Directions Unit Project - Drama Series Choice.

• 
  
• Genre: Crime drama
• Created by: Mark Gatiss Steven Moffat
• Based on: Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Written by: Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat and Stephen Thompson
• Logline: it chronicles the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his good friend, Dr John Watson, together they solve the cases that Scotland yard cannot.
• Director: Numerous, primarily Paul McGuigan

Why Sherlock?

• characters: the relationship between SH and JW is interesting, two people who seem almost  polar opposites, one relaxed, calm and wears cardigans, the other is a genius with boredom issues, someone with almost no social ability, yet, both characters have hidden depths, JW served in Afghanistan, and Sherlock can form meaningful relationships with other people, probably thanks to his interactions with John.
• historical Re-booting: I quite enjoy reboots and re-tellings, so its probably not too surprising that I enjoy Sherlock, a modified, modernized version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great consulting detective.

Trailer:

DIRECTIONS - WORKSHOP TASK RED RIDING

CREW

• Director of Photography: Stuart Bentley.
• Production Design: Joel Collins
• Editing: Paul Machliss

CAST

Detective superintendent Maurice Jobson: Bill Nighy

Bill Hadley: Charlie Brooker

Eddie Dunford:David Tennant

Kathryn Tyler: Jenna Coleman

Barry Gannon: Robert Carlyle

Detective Chief Superintendent Bill Molloy: Mark Addy

locations:

EXT:

M1 motorway(1974)

 

construction site

INT:

Wakefield station conference room

MOODS

throughout scene 2

extreme wide shooting, trying to catch the reflections of sunlight in building's windows, the city of leeds appears high contrast due to the low level of the sun.

throughout scene 3

the construction site has to be eerie, the snow thick, diegetic sound  only to add to this, must seem peaceful in some ways.

 throughout scene 6

the conference room must be filled with fag smoke,  follow Eddie in, focus upon Det. Super. Jobson before panning to hadley, 

throughout scenes 5/7

grey motorway.

Conference Room

First Major Project - evaluation

critical review

in this post I will Briefly outline an overview in reflection on how I feel the project went, what I think worked, dint work etc.

what worked

I think the final products, the script and the trailer turned out well, considering all the problems I had with production. I'm most happy about the final script, the trailer could still use further refinement and Re-editing of the FX, however I believe that its passable, at least. the script, I am most pleased with it at this point, thanks to the feedback the story is far clearer than my original screenplay and generally I'm glad I could incorporate some Ideas that i originally left out due to the practicalities of shooting zero budget.

what didn't

In general I think that my planning efforts didn't work in the end, i thew out my plans multiple times during pre, post and during production, planning on the fly to react to changing circumstances, next time, I'd like to be able to stick to the first plan better, and not change it so much as I work, proactive instead of reactive planning, I need to better expect the unexpected, and plan better for the known unknowns.

I also think that my original character profiles dont really work with the final version of the short, in the end i based my characters more on their actors than my original concepts, this works in zero budget without pro actors, it doesn't really work so well professionally as the actors generally can be expected to try and do that themselves, get to know their characters.

what I learned

I've learned quite a bit to be honest, in relation to the screenplay it comes down to reviewing the different versions of it, seeing how the ideas germinate and twist and change, I'v learned that in relation to my ideas, I tend to put barriers in the way of exploring my ideas fully, for instance until I was reminded by Steve, I had been thinking purely "what can I film, what cant I film etc.", this goes as far back as my idea development stage and it shows in the different iterations of my script.

I also learned that i need some prep time before a shoot, not for equipment prep, but time to review what i want to shoot, how I want to shoot it, along side that I need to be more specific  during the writing stage upon how I want it shot, I need to know better what, when where and who I'm shooting in my own mind, not on paper. on  shooting days I need to see the tress, not the forest. if you understand.

what did I develop

I think I developed a fairly well-rounded screenplay and trailer for a short film.

as far as skills go, I think I developed my camera operating to a new degree, the same for direction and especially in writing. previously I had, had training from my last course in basic script-writing, not story writing, just the physical exercise of writing a script, the lectures on story development and dramatic timing really helped me develop my screenwriting to a new level.

I developed(through the workshops) skills on a new set of cameras, and a better understanding of the more professional tools in adobe after effects.

what can I develop now

I know I'm not up to a reasonable standard in many skill areas, I think my primary week spot is my planning, so there's room to develop there, especially regarding scheduling and communication. 

In a more general sense I think I need a lot of work to get my work up to a university standard, I feel  that my work is typical of a leaver of a college course rather than that of a 1st year university student, this I think is because of a lack of vigor, and a deluded sense of how much work Vs how much time I have. 

in my next project I will further develop these areas wherein I believe I am lacking. hopefully overcoming the issues that they present as and when the time comes.

I also think I need to do some serious work on my editing and direction, my editing workflow needs to be faster and my directions to artists far more direct and understandable.

First Major Project - independent script writing research

throughout the course of writing my short, I have used many tools and guides to help me write, i will list and briefly describe them below.

