General Update - At the end of the month

Admittedly coming back to the studios for my first day as a second year yesterday I didn’t have quite the same mix of nerves and excitement that I did at the same time last year.  However coming back and seeing the familiar faces of friends and knowing that this year’s work was already underway I am eager to push forward with both of the units for this semester. In myself I feel far more confident in my abilities, I think that I have a secure understanding of what I need and want to achieve in this semester.  

I personally enjoy beginning out and about with a camera shooting for a project, however, I am going to spend a majority of the first month of the new semester planning, planning and then planning some more for both the AS LIVE and fiction adaptation units. At present I am more interested in the fiction adaptation unit. Currently I am thinking about the potential locations and shoots that I would like to include in the short and more importantly if these two elements will work together or if components will have to be scrapped or altered to make them work practically and one screen. As it stands I don’t know of anyone else adapting ‘The Horses by Ted Hughes’ I personally hope that there is as I am interested to see someone else’s interpretation of the same poem.

After our short brainstorming session yesterday I am looking forward to hearing the ideas of my pears are for the As Live production. I am also interested to know what roles people will be applying for in four weeks time. At this point I feel that none of the ideas previously blogged by myself have enough originality or appeal to be commissioned and so the journey to the dusty areas of my mind is still underway. I am hoping that at some point soon inspiration will strike and the idea will unfold before me.

Well that’s it for this month and we’ve only just begun I can’t help but wonder how far my work will have progressed by this time next month.

AS LIVE - Quiz show idea

AS LIVE

Quiz

Title: Tipped for the top

Format: 30 minute AS LIVE

Channel: BBC1

Broadcaster:

Target Audience: 5 - 100

Schedule: 5:30 Weekdays

Tipped for the top is a swift 30 minute AS LIVE quiz show that is cheerful and bright throughout. Filled with laughs shared between the host, contestants and live studio audience the quiz rounds would be filled with excitement and pace rather than being dry, slow or dull as is the case in some existing quiz shows. The host for this show would ideally be a man of 30 plus due to the intention of making the show look professional and credible to a wider outside audience.

As Tipped for the top begins the host would introduce four teams each containing two members preferably with some form of relationship between them such as husband and wife, father and son, friends etc. The show will consist of four rounds with the completion of each round leading to the elimination of one team until the final round where the one remaining team attempt to win a ‘grand prize’.

The content of each rounds of the game will have start relatively broad leading inevitably to having to become narrower as teams are eliminated. Therefore at this early stage I would suggest that the rounds are something like the following:

Round 1 - Four teams remaining- Category  

The classic of all quiz shows is of course the quiz round. For Tipped for the top one member of the team is elected to individually answer questions on a specific subject. The category is dictated by the second member of the team either throwing a dart into a dart board with 8 categories written on it or a spinning arrow fixed on a disk of similar design. The categories should be vastly different from one another which could result in humours outcomes. The team with the lowest score at the end of the round are eliminated from the show.

Round 2 - Three teams remaining- What you’ve just seen -

The teams are shown a short scene on a video screen; they are then asked questions about the scene answers of which are written on small white boards.

(In a similar fashion to how people are voted off the weakest link)

Round 3 - Two teams - Name that film, song

A VT is shown where a memorable quote is spoken each team has to name either the film or song that the quote has come from.

If this round ends with a tie a long more abstract quote will be played the team that buzzes in first and answers correctly goes through to the final round.

Round 4 / the final round - One team -

With each correct answer in the previous rounds winning the team ten points they now have X amount of minutes to answer enough questions correctly to get their score above X amount of points. If they do they are awarded a “grand prize” if they fail they will be awarded a comical consolation prize.

Fiction Adaptation - Lighting test

Below is the first lighting test that I have done at the prospect of doing a night shoot for the fiction adaptation unit. 

AS LIVE - Talent/Variety show idea

AS LIVE

TALENT/ VARIETY SHOW

Title: Show Us What You Got

Format: 30 minute AS LIVE

Channel: BBC 1

Broadcaster:

Target Audience: 5 - 100

Schedule: 6:30 Saturday recurring over a six week period

Unlike the various series’ of talent shows that we as an audience have become accustomed to seeing on television with the same sorry format and unnecessarily long runs which are commonly followed by tabloid scandal and winners that quickly fade away into the background . Show us what you got comes as a source of relief as with its simple, welcoming, nostalgic and pleasant tone brings back the sense of fun found in the old school variety act shows.

