the not so key characters at a later date.
I have been practicing with a demo version of frameforge and am really beginning to get to grips with it. The only problem with the demo is that you can only store 20 frames at a time and cant export properly, however, i think its worth downloading to mess about with in your spare time. I tried to recreate a few finalised scenes in my film with stills and it went really well. The only thing i dislike about frameforge is i dont think it gives you the freedom a pen does when storyboarding by hand. I think it can restrict ideas slighty.
a couple of days ago i downloaded celtx. celtx is an AV production package used for scheduling. I have been exploring it and think its excellent. it has really helped me understand the importance of a detailed schedule. celtx has some really good features from helping you build detailed character profiles to script formatting. I have begun building my schedule and am currently building my character profiles which has really helped me get to know who my characters are and what the story is really about. I really recommend celtx to anyone producing an AV piece.
As a huge fan of Noel Fielding and his series 'the mighty boosh', I had to go and see his art exhibition i'd read all about. Not living too far from greek street in Soho, i went down to the address that was written with the article. Seeing just a little bakers shop in its place i was surely mistaken. Then i spotted a poster for the exhibition in the window and made my way inside. It was the strangest location for an art exhibition iv ever been to. There were people drinking coffee and eating scones whilst i walked around to observe the paintings. I really enjoyed seeing his work. it was just as surreal as his script writing. Some of the characters he has invented in his writing were included in the paintings too which made good viewing. The main thing that struck me with Noel Fielding's work was his use of colour. He wasnt scared to use a limited pallet. His work has inspired me to think about colour more within my own AV work. He is also an inspiration to me as a script writer. I believe his artistic flare and surreal style with a paint brush reflects greatly in his scriptwriting. This shows me that i can reflect my own specific style into all of my work.
Last night i visited the cinema to see Sweeney Todd and i really enjoyed it. I was a bit skeptical at first, knowing it was a musical before hand as it would be interesting to see if some of these top Hollywood actors could hold a note. The opening scene began with Johnny Depp (sweeney) singing and it was strange at first but took seconds to get over and carry on enjoying the film. I feel it was important for me to be able to take the singing of the actors seriously otherwise the film would never have been believable. None of them were amazing singers but it really worked and i suppose took the 'campness' out of it. Helena Bohan Carter made a stunning performance as usual and was made for the part of Mrs Lovette. Maybe its not just cause she's married to tim! I was also wrong to think that Sascha Baron Cohen may be out of his league with this one. He was very entertaining indeed. Naturally, Tim Burton uses his Gothic style within the film creating a gloomy feel reflecting Todd's outlook on the world. The colour red is highlighted to represent bloodshed. This has also been done in other films such as Schindler's List. Occasionally the gloom lifts when Sweeney thinks about the past or when Mrs Lovette is imagining her future. A lot of animation has been used in the film and its hard to tell sometimes whats real and what is animated. My favourite sequence in the film is when Todd first arrives in London and begins to make his way to fleet street. The camera takes lead on his journey with a fast pace, slowing down at every corner. It almost feels like a virtual reality ride. On the journey we see different things such as Londoners drinking ale in the pub, beggers on the street, horse and carriage etc. This is all animated. I feel it sets the scene of London in that time period and gives you a lot of information to where we are and when. It reminded me of Jools lecture 'show me dont tell me!'.
I definitely recommend this film to anyone. Even if your not a fan of musicals.