CINEFIX on youtube

I learned a lot from two series' of short documentaries that cinefix released, these where Film School'd, and Art of the Scene, they both focus on different aspects of film production, and are well worth the watch time, each episode is between ten and twenty minutes long and they provide an excelent resource for information and techniques used in cinema, they also sometimes go into the history of why certain tropes/conventions exist, and why certain shooting methods where used where.

links to the relevant playlists on the Cinefix channel:
Film School'd
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1AXWu-gGX6LgA7hx3oJEY9vGfrIVOejO
Art of the scene
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1AXWu-gGX6LwUGY1OJ86Jv4fUk1BZy9p

The film theorists, on youtube

The film theorists are a chennel I watch regularly, mostly they break down films and talk about fan theories, however they have a series called Frame By Frame, which goes into detail about interesting techniques, a particular episode, titled The Screen Writing Mind Tricks of STAR WARS discusses the use of the parenthetical "(BEAT)"  and how its used in the Empire strikes back, discussing it by using a very well known, and poignant example. honestly I wouldn't have known the proper use of BEAT without it, and the series is a must watch if your interested in learning interesting things about film.

links to the relevant playlist on the film theorists channel
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHLoLiL1nL8GdoFpQumt3sLa46TGzZiFP




I also used several script writing resources, these are basically how to guides that i visited when I was unsure of how to format a particular part of my script. most of my knowledge of screenwriting comes from previous experience in my last course.
listed below:
screenwriting.info
Scriptologist -
writers Room- BBC
Simply Scripts
Story Sense

First Major Project - Research Post 3/3

The Drama

in this post I'll contextualize an episode of a drama in relation to how it has effected my own work, I'll be focusing on the First episode of modern Dr Who,(Ep.1 S.1/S.28) Titled "Rose", staring Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor, Billie Piper as Rose, and written by Russel T. Davis

Brief Outline - The drama

One assumes a person knows at least the basics of Dr Who, So, This is the first episode of the Re-started Dr who franchise, this season reintroduces the concept of Dr Who to viewers, reinvigorating a long standing, well known example of British entertainment media.

the series focuses upon the adventures of the 9th iteration or regeneration of The Doctor, and Rose, a fairly normal, low income, human from the cheap side of london, throughout the series we are introduced to new aliens, new species and reintroduced to some of the most well known adversaries and enemies of The Doctor.

Brief Outline - The episode

The episode opens by introducing Rose, an employee of a department store in central london, she encounters The Doctor while working late at the store, he promptly saves her from the Autons, a plastic-borne  Species that had infiltrated the store(and central london) primarily through shop window mannequins, The Doctor promptly destroys the store, saving Rose in the process.

the show promptly cuts to Rose's home where Her mum and boyfriend are crowding her, this is where an interesting tell can be seen, she seems to be the only person not panicking or overreacting, she's busy trying to understand what just happened, this presents her as someone who can deal with the crazy of being a companion.

this scene leads to a beautiful transition, Mickey, Rose's boyfriend gets rid of the arm at her behest, on his way out of the house he throws it into a dark Skip, the camera then follows it into the blackness, the face plate of a digital clock(and the sound of an alarm) rushes towards the lens, the shot then cuts to a CU of the digital alarm clock in rose's room, the decoration and assorted stuff on her table tells you this.

the doctor turns up at her house, gets attacked by the Auton arm, they go for a walk and my favorite screenwriting moment happens here, at 15:40, quoted below.

"Do you know like we were sayin'? About the Earth revolving? [walks towards Rose] It's like when you're a kid. The first time they tell you that the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it 'cos everything looks like it's standin' still. [looks at Rose] I can feel it. [takes Rose's hand] The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinnin' at 1,000 miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're fallin' through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go... [drops Rose's hand] That's who I am."
-The Doctor

This moment is one of the reasons I love this episode, its Russel T Davis's writing at its finest, I re-watch this episode to remind me what good writing sounds like, its poetic, functional, emotional and descriptive.

after this comes a breif break with a disposable character for some exposition, before Rose's boyfriend promptly gets captured by the Autons.

in the end the doctor and rose foil the Nestene Consciousness's plan(the controller of the Autons), Saving Mickey and the world using anti-plastic, she decides to leave with The Doctor for adventures in time and space.

How The episode relates to my own work

I mostly used the characters, Rose and The Doctor, as inspiration for my own characters, Shaz and Mia, I figured thast watching this episode could also help with working out how to introduce Shaz to the world of aliens and weirdness, and, while i did review several different approaches to this, I eventually chose a similar method to this one, an event driven introduction:

steps to introduce a character to aliens on earth as seen in both This Episode and My script:

• introduce character(s) doing things that show who they are(tells etc.)
• introduce a conflict wherein the alien character saves the human, revealing their extra-earthly knowledge/ tech in the process.
• exposition/ drama related scenes revealing that the alien character is actually an alien(banter for relief goes here)

I also used Rose as a part of the inspiration for Shaz in a thematic sense, character-wise they are actually pretty far apart.