Each week the recurring male and female hosts will introduce an ensemble of three to five variety acts of all shapes and sizes. These acts will perform to the best of their abilities to win over the live studio audience. Between acts the hosts of the program will have time to engage with members of the studio audience whilst other acts would be preparing on the stage segment of the studio set. Not to exclude the audience watching at home who will be able to decide who they think should win with a live online vote. All taking place within a 30 minute broadcast I would hope for the height of excitement that can be seen on as live children’s programming whilst keeping the level of entertainment to keep audiences of all ages wanting to see more. The winning variety act would be awarded a Show us what you got trophy by the hosts and would be put through to a fictional Show us what you got final.  This hypothetical final would take the winners of the first five shows to find the series champion. It would be here that the now common cash prize would be awarded and therefore could be mentioned during the pilot without having to account for it in the budget.

Over all Show us what you got would encourage and endorse the sense of playing in the show for the fun of it without any big search for the next big superstar mentioned anywhere during the show.

AS LIVE - Talk Show idea

This is my first idea that has accumulated in my head for the AS LIVE unit.

AS LIVE

TALK SHOW IDEA

Title: Chat about that

Format: 30 minute AS LIVE

Channel: E4

Broadcaster:

Target Audience: 16 - 25

Schedule: 10PM Tuesday recurring on a six week period

Chat about that is a light hearted, 30 minute as live television program. In a set that is designed to resemble an exaggerated version of a student flat. The host aged between 20 and 25 will be joined in each episode by two different guests that will be referred to as the hosts ‘friends’. There will also be a recurrent character that will engage in humours banter with the host. This character will be odd ball student that attempts to get into the flat and engage in the shows conversations.

From the commencement of the program the light, happy and humorous tone of the show will be established as the host engages with members of the audience and opens with a few topical jokes. During the show the host and guests will engage in conversation based on recent news stories, selected trending YouTube videos and/or humorous images. In amongst these conversation would be set points where the funny ‘odd ball student character’ would interrupt. During these discussions there will be a subject matter that links to a pre determined members of the audience. This will give a sense of audience participation and add to the layers of the program. There will also be a performance from either a band or stand up comedian which would lead to the climax of the show.

Fiction Adaptation - Early Designs

In my minds eye this is how the location for the final scene of my script for the fiction adaptation would look.

AS LIVE - Early Research

Just skimming over the bbc iplayer, itv player and from memory I thought that I would just list a few of the catorgoies of shows filmed in tv studios. I'm hoping that I can use this as a starting point in an attempt to get some ideas to form.

Panel Shows

·         Celebrity Juice

·         Never mind the buzzcocks

·         Shooting stars

·         QI

·         Mock the week

Game shows

·         Take me out

·         Who wants to be a millionaire?

·         Price is right

·         Don’t forget the lyrics

·         Bulls eye

·         Deal or no deal

Talent shows

·         Got to dance

·         Dancing on ice

·         X factor

·         Strictly come dancing

Talk shows

·         This morning

·         Loose women

·         Daybreak

·         Graham Norton

·         Jonathon Ross

·         Frank Skinner’s opinionated

Quiz shows

·         Family Fortunes

·         The chase

·         Eggheads

·         Mastermind

·         Pointless

Review shows

·         Life stories

·         This is your life

·         Film 2012

War Horse Review - 'We will be together again'

Steven Spielberg is arguably the most famous film director of all time however some of his films of recent years have not reached the level of quality audiences' have hoped for. But of the many Spielberg films I have seen over the years I would say that this is cinematically Spielberg's greatest work to date.

The film follows a sensitive plot which is told unusually from the point of view of a character that has not a single line of dialog due the the fact that he is a "miraculour horse". WHen bought as a young foal the teenage son of a farmer names the horse Joey and begins in his task to use the thoroughbred as a plough animal in order to make enough money to pay the rent. During the time of training the horse and boy create an inseparable bond that the audience feels as much a part of as the characters do. At the point that the harvest fails the First World War is declared the farmer sees no other choice but to sell Joey to the British cavalry and he is shipped to France. From here several other characters come into contact with Joey. With each of these encounters comes a new chapter for Joey and independent plots for each of the characters within. I wish to conceal as much of the plot as I can and tell each and every person that reads this review to go and see the film on a big screen while you still can.

I don't know if due to the fact that I admire Spielberg as a director, have a personal affection for horses having grown up around them or a deep set interest for both of the World Wars that perhaps made this film appear better to me than it does to other people. However personally I think that it is a magnificent film and is the film to beat for every film I see on dvd or at the cinema for the remaining 11 months of 2012.

