Thursday, 25 October 2012

Friday, 15 June 2012

Please watch this video - David Starkey


Lucy - David Starkey

To clump all "black people" together is dangerous and fundamentally wrong. African and Caribbean culture and heritage is a rich and diverse one. Someone who is a historian really should be much more informed about the complexities and intricacies of what he deems to be "Black culture." To lump all black people together and to define black culture or "black male" culture, as he calls it, down to "a particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic gangster fashion" is simply outrageous. How dare he debase, demean and attempt to define black culture in this way. As for his irrelvant rant about slang..it is important to note that words like "innit" derive from the British Cockney language and many of the negative words used amongst these gangs actually derive from American culture. Also be aware that "this faux patois that has intruded England" is actually a legitamate language again based on the English language after the British Empire LOOTED, oppressed, enslaved, raped, murdered and stole not only literally but also the original roots of "Black culture and language" from African countries. The real problem here is; commercialism- the constant pushing and forcing on products, the continuous message that to be someone in this world or to be successful is equal to the amount of goods you have, another issue- common criminality that runs through the veins of the human race whatever colour, culture or race, another issue lack of positive role models, morals, ethics and fundamental core values, another issue, bleaker prospects for young people in regards to brighter, successful futures- a truth in this unfortunate economic decline. I work with young people and I see it every day. Another major issue people like Starky whose ill-informed preconceived notions about "Black male culture" stopping and hindering the prospects of these black males by continuously reinforcing "faux" and dangerously negative stereotypes.

Thursday, 24 May 2012

College Ident Evaluation

I felt like we managed our time pretty well, For the first week we didn't get much done as I was ill and didn't come into college and Tom and Chenai also weren't feeling too good. As of the second week we planned out the College Ident and discussed what we could possibly do for it, later that week we finished all three of our mind maps. Finally for the third week we recorded all the footage we needed by using a Macbook with a webcam tapped to it and walked around the college campus. We did have some technical difficulties, especially with the iStopMotion program because it wouldn't let us record at a 1 frame per second whilst outside college, So we had to start recording in class and then walk out with laptop whilst recording and stop it when we get back in class. We did have to take a couple of takes till we got it right because sometimes it was too slow or just to fast. My other crew members really didn't do much at all if i'm honest apart from the mindmaps, I recorded all the footage by myself, I came up with the whole story of the college ident and I edited it all by myself. It definitely wasn't nice working alone because not only does it put all the pressure on me but we could have also finished the video a lot faster if we worked together. Basically the College Ident would still look the same if I wasn't in a group. Well like I said earlier I did the work pretty much all by myself so I feel like not only did I fulfil my roll to the max but I also did work of others. I tried my best to keep the Ident as relevant to the College as possible by using the college logo and card/i.d. I definitely feel that there is room for improvement and If I could change one thing about it or redo the project I would try to change the speed of the video as I feel it is a little jumpy at some parts and a little to fast at some other parts. Overall I believe the College Ident was a success and everyone seemed to enjoy it and left very positive comments.

College Ident for Sue


C.V for Lucy


Friday, 11 May 2012

John - Task 1 & 2

Kony 2012 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc


Stop War - http://stopwar.org.uk/

Friday, 27 April 2012

Survey Report

http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Responses.aspx?sm=wmEZfojVXOTMbq24iB%2bJAIef1PO2cdxMX43IhzZ0hX8%3d

Thursday, 29 March 2012

Cut Out Animation Evaluation

First you need to get a magazine/newspaper/comic book and select the images you want to use for your stop motion. Next you have to come up with a storyboard for your video so it is planned well and everyone knows what your doing. Once you have finished the storyboard and cut out the pictures for your stop motion you need to get a camera, we used a webcam. Set it up on a stand so it doesn't move and ruin your footage. Now you are ready to start, so you could either do this manually or use a software that does it for you, which is what we done with iStopMotion. Editing is pretty simple as all you really need to do is add sound effects.
The pioneers of the original cut out animation are Terry Gilliam and Lotte Reiniger. Terry Gilliam done the  Monty Python animations and Lotte Reiniger done the Jack and the Beanstalk animation.

The positives of this technique are that it's very simple and easy to do and it's actually quite fun and if done properly with no mistakes it will always be funny.
The negatives of this cut out animation technique is that the process is very long and you need to be patient because there can be up to 25 frames per second, so it is indeed very time consuming.

Overall I think my animation was very successful, we uploaded our work to a website and it got over 48,000 Views and counting, and from the comments a lot of the viewers seemed to enjoy it.

If I were to compare my work to a someone like Terry Gilliam I would say that the are both funny and entertaining to watch the only difference is that his is more professional and edited better, his work is also a lot longer than mine which shows is commitment and dedication towards Cut out animation.

Friday, 9 March 2012

Eadweard Muybridge

Eadweard Muybridge is an English Photographer born on the 9th of April 1830. He is mostly known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion which used multiple cameras to capture motion and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip.


In 1872, former Governor of California Leland Stanford, a businessman and race-horse owner, had taken a position on a popularly-debated question of the day: whether all four of a horse's hooves are off the ground at the same time during the trot. Up until this time, most paintings of horses at full gallop showed the front legs extended forward and the hind legs extended to the rear. Stanford sided with this assertion, called "unsupported transit", and took it upon himself to prove it scientifically. Stanford sought out Muybridge and hired him to settle the question.


In later studies Muybridge used a series of large cameras that used glass plates placed in a line, each one being triggered by a thread as the horse passed. Later a clockwork device was used. The images were copied in the form of silhouettes onto a disc and viewed in a machine called a Zoopraxiscope. This in fact became an intermediate stage towards motion pictures or cinematography.

We recreated his experiment by using multiple webcams and everyone would take a picture at a set time of the moving object(ruth and iman).