First Major Project - research post 2/3

Screenwriters,

I'll be talking about two screenwriters in particular, Douglas Addams and Steven Moffat.
Both are Dr who alumni, and both write a little comedy into their drama. this post will cover how these two geniuses in particular have shaped the way i think and write, and also how that relates to Mia and Me(formerly Alien relations)

Steven moffat

The Basics:

• born 18 November 1961 - Paisley, Scotland 
• Studied at the University of Glasgow 
• He was involved with the student television station, GUST (Glasgow University Student Television) 
• worked as a teacher for three and a half years at a High School in Greenock. 
• wrote a play called War Zones, performed at the 1985 Glasgow Mayfest and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 
• wrote a TV show called Press Gang, this ran for five series on ITV between 1989 and 1993. The programme won a BAFTA award in its second series. 
• wrote two series of Joking Apart, The show won the Bronze Rose of Montreux and was entered for the Emmys. 
• wrote Chalk, the show was based on Moffat's three years as an English teacher, didn't fare well with critics, released 1997. 
• wrote and produced Coupling, first broadcast on the BBC in 2000, ran until 2004. 
• wrote the drama series Jekyll, a modern version of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, this ran during 2007. 
• wrote the early drafts for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, left production to write Dr Who. 
• Writes regularly for the Drama TV show SHERLOCK 
• wrote several episodes of Dr Who, before becoming Executive producer and head writer in 2008, has written 40 episodes, and 4 mini-episodes, all between 2005 and 2015 

How His Work has impacted My script:

Steven Moffat has influenced, by accident or by design so much of my work, as a bit of a fan of Dr who and Sherlock, I have loved his writing for most, if not all of his tenure at the helms of both shows. Sherlock in particular influenced the character dynamics seen in my earlier drafts, the subtle hints of a relationship between the main characters was something influenced by the relationship between Sherlock And John Watson, however in my later drafts I have been influenced more by Dr Who, mostly because I've been watching the newest series as I've been writing. the easy wordplay and banter between the 12th(13th?-ish) Dr and Clara has definitely left its mark on my script.

Douglas Adams

The Basics:

• born on 11 March 1952 in Cambridge, England. 
• wrote a report in The Brentwoodian in 1962, 
• wrote spoof reviews in the school magazine Broadsheet. 
• HE designed the cover of one issue of the Broadsheet, 
• had a letter and short story published nationally in The Eagle, in 1965. 
• wrote A poem entitled "A Dissertation on the task of writing a poem on a candle and an account of some of the difficulties thereto pertaining" in 1970 
• Attended Brentwood School, the prep school from 1959 to 1964, then the main school until December 1970. 
• he was awarded an Exhibition in English at St John's College, Cambridge, going up in 1971 
• became a member of the Footlights by 1973 
• graduated in 1974 with a B.A. in English literature. 
• A version of the Footlights Revue appeared on BBC2 television in 1974. this led to Adams being discovered by Monty Python's Graham Chapman. 
• he earned a writing credit in episode 45 of Monty Python for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". 
• Adams also contributed to a sketch on the album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 
• In 1976 he wrote and performed Unpleasantness at Brodie's Close at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. 
• he wrote sketches for The Burkiss Way, The News Huddlines, and (with Chapman), an episode of Doctor on the Go, all in 1977. 
• wrote most, if not all iterations of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy 
• wrote the novel, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency,published in 1987 and its sequel, published a year later 
• Co-wrote three serials for Dr Who, "The Pirate Planet", "City of Death", and"Shada"(un-broadcast) 
• he also wrote several early video games, these I am unfamiliar with. 

How His Work has impacted My script:

Addams' work always impacts my writing, I've been familiar with Addams' work since i was a small child, listening with my dad to HHGTTG on audio tape, then watching the original series, and eventually the 2005 film. I consider Adams a genius of writing, level with Shakespeare, most importantly though Adams' work influenced the development of my character, Mia Madeline, during my early idea stage I imagined Mia as a sort of gender-swapped Ford Prefect, this unfortunately didn't last long, however her capacity for long term secrets is definitely still in there, something she got from Ford.

First Major Project - Research post 1/3

apologies for how late this is, i take a lot of notes, writing up research properly always feels wasteful, this is my research page on three short films and how they have influenced my writing.

three sections, three shorts.



PLURALITY
Directed by: Dennis Liu
Written by: Ryan Condal
Produced by: Jonathan Hsu, Dennis Liu
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzryBRPwsog

a short about an over-networked, over-controlled NYC, following a futuristic detective specializing in "pluralities", examples of more than one instance of a person, slightly dystopian in tone, an interesting watch, with some interesting questions regarding social media and government powers relating to networking.

What I really like about this film is its tone, and its pace, if there's one thing I had hoped I would take from it, it would be its pacing, its constantly moving, this is something i hope to incorporate in my own script, its ability to constantly shift locations and focus, another thing I tried to incorporate is its colours, the slightly blue tinted colour creates this brilliant futuristic mis en scene, as blue tinting usually does.



SALON SHOOTOUT
Written and Directed by Thomas Ridgewell 
Cinematography by Ciaran O’Brien
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUniJxIe2YI

Salon Shootout is a short comedy film about an agent hunting aliens who work in a salon, things degenerate into a shootout. the comedy comes from its puns, almost every line from the main character is a pun, its parodies several different genres of film in one sitting.

from this I had hoped to have taken its comedy timing and self awareness, for a good dramedy like the kind im trying to write, timing is key, self awareness doubly so. This film knows its silly, it knows its cliched and it knows its story is paper-thin, and that kind of self awareness is something I need my film to come across as.



