The City is Exploding

music video for Zoey Van Goey...

After having a quick turnover to make (not a music video) but 'a video to play alongside the music' of Supermotion by Ben Butler and Mousepad, myself and Gavin were asked if we could make a music video for Glasgow based band Zoey Van Goey. We of course agreed having been very impressed with their live performance at the Arches.
Zoey van Goey are releasing their debut album and needed videos for all their tracks, we watched one that another student had made for Sweethearts in disguise, in which the female band member lives with a skeleton. Matt from Zoey Van Goey gave us a list of the tracks that still needed videos. It was really hard to choose one from the list because we really liked all the songs in very different ways! We decided on The City is Exploding, a lovely slow song with a folk sounding backing track.
Me & Gav listened to the song many times to see what we could do in term of a narrative. The lyrics were very provocative and we soon came up with a story of a girl from the grimy city who sells roses, the man she loves is equally trapped in the country and they both want to get back to one another. We made a small mood-board which we showed to Matt, he seemed very enthusiastic about the idea and intrigued to see what we'd come up with.The project took us much longer than usual because we had a long holiday, but we also had mountains of script work from Richard. Being apart when your trying to work on something is quite difficult, we had to communicate on email and hope that we were still both on the same page. Luckily we were and after changing the look of our puppets from paper cutouts to 3D models we had many nights of working with clay, paint (Gavin sewing mini clothes!) making background scenery.
We scheduled a weekend to shoot, we had the help of Steven as our DOP and Lynne from TPA for the smoke machine.Its obviously a lot easier to work with models than actors! We did however have maybe too many set-ups which made our time quite tight, but looking at the footage Im glad we got the amount of shots that we did, I think it needed it.
I loved having projects like this alongside the RSAMD work, it makes a change and it's great to be presenting work to people other than your tutors.
We have sent the video to the band and attended the Zoey Van Goey album launch (I love crossing things off my to do before Im 25 list and attending an album launch was definetly one of them!)

"...and the people here are nuts" 

-not literally though Gavin!

And Finally...

Space... the Final Frontier, these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before...

Well, well, well Im finally going to blog about Star Trek! Most excited i've been all year by the way!

I thought J.J Abrams take on Star Trek was just what it needed to be to keep the franchise alive, it really breathed new life into something that has legions of hard core fans, making it accessible to the younger audience of today. This film has been marketed extremely well, the amount of suspense and the release of little teasers (trailers, exclusive photos etc) has been going on for months and months. With the suspense building so high the actual film could so easily have been a major disappointment.I thought the casting was exceptional, Kirk played by Chris Pine (who I'd only knew because he starred in the Princess Diaries sequel-good film check it out!) was an excellent Kirk.

I always found William Shatner to be such a funny character because he obviously thought he was God's gift, and yet there was a vunrable there at the same time making his Kirk a lovable character. Chris Pine played on this very well. He resembled Shatner's Kirk, but didnt simply mimic him. It was funny to see all these characters in their younger days at the Star Fleet Academy, as young people and even just how that crazy crew came to be together.
I thought the designs inside the Star Ship Enterprise were really well done because like everything in the film, they were revamped but not entirely detached from previous Star Trek's.

Whenever we were in space there was this cool solar light spots and beams that came into frame, I thought this really let you believe they were in space, it was a nice touch. Also the lack of sound in space until you reach the earths atmosphere, then there was a sudden burst of audio, I liked these little touches.

Simon Pegg behaved well, I was proud. I was so worried that he would over do it, but he was just funny enough without being cringy. Well done Simon.
I was shocked by how sad I found the first 10mins, Again the casting was amazing. Kirks father (who I remember from the soap Home and Away!) looked very like Chris Pine, and the younger Kirk was very similar also. This precision was really worthwhile I thought, seen as the story had many jumps in time. You could instantly recongine a character with one look.