10 out of 10

AS LIVE - Initial thoughts

The prospect of working as part of a thirteen member strong production team on a ‘live’ production is something that excites me very much. This is all the more exciting having had a number of different opportunities in the year since past to work on and/or witness the workings of the previous AS LIVE production ‘The Pub Game’, ‘Frank Skinner’s Opinionated’ and  ‘Take Me Out’. Being based at the studios this will be a great project to take full advantage of the facilities available to us.  

However I must admit that now having read the brief in full my excitement is coupled with a lining of hesitance for a few of reasons. These reasons are simple and are all bound to work themselves out over time but they plague me none the less. Firstly my ideas at present are mere reflections of those that have been broadcast before and because of this they are in no way original and if I want mine to be commissioned it has got to be original. The second reason for my hesitance is that to my knowledge there are three job roles which I would be happy and content possessing and of course I am anxious to get one of them. Finally I am concerned, knowing that some of the members of our groups do not always see eye to eye I don’t want the quality and progress of which ever show is commissioned to be impaired because of disagreements and personal opinions.

Fiction Adaptation - Something to think about

Our academic year hasn’t even started yet and already I have something that is beginning to trouble me. For those of you that have the poem ‘the horses’ or read the script in my previous blog entry you will see that at the beginning of the tale is set in amongst trees. This alone wouldn’t be an issue except that as well as it being set in among the trees it is also set before the sun rises in the morning therefore it’s going to be dark.

The area that I have in mind to shoot a majority of the film is in Loose Valley which is walking distance from where I live. The dilemma that struck me earlier today when I walked down to look at the area is that there are no artificial lights anywhere. This being a natural area there is obviously nowhere that lights could be plugged in, nor is there motor vehicle access so any ideas of using car headlights are no good.

As I see it this leaves me with three options:

Option one; this is my least favourable option as the area is ideal as a location for the script but my first option is to move the shoot to somewhere else. However I fear that with any other quite woodland areas I will face similar issues as I face at the moment.

Option two; I would have to take portable light sources with me i.e. battery powered torches along with reflectors. This plan would require having a crew not something that I would be opposed to knowing that there are various people that I could ask and know that they would assist in many ways. However with the fact that I have some fairly large and wide angle shots in mind the amount of light we would be able to produce simply may not be possible.

Option three; this is something that I hadn’t thought about before until I typed ‘shooting video at night’ into YouTube and that is shoot night during the day. By upping the shutter speed therefore making the image darker along with some colour altering during post production some people have made images that could be mistaken as being shoot at night. I am again hesitant about this idea as even those that have been done well are in my opinion not quite as good as those properly lit at night. However if my alternative results in grainy images or shoots where the audience can’t see what being shown then it may be favourable.

Anyway with a few pre production tests I hope that this issue will be resolved it may be a case that I combine elements shoot using each of my three options only time will tell. Following are a few of the photos that I took on my walk earlier in the day in Loose Valley. Click read more to see them.  

Fiction Adaptation - First very very very rough script

The Horses

Fiction Adaptation - Initial understanding of the poem 'The Horses'

As I revealed earlier I am planning on using the poem ‘The Horses’ by Ted Hughes as the initial literary source that I will use to adapt into a three minute short. Not being a very well read individual myself I expect that there are many elements contained in this poem that I have overlooked. Regardless the thing that I like the most about poetry is that every line of text is left open to the interpretation of the reader. Below is a scan of my preliminary thoughts and interpretations of this poem.

Knowing that chances are there will be at least one other person doing this unit that chooses this poem I look forward to discussing ideas and ways in which to make the piece individual instead of replicating the same ideas and shot types all derived from using effectively the same ‘script’.

Scott Pilgrim VS. the World - 'Prepare to feel the wrath of the League of the Evil Exes'

From the director that brought us Spaced, Shaun of the dead and Hot Fuzz brought us yet another hit film in 2010 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Adapted from the graphic novel series of the same name Edgar Wright brings his distinctive directing style and comfortably mixing the feeling and look of the comic books. For locations used in the film the production actually went to the locations that the original art work was based on.

For those of you that haven’t seen it here is a quick synopsis of the film. ‘Scott Pilgrim plays in a band which aspires to success. He dates Knives Chau, a high-school girl five years younger, and he hasn't recovered from being dumped by his former girlfriend, now a success with her own band. When Scott falls for Ramona Flowers, he has trouble breaking up with Knives and tries to romance Ramona. As if juggling two women wasn't enough, Ramona comes with baggage: seven ex-lovers, with each of whom Scott must do battle to the death in order to win the right to date Ramona.’