SUBSTANCE
Written and directed by Ben Green.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwX6CzrLVak

 Substance is the story of two young friends, one who takes care of the other far too much, the other having some serious drink and drug issues, generally its a heartrending short, emotional and poignant.

I watched this film to help me get a better understanding of how younger relationships work, my own social life was strange between 17 and 20, partially non-existent and partially just plain weird, so watching shorts that converse about hard questions allows me to better understand how young people deal with tough situations, I was never good in social situations due to numerous issues and this film, and others helped me to figure out how to write someone in the weird gap in my social life.

Workshops summary

in relation to workshop tasks, this blog may seem rather light, I have one, maybe two posts about them, and that's because I missed several, and I forgot to capture my footage from the others, below is a breakdown of the workshop tasks that aren't on the blog at the moment, and what i learned from the ones I simply forgot to capture.

I missed:

two editing workshops

I forgot to capture:

two camera workshops

Camera workshops:

the primary reason for the camera workshops was to familiarize us with the equipment, and to help us think in terms of camera angles and the rules of visual storytelling, one workshop was indoors and the other outdoors. 

being fairly familiar with the rules of shooting, I mostly learned the ins and outs of the two primary types of camera that we use, and the audio equipment. the EX1's and the PMW's having had some experience with Sony HDV cameras, it was mostly about getting used to the weight and the helpful tools that are available in the camera's on-board software, the control layouts are fairly similar across the Sony range so I had no problems getting to grips with the equipment, Ferg' gave us some very useful information and I am extremely glad I didn't miss these workshops.

I'm glad for the opportunity to experiment, I vastly prefer working hand-held over tripod as the weight of the cameras allows for a lot of movement control, it counterweights some of your movements, smoothing them out to an extent that allows me the freedom to shoot handheld for the vast majority of the time, even zoomed in.

First Major Project - Post production retrospective.

this will be split into four parts, Planning, rough cut, fine cut, and F/X. I will explain what I did and how I did it.


Trail Panning

I started by drawing out a fairly basic plan of what I wanted show in the trailer, a mixture of a scene list and a storyboard, this became a step outline which eventually became my rough cut, during the step outline stage things changed a lot, i kept making revisions and changes even before putting it together.


Rough cut
editing the rough cut was fairly easy, i started by making myself a basic EDL, i went through each shot and labeled it either Gd or Bd, good or bad, then I imported the whole lot into Premier Pro.
I worked from my plan until i had a very rough sequence, I then went in and tidied the cuts up and isolated the shots which required FX additions, these I exported as MP4's so that Hitfilm 3 Express could access them.

Fine Cut
after having shown Simon my rough cut I went back out to do my reshoot, after my reshoot I followed a similar set of actions as for my rough, I went through and labeled each shot as either good or bad, before exploring how to integrate them into my existing sequence, this took several hours as at every point I felt that it didn't quite make the cut, eventually I found a sequence I liked, I integrated my FX shots and then started on fixing the sound, unfortunately a lot of my shots had audio noise of one form or another, some far worse than others, after that I exported the whole thing in its native MPEG 2 video, I then opened a new project and imported the sequence, I did this to save time during colour correction, I colour corrected everything and then set about re-framing my shots to exclude the dead rabbit(Wind sock) that snuck into the top right hand corner of my shots.

F/X

producing the Fx shots qwas one of the easiest and most annoying parts of post, I used two different programs, Hitfilm3 Express and Adobe After Effects. I used Hit film on the Alien fatial markings for the MIa character, and After effects for the explosive flash of light.

step by step,
I mocapped Nora's(Mia Maddeline's) face by way of her eyebrows and the corners of her mouth, this allowed me to mount the shape layer that was her facial makings to her face and have them move with it.-I used a single resource to remind me how to do this in Hit film.(LINK) I basically followed this process, once for each side of her face, to allow for her fatial movement as-well as head movements.

my other FX shot was the flash of light, I did this entirely in after effects and it shows how much more practice i need in that program, After effects is worse at motion tracking when compared to hit film, Period. so it looks rather bad in comparison to my other FX shot, unfortunately hit film express cannot generate lens flare, which is the effect process I used.

First Major Project - Production retrospective

this post will be split into four sections, outlining how shooting went on each day.

DAY 1 - Tues 10
on the first day of shooting we shot the secondary locations, due to previously mentioned issues, we started shooting at 6 pm and shot until about 7-8 pm, I realized only too late that, for an unknown reason one of the scenes we shot had no sound, in review of the footage i believe this was due to a compression error in the Mpeg 2 video files, numerous error messages were shown when capturing the footage to Premier pro regarding the rushes files, thankfully this was an isolated incident as the rest of the footage was captured correctly. due to the loss of my extras, an entire plot-pivotal scene had to be cut. this scene was not filmed today as it would have been if all had gone well.

DAY 2 - Weds 11
filming on Wednesday had to be cancelled due to several technical malfunctions, these where fixed by Thursday, however troubleshooting the issues took most of Wednesday evening.  the issues where regarding the clip mike and radio system, the radio system was un-synched, causing the receiver to not receive the signal from the transmitter.