I thought the whole film looked like a very well made television pilot, something about the characters and narrative seemed very much like an excellent TV series. I think because I loved the characters so much, and their relationships between one another I was more interested in them than the plot, which often happens in TV shows.

I really, really REALLY enjoyed this film! It was in no way a piece of cinematic history, but I was really entertained (and sometimes thats all you want from a movie!) I can't wait to see some more! I love J.J. That is all.

Im sure now there will be a boost in Star Trek weddings,

check out these cool kids...

Showlight 2009

At the BBC Scotland...

It seemed like about ages since Showlight was first mentioned when Ian Dowe came to speak with us in one of Ray's classes. He had explained roughly what the point of Showlight was and a few of the special guest speakers they had managed to secure. I don't know quite what I was expecting from Showlight, but I was not very excited about it at all, thinking it would just be like the CCP event we had to film. However Showlight was an amazing experience, I had such a fun time during these four days at the BBC. I was definetely not expecting the BBC crew to be as nice and helpful as they were. I thought they would do their jobs and we would watch them and try not to get in their way. However it became very apparent that they wanted us to really understand each role and were more than happy to explain, re-explain, and show you everything. I learned so much in these four days, I definetly learned more in these four days than all our technical classes at the academy put together, it really shows you how benificial experience is when your just starting out.
On days one and two I was on vision mixing. This involved being in the vision mixing room with the shows director (Derek) and my vision mixing mentor Glynnis. I had never even touched a vision mixing desk before! I loved this job, it was a lot of fun because it requires you to really feel the pacing of the speakers and finding the right break in their speech to cut to another camera. The director beside you has a microphone that the whole crew can hear, so everybody knows exactly what's going on. It was also a very effective way of asking cameras to get certain shots or asking vision to turn up the lights in certain areas of the stage. I noticed straight away how well the BBC crew work together, they do have far better equipment but also there was a really good level of communication between everyone, with the director making the final decisions. I really enjoyed vision mixing, its great to have a multi-camera set up. On the mixer you can set how many frames you want between a cuts and mixes. You can choose to cut from the three cameras, the presentation Outside source graphics feeds from speakers laptops and DVD's, HD beta and SD beta. Glynnis showed me how to set each of my command buttons to a colour that I could easily recognise and get to quickly. The key things to remember with vision mixing is to make it natural, just like a conversation, always check you've put your speakers in context (perhaps show the audience, or the whole stage first) and pacing. One of my biggest problems was that with the three camera set up, the eyelines from the audience member asking a question and the speaker didn't match, they were both looking out of the same side of the screen! Derek the director said that when this happens the best thing to do is to cut to the mid shot first, then the close up. Always having the medium shot inbetween brakes it up a bit, making it less obvious when you watch it. After learning this, I realised it always worked. So I would cut from a CU of the speaker asking if there were any questions, a shot of the audience member asking one, then a mid shot of the stage with the speaker, and finally a CU back on the speaker. Then when a section of the conference is over I fade to black (which you have to remember to pre select because its default is white, which doesn't look good for Showlight.)
I pointed out to the director that the vision mixing room looked like the control desk of the Star ship Enterprise, he agreed. He told me that they actually used a mixing desk during the first Star Wars film, when the death star gets destroyed, I need to check this out...
I was talking to my mentor Glynnis about the film Broadcast News, she took me to see the news studio as they were just about to rehearse, I met the presenter and the cameraman. I then went to see the sport being edited in on of the suites, this was amazing to watch because the three guys had 6 mins until they needed to broadcast the footage and they were all madly trying to edit it together in time!