Frames per second is that amount of pictures in one second, the more fps the smoother the footage is and the easier it is to edit it.

RUTH MOTION

Motions

Eadweard J. Muybridge

  1. Edward James Muggeridge changed his name several times.
  2. He killed the Major.
  3. Muybridge used a series of large cameras that used glass plates placed in a line, each one being triggered by a thread as the horse passed.
  4. An English photographer who spent much of his life in the United States.
  5. The house has a British Film Institute commemorative plaque on the outside wall which was unveiled in 2004.
  6.  Muybridge was cremated and his ashes interred at Woking in Surrey.

Thursday, 8 March 2012

Sky ident


Zoetrope

The persistence of vision refers to the length of time the retina (the "screen" at the back of our eyes which is sensitive to light) retains an image. If we see a light flash every tenth of a second or less, we perceive it as continuous.


Well its a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures.
It consists of a cylinder with slits cut vertically in the sides. Beneath the slits, on the inner surface of the cylinder, is a band which has either individual frames from a video/film or images from a set of sequenced drawings or photographs.
As the cylinder spins, the user looks through the slits at the pictures on the opposite side of the cylinder's interior. The scanning of the slits keeps the pictures from simply blurring together, so that the user sees a rapid succession of images producing the illusion of motion, the equivalent of a motion picture.



Its good for producing short animations, however since the device itself is very small that means you only get to produce short animations.

Zoetrope

Friday, 24 February 2012

Comparing 2 Idents

I believe that Channel 4's ident has a bit of everything in it to appeal to people with all different ages, the ident starts off realistic at a petrol station at night and then ends animated with the Channel 4 sign/logo "4". The animated "4" at the end of the ident is in every single ident Channel 4 has ever made and has therefore become something that they have to do and is pretty much what we all(the viewers) look forward to the most in an Channel 4 ident, because every time the animated 4 is put together differently, its almost like a puzzle and it gets us all excited and thinking how will this turn out and what objects will go together to form the animated 4.

E4's ident is actually pretty cool, its all based in this small basic living room with nothing to it really but 5 seconds in to the video that action starts and all these weird random crazy objects come out of nowhere, grass and plants growing on the floor and walls, toys shooting rockets, about 50 neon lights drop from the ceiling and the walls go from white to purple. Which is actually E4's main colour(purple). So overall its a very exciting ident that teenagers and kids will absolutely love.

At Channel 4 there is a show for everyone from all kind of ages and different backgrounds etc.. there are shows for young and old people like Countdown and The Simpsons. Whether your Male and want to watch Home Show on how to repair your broken sink or Female and want to watch some Gok Wan with some fashion tips there is something for everyone. There are even shows dedicated to the disabled people like Embarrassing bodies and Beauty and the Beast.

Personally I think E4's audience is a bit limited due to the fact that they are always showing these shows that have young kids in them such as Misfits, The inbetweeners, 90210, Skins, The big bang theory etc.. and to be honest their ident wouldn't really appeal to old people or anyone above the age of 50.

Overall I think both idents are really good and whether or not we like them they definitely do appeal to their audiences. Channel 4's ident has a little bit of realism and animation which sums up what they are all about, they have a bit of everything for everyone. E4's ident is mainly focused on the animation and futuristic stuff which again sums up what E4 is all about and what they show on their channel.

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Evaluation for in camera editing

The advantages of in camera editing is that all of the shots are always in order so when you play them back together no editing is required. Once you get used to in camera editing it will help you out in the future when you start filming properly because your shots will be short and in order and minimum amount of editing will be done.

The disadvantages of in camera editing is that if you make any mistakes for example an actor messed up in a scene or someone walked in to the shot etc.. it can't be removed!
Also your shots always have to be in the right order or else the story just wont make any sense and your final video would be a complete mess.

Overall I think in camera editing is a good thing because it teaches you to waste minimum amount of space on your SD card, your shots are always in order and when your all done you will do very little editing.

NON edited scenario

Thursday, 5 January 2012

Editing: The Invisible Art

Editing can build tension and pace by making creating a lot of shots in to a small space of time Cross-cutting is and editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. Reaction shots are when you see the the people in the film react to what is going on.
Seamless editing is editing made so simple by just put the scenes one after the other, the viewer without being told will already be able to tell whats going on the viewer will  is not aware editing has taken place. A jump cut is an abrupt transition from one scene to another. A flashback is when the director takes the audience from one time to another, usually it takes you back in time to the characters past. Poetic editing is when the story is not as clear is it appears  and the viewer has to do more thinking than usually to understand what exactly is going on. 

Hustle

Overhead establishing shot is taken directly above the action, a camera position often used to imply fate or enrapment. the director sets out the place where the characters are at. Shot-reverse-shot or shot/countershot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character often off screen. Eye-line matching is when both characters have direct eye contact, you assume the characters are looking/talking to eachother but really they are talking to the camera. We cut to the other members of the group to show their reactions as the main character tells them the news. A wipe is a transition from one shot to another, where a moving line or pattern reveals the new shot. The effect of using quick cuts is that it creates a faster rhythm in turn to keep the audience on their toes.

introduction to editing

The Gloaming

Editing is reviewing and changing a document by making additions, deletions, or other changes to conform to some agreed upon standard. Is the process of selection from different shots to create a narrative.
Elliptical editing is a nice way of skipping long unnecessary scenes using only two shots, for example the first shot could be shot of the character about to go to sleep and the second shot would be when the character wakes up. Long shots are used to get an idea of where the character is at and its surroundings.
Non-diagetic sounds are sounds such as music or a narrator's voice that comes from outside the space of the narrative. We know she is bending down to pick up the ring because in the first shot she moves to the bottom right hand side of the screen in the first shot and then in the second shot her hand is taking the ring on the floor.