DAY 3 - Thurs 12
the shoot on Thursday went relatively well, heavy winds impacted audio quality however the radio-mike was luckily free of distortion and noise, this does however reflect in the footage as the actor using the clip mike is perfectly clear, the other however isn't. I did have issues with my actor playing "the man", he, unlike my leads didn't take his role too seriously and at some points disrupted their performances by "taking the piss" a bit behind my back, this was annoying due to the extremely tight schedule we where working too. shooting eventually had to be stopped early due to even heavier winds and rain.

RESHOOT Day Thurs 26
the reshoot went extremely well, we managed to get all planned shoots done to a higher quality than previous shoots, this, i believe was due to the crew's experience and the even tighter schedule we had to keep, this was due to the cast's availability,  exactly one hour of shooting was done this day, as agreed beforehand. this was a very productive day.of all the shoot days I am most happy with how this shooting experience went when compared to the other shoot days, we were well-oiled and focused.

First Major Project- Review of Script feedback

I received my Script feedback on Wednesday the 11th, half way through shooting. Steve outlined some interesting ideas that I intend to integrate into my final script.

from a technical, formatting perspective my script was good, there were some small errors regarding the entry and exit from flashbacks, and, in relation to that, my lack of vigor when designing my non-linear narrative. I didn't provide enough detail when cutting between different points in the narrative, I wasn't specific enough with how i showed the audience that the time had changed.

He also said that i needed to better focus on my visual language, have a better idea of how I wanted to shoot the film and for my script to reflect that amount of fore-thought. this I especially agree with and will create a post relating directly to this major issue i have had with this entire project.

in regards to dialogue Steve felt that while my characters do speak properly in regards to their ages, the dialogue was a bit too functional, and that in some places my dialogue wasn't direct enough.

from the meeting with Steve I have decided the following about my dialogue:

• too much exposition
• not enough weird alien-ness from Mia
• not enough jokes
• more Mia being Mia (i needed to personify mia better)

MAJOR ISSUES

the opening scenes
both Steve and I had a problem with the opening scenes, i was never particularly happy with them but when I had a new perspective on them i realized what i had done wrong in particular in relation to them, I had been thinking far too practically. the opening scenes consist of(in this order) shots of the couple running, a flashback of the couple walking home from a club, and another, further flashback to before the club, waiting for a bus. i had decided on these because i had wanted to express that they where drunk, had a good time and that one, (Mia) had been feeling down about something earlier that day. i was thinking practically in that I had discounted the idea of a club scene during my idea phase because i wanted to avoid shooting a scene with so many extras in what could be a fairly expensive location.
however, having talked it over with Steve I have decided to re-write the opening section of the script to better reflect how it could have been.

the final scene.
I and Steve both agreed that my final scene was far too long and that i would have been better off splitting it in two, maybe at different locations, we also agreed that the ending was a bit to ambiguous and that it needed to be better defined in the final version.

story Vs character
I tried to tell too much, in too little time, the exposition went a little far and the emotion didn't go far enough, I need to be louder with the emotions of my characters and tone down the reasons behind events, i need not write a history book when writing a screenplay, if the events of the weekend have taught me anything, emotions are key.

post process personal schedule this week

MONDAY: AT HOME TODAY
EDITING: 10-17
 EDL's, Lighting, Colour correction, steady-shot.
SET UP PRINTER:18-20
 FINISH  PRODUCTION RETROSPECTIVE: 20-23
finish writing retrospective on production, (inc. issues bits)

TUESDAY: AT HOME and at ROCHESTER campus TODAY
EDITING 10-12
Busy 12-13,
 EDITING 14-19
WRITE SCRIPT FEEDBACK RETROSPECTIVE/SCAN NOTES FOR BLOG 20-23

WEDNESDAY: AT TV STUDIO TODAY
EDITING:10-13:00 (show Simon rough cut)
EDIT RETROSPECTIVE START: 14-16
QUICK DESIGN PROMO POSTER and BLOG ENTRIES 18-23

THURSDAY: ROCH CAMPUS
---BUSY WITH CONT STUDIES---

FRIDAY: AT HOME/STUDIO TODAY
EDITING: 10-12
EDITING: 13:30-17

First Major Project - Pre-production Retrospective

To start this post I will apologize for my lack of recent entries, for the last two weeks i have been focusing upon my work, and is it only now that i am fully recovered from the process.

the bulk of my pre-production process lasted between monday the 2nd and Thursday the 5th. during this period I sourced actors/crew, finalized the shooting script, schedule and generally made-ready for my shoot, previously I had booked my equipment and requested access to my locations. the following paragraphs will explore what I did during that week in relation to this project. (note I had found myself somewhat ill with a severe cold during this period)

• CAST AND CREW- MY primary foci for the week were two-fold, properly confirming the actors/crew i had already, and finding actors to complete my cast, both of these where done fairly promptly, having already figured out my schedule it came down to simply making sure that the persons involved where fully briefed, including having a copy of the script and shooting schedules. I did have some trouble finding my two leads, however by Thursday evening I had both confirmed and briefed. unfortunately i could only find one backup lead, this lead to issues later on, during the production process. My final workforce was due to consist of the following: two lead actors, four extras/runners, one camera and one sound.