I could definitely get used to the food during Showlight! After each section of the conference there was always tea & coffee and shortbread. Then a massive lunch (it was good!) puddings, more tea, dinners...
One the third day I was on Audio with Allan and Corinna, I didnt think I'd enjoy this much because I'd loved vision mixing. Sound consisted of us putting radio mics on all the speakers before they went on stage, running with mics to audience members when they were going to ask questions, and checking the sound levels throughout the day. At one point one of the speackers radio mic stopped working, I had to literally crawl on stage and replace!
We were invited to the conference dinner at the old fruit market. We had a drinks reception before the bagpipes played as we made our way into the room. Many of the BBC crew were there which was lovely, Ian Dowe told everyone that the people with red name cards would swap around after every course to the next table. This way everyone gets to meet more people from all over the world. I sat next to a man who did the lighting on Elton Johns last tour, he also does the fashion week in Paris and London, so that was interesting.One of the highlights of Showlight was when Ian Dowe arranged for just the RSAMD students to have a chat to Roberto Schaefer, who is DOP of the Kite Runner & Quantum of Solace! Roberto spoke to us for so long that he missed his coach tour of Glasgow (which we felt a bit bad about!) he said to remember to always ask for at least double, if not triple the money you need for your DOP stuff, they will always cut your budget down anyway and if you have more than you wanted then you still get what you want! Also how important it is to compromise between the things you want and the thing you NEED. He was incredibly inspirational and obviously a very talented man.

The actual content of the conference was very interesting, at times you could listen to the talks depending on what job you were doing. All the lighting design stuff was definitely of interest to all of us in terms of lighting your set, and mood etc.
On the last day I was on camera with Luke and Phil. I found doing camera after vision mixing was really beneficial because I now knew what it looked like in the mixing room, and what types of shots you wanted when you were mixing. After lunch I swapped with Phil to do the handheld camera down. This was again great experience. I started to get very shaky, as the others started out on the PED I couldn't because the speaker had a massive light in the way. So I had to do handheld camera for 2 and a half hours without putting it down once! My whole arm was spazaming at one point (so of course at that precise point the director wanted a steady shot form my camera!), the camera mentor Allen said as a camera man you save yourself a hell of a lot of money on a gym membership, thats definitely true, the muscles in my right arm have at least tripled in size!
I loved our time at Showlight, I really want to go back to the BBC Scotland at some point! This experience definitely made me think more about a career in television and not just film!

Some Reflection on Production Design

In particular the work of the great Ken Adam...

In class we watched short clips from films such as Spartacus and Around The World In 80 Days, looking at how films such as these were a great way of attracting audiences away from television. Around the World In 80 Days could bring together exotic locations and a certain scale that television couldn't provide for the audience. This is why I'd like to talk about (in my opinion) the greatest Production Designer ever, Ken Adam.
As many of you know that saw me very excited this afternoon, I bought the book 'Ken Adams Designs the Movies, James Bond and Beyond' today. I have looked at this particular book every time I go into forbidden Planet, its actually amazing, and now Im really happy to own it! Ken Adam (who's name is apparently mis-spelled in the credits for Around the World in 80 Days?...I'll check it out!) was responsible for the English & European legs of the journey, this includes, The employment agency, Lloyd's of London, the Reform Club and the Place Vendome in Paris. Ken Adam was under the guidance of William Cameron Menzies, a talented Production Designer who encouraged him to be adventurous with shapes and colour.
I got to thinking after our class with Andy about the idea of cinema trying to win back it's audience with grand scale and location when TV became strong competition. I think that Production Design such as the work of Ken Adam would also be a massive plus for opting to go to the cinema, even for todays audience. That grandeur of certain film sets, often subconsciously draws you so much further into a film, especially if it's to create an alternate world that in my opinion TV could never achieve. In class we also looked at Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus. Ken Adam designed one of the best sets I've ever seen on film, The War Room for Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb in 1963. This set with the massive illuminated maps that tilt inwards in a very angular way, making the space feel quite claustrophobic again creates a psychological impression on the audience, wether they are aware of it or not.
Way back when we all watched Citizen Kane we spoke after about the use of camera angles to make Kane appear more dominant in the space etc I think this is the same principle. Ken Adam's production designs use the most amazing view points, the shapes and lines really create a mood/feeling. With the walls caving in, or folding outwards, a circular room, the mix of shapes etc, all these different decisions create a completely different impression on the audience.
I love how even without any lighting, actors, props, anything a set designer can make give an empty space character by making it appear friendly & inviting or cold, isolated. Or in the case of the James Bond films, a villains layer is characterised partly by the shapes and angles that are used. I think the James Bond films, certainly the older ones, had some of the best sets I have ever seen in motion picture to date. When I used to watch them this was the aspect of the film that I always looked out for. Ken Adams designed many of the James Bond sets. For Dr. No he designed The Reception Room, with a massive aquarium in one of the walls, trees appearing to grow inside dissapearing neatly into the roof.
The climactic scene in Goldfinger with Bond and Oddjob with gold stacked behind bars. Adam also thought up most of the gadgets for Bonds beautiful Aston Martin DB5, including machine guns and the classic ejector seat! I love the set design for The Laser Room in Goldfinger, a classic moment in James Bond history I think mostly because of the positioning of the giant laser and the angle from which it threateningly comes into frame from the ceiling which adds an enormous amount of tension to the scene. I imagine if the laser was not of this scale or angle the impact on the audience would possibly be far less effective?
The Las Vegas Hotel Suite is actually fantastic! James Bond and (whichever expendable female in this one...good female representation hmmm. But hey, its James Bond, who cares!)