The plot of this film does get a little repetitive in places however I would argue that the innovative use of graphics, cgi elements and sound effects bring the film to a enjoyable and interesting watch. I don’t know what element pushes the film forward the most but I must admit that I like the humorous elements a great deal particularly because they are not the unsubtle in your face jokes that I have come to expect from big productions these days.

7 out of 10   



Fiction Adaptation - Initial thoughts

If I understand the brief for this unit and I would like to think that I do then I will reveal that my personal aim for this unit will be to put in as much time and effort during the pre production stage as possible. Due to the lessons learnt from the triumphs and disappointments during the productions and post production stages of all of the direction unit episodes that I worked on last semester I would love to be able to submit a piece of work that looks professional. For the work to be done to this the highest possible standard my aim is for this work will be executed with both precision and creativity in a combined harmony.

I have now read all of the five poems and contacting and discussing the basic narratives, meanings and tones behind each. I did this with a good friend of mine named Erin Murrell who is currently in her second year of an English literature degree who helped me whittle the five choices down to two then. I was left with The Listeners by Walter de la Mare which unless I’ve misunderstood   this poem depicts the tail of a traveller that comes knocking at a mysterious moon lit door to give a message in order to keep his word.  It’s a silent moonlit night, and nobody replies to the travellers calling.  There are ‘phantoms’, ‘ghosts’, ‘spirits’ in the house that hear the traveller, but do not answer him. The perspective changes during the poem, it comes firstly from the traveller, but at the end of the poem it is from the perspective of the ‘phantoms’ and they watch him leave ‘.

The second remaining contender was The Horses by Ted Hughes this is drawn from the poets fascination with nature and in this poem horses.  He starts in a bleak state of mind, reflected by the colourlessness drab scenery around him.  When walking he comes across a group of horses the more he studies them the more he notices their beauty, nobility and strength as well as the beauty of the nature around him.  There are many points of note during this poem and whilst reading it I had many ideas pop into my head regarding what, where and when I could shoot.  He then states at the end that where ever he is in the world he will and whatever is going on he will always remember the vision of what happened that day. This thing that I particularly like about this poem in regards to adaptation is that there is a big turning point in tone in the middle of the poem.

After thinking about both of the poems it would have appeared that I have veered towards The Horses. This is mainly because when reading it I had a number of ideas that I feel will look impressive on screen.

Twister review – ‘wanted to know if you wanted to chase this tornado or catch the next one?’

This film from 1996 is a one that I have watched many times over the years as it seems to be repeated annually on television. The thing that strikes me time and time again when I watch it is the importance and the limitless things that through the implementation and embracing cgi. Without it the ‘monster’ of the movie could not be, well it would not be quite as convincing anyway. For any of you that haven’t seen it the plot is fairly simple a team of storm chasers follow a number of twisters in order to deploy Dorothy a big tub filled with censers that they will deploy to measure the activity within the extremely violent twister.

The biggest thing that this film has going for it is the impressive cgi elements along with the mix of rock and orchestral soundtrack that both intensify the action on screen. Although my personal view is that the script was a bit weak and the lead relationship is undefined.  However I would not discourage anyone to watch this film if you’re looking for an easy watch which still looks impressive whenever you look up at the screen. 

6 out of 10

Field Of Dreams review - ‘If you build it they will come’

From this film comes the line ‘if you build they will come’ this line has transcended the original audience and subsequently audiences that would have seen the film on vhs and dvd. I was in fact one of the people that knew this line, knew where it came from but before sitting down to watch this film had no prior knowledge apart from what could be deduced from the dvd cover.  The sport of baseball features heavily in the film which appealed to me being a fan of the game however you don’t need to know a single thing about it to understand and more so enjoy field of dreams.

With one of Kevin Costner’s best performances you become hooked as he plays Ray Kinsella a humble Iowa farmer who hears a mysterious, supernatural voice in his corn field that pushes him through the movie. He listens to this mysterious voice and interprets the message as an instruction to build a baseball field on his land. Completing this the ghosts of eight former baseball players from Chicago Black Sox. Included in these players is Shoeless Joe Jackson who is mysterious character that we as an audience don’t know if he is a good or evil character. I won’t tell you the outcome if you want to know go and watch the movie.

In my opinion this is a beautiful movie that tells a supernatural story, with characters, themes and ideas that audiences quickly buy into I am really glad that this movie was recommended to me and I because of that I would say that if you have time to buy and watch this movie you will not be left disappointed I would honestly say that I think this is a film that will be watched by many different generations and will defiantly last and be appreciated for many many years to come.