• SCHEDULING- I had planned to shoot across three days for approximately two hours a day, split in half by a short break for refreshments, this method was chosen due to the timing issues I ran into, see HERE for more info on timing. while my shoot was split over three days it was actually split into two parts, part one, which was shot on Tuesday the 10th, and part two which was to be shot on Wednesday and Thursday that week. my reasons follow, I had one primary location where the bulk of my script is set, i thine have several smaller, secondary locations within very easy reach of each other, the primary location was to be shot over the two day period and the secondary locations, on the first, single day period.

• SHOT LISTING- this was of a lower priority compared to preparing the practicalities of the shoot, and received little attention when compared. this was a mistake because it meant that i didn't have a clear focus, if i had listed better then the production workflow would have been drastically more time-economical. Anyway my shot lists for each shoot day where fairly simple, and rough, a basic outline of how and what I wanted to shoot on each day in each day in relation to the scenes I was planning on shooting, I kept it rough because of my experience with things going wrong, while i had accounted for most uncontrollable events, I had no preconceptions as to how much can go wrong on a small scale shoot, by keeping it simple and not micromanaging I hoped i would be able to get around any small, on the day issues.

• ISSUES ENCOUNTERED AFTER PRE-PRODUCTION, BEFORE PRODUCTION- I had serious casting and scheduling issues, the first appeared early friday morning, I lost two of my extras(the third had to cancel later on) due to deadline constraints(the mistake of using students as actors), on friday I left for home, a weekend away from the stress to take my mind of things, when I returned from my time away, I had lost my backup lead and one of my primary lead actors, I re-cast the character late monday evening, after having run out of options, I cast my boom operator as Shaz.
• the second major issue reared its head monday evening, this changed the proposed technical quality greatly, I had to scrap my early shoot times completely due to the inability of my cast to arrive at the required time for the day-for-night shooting blocks as scheduled.

First Major Project - scheduling and shooting

I have now decided how I am going to shoot the trailer to the script that I have recently been working on, due to the settings being mostly Night and Twilight as far as timing goes I intend to shoot day-for-night primarily, shooting between when the streetlights come on and when the sun finishes setting, this means that I have an an incredibly tight window per-night, between an hour and two hours per shooting day. I also have planned a contingency(if I have to over-run) that consists of a jury-rigged lighting mechanism, if I where to use the contingency I would normally  have to re-shoot using the new lighting conditions, however I plan on shooting using both lighting systems every night, allowing me to choose in post which lighting rig I prefer.

I have researched the twilight times for my shooting day,s and the best and most complete of my sources describes the times as below, (LINK)
I am basing my shoot times on  sundown times and the end of NAUTICAL twilight hours as listed below, these are for london so I am negating by about 20 mins when compared to these times due to the difference in location.

so my SHOOT TIMES are as below(NOTE ARRIVAL  AND DEPARTURE TIMES WILL DIFFER TO SHOOT TIMES, THESE TIMES DO NOT ALLOW FOR SET UP AND PACK DOWN)
-----SHOOT 01----SHOOT 02
10th 16:00-17:35 18:00-19:00
11th 16:00-17:34 18:00-19:00
12th 16:00-17:33 18:00-19:00

First Major Project- planning the shoot Part 01

below will be a list of different tasks that I must complete before I can shoot my script

tasks:
book equipment for dates: 10th-13th --DONE
plan shoots for dates 10-13th NOT COMPLETE------------- TBD Fri 30th
SHOT LIST: NOT COMPLETE
PERMISSIONS: NOT COMPLETE-------------------------------TBD Fri 30th
E-MAIL PERMISSION REQUEST------------------TBD Fri 30th before 23:59
wrangle artists/crew: ----------------------------------TBD Fri 6th
A: 2 confirmed, 1 possible/6
(Leads: .5/2 extras:2/4 )
C: 1/2.5
(Director, boom, warden/extra?)
storyboards for quick sequences: -----------------------TBD MON 1st

more to be added later.

First Major Project- scriptwriting retrospective

its the 28th of October, I have pretty much finished my script, this page will be a review of my experiences and some of the resources I have found to help me outside of lectures.

I started writing my script almost exactly two weeks ago, i worked from my step outline/moment outline as seen in the last post, having already visualised my moments, combining them into a script was a relatively prompt task.

my creative method in relation to writing can be expressed below:

ideas
first start with an idea, be it an idea for a scene or a narrative or even a simple concept, in this case I found my concept by chance, "what if my Best Friend is an alien" then i invented characters, normal idea stuff happens here(see idea generation posts)

visualisation
visualisation is where I sit and visualise how the characters interact, i play with them place them in situations so as to get a better understanding of them, I then pre-vis mentally the sequence of events as they happen(going for a walk is a good thing to do to help this along). I do this several times to get a clear idea of what I want to show, how I want the characters to act etc.

ordering VIS
I then organise my pre-vised scenes into a recognisable moment/step outline.

writing the script
when writing my script I used a combination of programmes, I wrote the bulk of the script using Celtx, the cloud-based script writing tool, I went through several drafts at this stage, the next stage was proofreading, I asked a friend to proof read and help me correct any grammatical mistakes there almost certainly would be*. my last stages have been to reformat the script into something I could import to Final draft, re draft it after printing and re-reading again, another quick grammar check and then final print. when I say final, I mean nearly final, My script, even though handed in will likely receive further revisions and drafts, currently on my seventh, expect to be on my tenth by the end of the week.
edits
during the writing process several different changes were made to my final antagonists, the shady organisation. at first i imagined it as a shady earth-based group, but then my ideas shifted, so that by the time of shooting the film they had morphed into an alien organisation with nazi overtones that stops aliens who have "gone native" from returning to the wider community, this made more sense in-setting.