 are lying in a circular water bed actually filled with tropical fish swimming around in it!!! This sets amazing because it's entirely made out of circular shapes, the bed, the room, the chandelier. You even have to walk down a spiral staircase down into the room. Psychologically circular rooms like this, which you have to walk down into, conjure up connotations of a lions den, this can be perceived as threatening or in this case I think it can show James Bond's masculine dominance as a womaniser? Sets can give you an incite into the character in this way I think. This lavish set looks incredibly sexy and again is a matter of how shape and angel conjure up an impression in the mind of the audience. 

I find it interesting that sometimes production design/sets just lends itself to film, they're there in the background to add to the sense of reality. Then you have the opposite with the films Ken Adam has worked on because for example, often in James Bond films his sets actually add another dimention/are significant part of the story to me. You can't not notice them, they are a legendary part of the films. 

Adam also designed Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car and The 'El street intersection in Dennis Potter's Pennies From Heaven, with an elevated railway going right through the set! I haven't seen this show but Im sure Andy's mentioned it in class before...the concept drawings look amazing though.
Ken Adam designed the sets for the Addams Family Values, the Addams family mansion in particular must have been an amazing thing to be able to design, Im really jealous, there is so much fun you could have with the gothic architecture and kind of morbid colours.
In 1977 Ken Adam was asked to take part in STAR TREK - The Motion Picture!!! He designed the interior of the Enterprise, including the control deck...now that woukd be one of the best jobs ever!
As you know Star Trek is properly showing in cinemas today, Im seeing it tomorrow as me and Galina have Salsa on a Thursday, and will not hesitate to kill anyone who tells me anything about it! 

Speaking of J.J Abrams, I thought you might like to watch this clip if you haven't already. It shows just how cleaver and inspirational Abrams is. He is the new master, in Tv & film at the moment, of the 'Mystery Box' concept he talks about. Its present in all his shows, like Alias & Lost. He seems to have really cracked it...also it has very entertaining bits, like Tom Cruise using his own hand to play a villain in Mission Impossible 3!

J.J Abrams talk 'The Mystery Box'...

I am so incredibly sleep deprived at the moment that I'm not really sure how I even manage to get into the Academy. I am completely addicted to Alias (which I had never bothered to watch because I knew I'd be hooked, but I gave in!) and the amazing Dexter. I have been alternating, but I would choose Dexter instantly, this show is actually amazing, I love the characters, the plot, I can never wait to find out what's happening in the next episode! Dexter's title sequence is the best title sequence I've ever seen on TV , talk about setting up the tone of what's to come (the crucial role of a title sequence that can so often not quite work?) Every time I watch it Im amazed at the apparent simplicity of the concept, Dexter's daily breakfast routine, but being a serial killer, every breakfast preparation action looks like some grotesque violent action, the squeezing of the orange, the close up shaving. The sound design, editing and direction are exceptional.