Also if you do buy the dvd be sure to check out the special features as they give you a real in depth account of the making of and highlights elements that you may have missed when watching the film yourself. But make sure you wait until you’ve seen the film because it does give away the ending about 15 times.

8 out of 10

Inception review - 'I can access your mind through your dreams'

For a film that was released relatively recently, got so much audience attention and won four Oscars tonight was the first time I sat down to watch Christopher Nolan’s Inception. It is easy to see why this film is so popular and for those of you that have seen it me saying that it takes multi plot storytelling to another level will realise just how much of an understatement that is.

For those of you that haven’t seen this film the following is the Warner Bro synopsis

‘Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming.’

The visual elements of this film are unlike anything I have seen in a film before and the performances were honest and believable. The only thing that troubles me and intrigues me most about this film like so many audience members before me is the moment before the credits role. You have to watch it to know what I mean.

9 out of 10

Who needs to buy equipment?

A couple nights ago I talked my dad into helping me build a camera slider like those I have seen used in many top quality YouTube videos. It is basically a shrunk down version of a dolly track and I'm hoping that I can find use for it in future projects.

In the images shown here it obviously takes the weight of my old video camera but it was built for to take the weight of my new Canon 550d. I am hoping therefore it will manage the 5d's that I am looking forward to getting my hands on when I return to BM in just under three weeks time.

One of the components I have planned to modify slightly using my dad's wood carving skills to construct a wooden stand between the 'slider cart' and camera in order for it to be more secure, strong and enable the camera turn 360° rather than being in the one fixed direction it is currently. Using the detachable tripod top means that it can however at this stage point up, down and all points in between.

Vertigo review - 'One final thing I have to do... and then I'll be free of the past'

I had no expectations when I sat down to watch Vertigo due to knowing nothing more about it than one of cinemas most famous directors Alfred Hitchcock had directed the picture in 1958. With a plot that follows former police detective John “Scottie” Ferguson, who after seeing a police officer fall from the roof of a building to his death at the top of the film, quickly developing the medical condition of acrophobia, the fear of heights. An old acquaintance of John's from many years ago approaches him and asks him to use his detective knowledge and experience to follow his beautiful wife, Madeleine; he reveals that he fear she is going insane, maybe even contemplating suicide, because she believes she is possessed by a dead ancestor.

The constantly unravelling plot with multiple unexpected twists and turns keeps even a contemporary audience member such as myself guessing from the opening to the steady and direct climax of the film. A key example is held in the title of the film, Hitchcock offers a reason in the beginning of the film but its importance does not become apparent until the mystery is revealed to the audience in the later stages of the film. Personally I found the plot of Vertigo much more intriguing, yet with the same strange style that I enjoyed in one of Hitchcock’s previous films, Psycho. Knowing that as a film it has many interesting elements that are impressive 50 years on. Personally it won’t be making it into my list of favourites but worth a watch.  

7 out of 10

Casablanca review - ‘Here’s looking at you kid’

As World War II continued to enthral the world the Warner Bros picture ‘Casablanca’ was released that would soon become well known and much loved by audiences for generations to come. The film which follows Rick played by Humphrey Bogart an exiled American as he runs the popular ‘Rick’s Cafe Americain’. A cynical and self reliant character that repeatedly states “I stick my neck out for nobody” comes into possession of two valuable letters of transit needed to leave the comparative holding pen of refugees that the unoccupied area of Africa had become. With the real war still raging on the use of patriotism used throughout the film makes the heroes and villains of the film easy to distinguish increasingly when the Nazi’s arrive led by the film’s lead villain Nazi Major Strasser. Who upon arrival requests that the somewhat sycophantic head of police Captain Renault to detain the Czech underground resistance leader Victor Lazslo. When Laszlo arrives in Casablanca he is not alone, he is accompanied by his wife and Rick’s one time love Ilsa played by the talent of Ingrid Bergman. The back story of the couple’s romance in Paris is beautifully presented to the audience and the bitter and timeless tales of the trepidations that come with being involved in a love triangle are executed. With two letters of transit it becomes clear that two of these characters will be leaving Casablanca but it is not clear until the film reaches its climax which of those characters it will be.

Having won Oscars for best picture, best director and best screenplay along with some of cinemas most memorable lines including ‘Here’s looking at you kid’,’ I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship’ and my personal favourite ‘Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine’ there is no denying that Casablanca is a timeless classic and for anyone that hasn’t seen it I whole heartedly recommend it.

9 out of 10 - For a film that is 70 years old this year it sure has stood the test of time