*NOTE:
I have rather a blind spot for certain sorts of grammar, word-ish grammar in particular. I can use punctuation i just constantly use the wrong your's wethers and were's.

below is some examples online resources I have used, these generally relate to formatting rather than Idea generation or character design, these do not include the resources provided by UCA and Simon, of which I am very grateful.
Scriptologist -
writers Room- BBC
Simply Scripts
Story Sense

First Major Project: a moment list/step outline of the first draft of my script, also location reconnaissance notes

the image below depicts the step outline/moment list of the first draft of my script, this was completed weeks ago however, it is only now being uploaded upon the second iteration of my script. this list was originally produced in the App, S-memo and has been retrieved from my defunct Smart phone with great effort.

location reconnaissance notes



I chose my locations based upon what i know, I never formally re-conned my location, in that i never went there especially to take photographs,  I chose locations that I was familiar with, and I did collate notes on each of the locations, these location notes can be seen below. the reason I chose to do this was purely an attempt to not over complicate things.

(SCAN of hand-taken notes HERE)

Trailer Design Workshop - Soft

we have been asked to create trailers for the short film Soft (Written and directed by Simon Ellis) using footage from the film and music of our own choice.

My trailer can be found embedded below:

P.S I must apologize for the lack of updates this past week, I have been very tired recently, rest assured that normal service will soon be resumed.

First Major Project- Enhanced character sheet. Mia Madeline

First Major Project- Enhanced character sheet.

Mia Madeline
(Mia, Mai,)
student of languages, strange accent, interested in enjoying her life.

tends to do things without premeditation, intelligent but a little derpy sometimes, enjoys walking about and watching earth stuff, loves parties and traveling, currently on gap year.
Mia is generally polite but seems to use weird colloquialisms or anachronisms in conversation.
Mia tends to take on the role of the "Monster", often doing things for her own gain or entertainment, however there's some subjects that Mia wont touch, or harm, these are her friends, her planet or her past.

Mia And Sheryl are in a long term relationship, it's strained by Mia's inability to open up. she cant or wont talk about her past except in stories or vague generalities, Mia Loves Sheryl, She's conflicted as to whether she can tel Sheryl her past and whether Sheryl will accept her for who she is.

Who Is Mia?, really?

interview-style character introduction

in an attempt to better get-to-know my characters I have staged an internalized interview with myself playing both the character and interviewer, i have done this so i can better understand how my characters talk, think and interact.

[interview commenced 18th November, 2016, Mia Madeline and N. Vossler]

Mia Madeline: can we get started soon?, its really hot in here.

N.Vossler:(Sure, We're good to go whenever you are.)

MM:Great, after Sher told me about this interview thing i was rather cold about it you know?, not really into it, especially after she told me what you asked, anyway. So, I'm Mia Madeline, and I'm from a small blue-white planet near alpha proxima.

NV:(just tell us anything you want, its not every day I get to interview an Alien,)

Okay, So I was born on Orillia, I'm 21 earth years old-ish and I moved here for my gap year.

(your gap year?)

Mm-Hm, Gap year, a bit of backstory, we love earth entertainment, the whole local group* does, we watch it all, pretty much, except ITV 3, we don't really like all the hoity-toity, anti-froodiness of the channel.
*the local group is the area around which three species(apparently) made contact with each other at around the same time.
(Froodiness?)

Its like this, a frood is a pretty chill person, a person who's relaxed, the word itself's interesting, it actually comes from a TV show, one of the first we aliens got.

(so, Likes and dislikes, better get back on track, there's so much to talk about but we don't really have time)

Basically I like earth, you folks are crazy, evolving on a rock with active tectonics!, crazy, and then?, calling it earth!. I really love it here, cant get enough.

(what about your favorite earth drink)

Can it be fictitious?

(probably not.)

then I don't really have one, takes me where my mood is, you know?, its about the flavor of the bar, some Pubs just taste wrong, you know?, like a jelly bean thats been coated in arsenic.

(that's... interesting, so your species tastes air then?)

its a bit more than that. but yer, its a combination really of our taste buds and our gut feeling to coin a local idiom.

(what about appearance, how do you look without makeup?)

well, my species, we have UV reflective patterns across our bodies, otherwise we look like you, sure we have taste buds inside our noses instead of chemical receptors but, to be honest, evolution loves to find the most efficient design, so, here we are.

(interesting, well that's all we have time for, perhaps a followup interview is in order.)