DEXTER: Opening Title Sequence...

Paradise Now

Paradise now follows the story of two young men who have been chosen to take their lives in a suicide bombing. The two young men, Said & Khaled are established as rounded characters who are good friends, everyday people with loving families and in Said's case a love interest. This makes it all the more shoking as the film unfoldes and you realise what they are set on doing to themselves in the name of their people and their God. They are presented as nice people, who are not particularly violent, just ordinary people. You never think that suicide bombers had families or a life, which this film presented very effectively.
These men honestly believe they will be heros after they commit suicide, killing as many Israli soldiers as possible. They will die murderers, but they have be brainwashed into thinking that this will be seen as heroic in Gods eyes and all the people they leave behind.
When the plan goes wrong and Said escapes the company of Khaled for a short period I honestly thought he would meet up with his love interest and realise that suicide is not the way to create change in the injustice he feels. I was really shocked by the ending, I had not expected this to happen and it angers me that certain people think this ever going to be a solution for these problems. Its the people that instill this believe of mayrtism on these young people, they use them and manipulate them by brainwashing them into thinking God will honor them in 'paradise' Its bause of brainwashing like this that we end up with terrorist attacks such as 9/11. This film really shows how dangerous religion can be when used to manipulate.

In The Heat of the Night

A 1967 film starring Sidney Poitier...

In The Heat of the Night is a film about an African-American police detective from Philadelphia who becomes involved in a murder investigation in a racist small town in Mississippi.
Sidney Poitier stars as Virgil tibbs who first appears in the film when Sergeant Sam Wood arrests him on no grounds, for the murder that has just taken place. Seeing a lone African-American waiting for a train late at night with a lot of money in his wallet, Sam Woods who is prejudiced against blacks, jumps to the unjust conclusion that he has the culprit for the murder. When he takes Mr. Tibbs back to the station the Police Chief finally allows him to explain himself, finding out that Virgil tibbs is in fact a police officer from Philadelphia. When the Police Chief calls Virgil's precinct he also finds out that Virgil Tibbs is a well respected homicide detective, just what they need to crack this case.

There was a nice shift in power as from being a murder suspect because of his colour, Virgil Tibbs suddenly becomes the man the police need the most to help them find the murderer. I thought for the dynamics of the characters this twist worked extremely well, once the police needed Poitiers help they had to start respecting him as a person. All the police started off the film by addressing Virgil Tibbs as 'boy' this was an extremely patronising and disrespectful name often used by the whites in the deep south. Mr. Tibbs is not only a man just like them but also an even better police officer who cares about justice instead of the Mississippi police who keep arresting people without supporting evidence just to finish the case quickly. In terms of representation it shows how dangerous and unjust life was for African-American's in the deep south, they were all made to work on the cotton fields even the small children for back braking long hours. They were badly treated and used for sport by the local whites, who saw them as an inferior race and would enjoy terrorising them. So in terms of representation I think In the Heat of the Night is very accurate of the racism at this time, and by showing us the Endicott fields we could see the conditions the African-Americans had to work under. This contrasts heavily with Virgil Tibbs situation, we can then see the massive contrast between the blacks who live in the deep south and the ones like Mr. Tibbs from Philadelphia who can actually have jobs in the police force. I thought this film was very thought provoking and I could see how it would have caused controversy when it was released, for instance the returned slap from Mr. Tibbs to Endicott didn't shock me but I could see why that action would have been shocking back then.  

In 1963, Poitier became the first black man to win an Oscar for Lilies of the field...