First Major Project- Enhanced character sheet Sheryl Sapiets

First Major Project- Enhanced character sheet.

Sheryl Sapiets:

(Sher, Sherry)

Artist, philosophy student, INTELLIGENT, self conscious.

likes to go out for walks along the seafront, contemplate life, chilled but enjoys a Night out every-so-often.
wears hoodies, harem pants tank-tops etc. when going out goes UV to the brim with big boots, loud colors, tempered by dark's and blacks.
in the short, Sheryl takes on the role of the "Woman" primarily, She has to make a choice, to stay and run with Mia, Or to leave and never see Mia again.



Who Is Sheryl?, really?

interview-style character introduction

in an attempt to better get-to-know my characters I have staged an internalized interview with myself playing both the character and interviewer, i have done this so i can better understand how my characters talk, think and interact.

[interview commenced 17th November, 2016, Sheryl Sapiets and N. Vossler]

Sheryl Sapiets:
,... Are you ready?,...okay,..

N.Vossler:...(you can go whenever)

SS: Hi, My Name's Sheryl, Sher to my friends, Sherry when i'm Drunk,...sorry, Bad Joke,..sort of. urm, Well, I studied philosophy, and I'm interested in psychology and literature,... basically i just read a lot, people or books,.. and i sometimes go for walks along the seafront.

NV: (So where did you study?)

 I studied In Manchester, originally from Bristol-way, I had to leave in the end.

(did it not feel like home?)

It did, it still is home in many ways, it just didn't feel like a good place to study, too many memories from school i guess, I couldn't get comfortable after I finished.

(did you like Manchester?)

Manchester was the greatest, it was such an experience, I had never been in a big, big, city before. so It was all new to me. God!, I used to people watch so much, i would order a mohito at this Gay pub, the purple cherry, sit outside and watch the people go on with their lives, its great imagining stories about them you know?

(We're getting a little off topic, lets move on to your appearance, obviously you don't wear your current apparel every day.)

NO, this is my party outfit, I love the neon and black look when i'm out clubbing, you just caught me on a bad day, god, if i wore this every day.. it would take hours, you know what I mean?.

(favourate drink?)

Don't really have one, I  buy Mohito when I can, but, yea I don't really have a favorite drink you know?, go with the flow, you know?... sorry about that I sometimes rhyme, its not deliberate but it happens sometimes.

(not at all, im going to get a bit personal now, what are your relations with Maia Madeline?)

...[SS remains silent at this point]

(we do have all day...)

Okay, First off, its Mia, Not Maia, second I dont know why its any of your business, she's just my friend, we met just after I moved down here to Brockton*, she was new to the area, I was new to the Area, we hit it off after that, ask her yourself if your so interested.
*[Brockton on Midway, district of Midway, Kent, UK]

(Why did you move to the Midway Area?)

Jobs up north are few and far between for a philosophy student, sure there's Manchester Library but not much else, I moved here for the job market, stayed for the area, I' love it here.

(Thank you Very much Ms Sapiets, We'll get back to you when the show is ready for air as is stipulated in your contract.)

The reasons for the format above are threefold, If i am to write a character convincingly I need to know how they think and feel, I need to be able to jump into their shoes at a moments notice, so getting their profile in the form of an interview does wonders for my understanding of how my characters talk, how they respond. and how I can communicate their psyche to the audience.

First Major Project: Pitch Stuff, 25 words etc.

New 25 Words final:
"my girlfriends an alien, and i just found out."
A graduate student, tugged into a world of aliens and intrigue by her partner, must decide to stay, or go.

info:
genre: Romcom/drama
length: 10 mins
trailer, not first 2 mins

Key location

Rochester old docks,  key location.

The vast majority of events happen on a bench, a bench on the waterfront/quay, i chose this because its the sort of place that can be between places, a place where you can stop and rest, just enjoy the day or night. in this case I'm using a waterfront location to signify, (after the revelation) just how alone the main characters are.
practically the old Docks are perfect, loads of places where i can shoot "from the river" without a boat due to the shape of the waterfront.

CHARACTERS

Mia:
(Mi, Mia, Mai)
student of languages, strange accent, interested in enjoying her life, tends to do things without premeditation, intelligent but a little derpy sometimes, enjoys walking about and watching earth stuff, loves parties and traveling, currently on gap year, Mia is generally polite but seems to use weird colloquialisms or anachronisms in conversation.
Mia has been seen wearing skinny jeans or Jeggings with T-shirts, full goth gear, harajuku style clothes, she doesn't have a specific style, she seems to be trying to find one.

Mia Madeline, (UV reflective bits not visible)

Sheryl:

(Sher, Sherry)

Artist, philosophy student, INTELLIGENT, self conscious.

likes to go out for walks along the seafront, contemplate life, chill but enjoy a night out.

Sheryl was born in Bristol, moved to Manchester and studied philosophy, psychology and literature in college before eventually settling on art for university.

she talks with a mostly clear accent with a hint of Devon and Yorkshire.

when stressed falls back on sarcasm, can be a bit rude at times of high stress.

basic idea of Sheryl's look.

OLD 25 words experimental:

"my Girlfriend's an alien, and I just found out"
two characters, they're attacked, one is revealed to be an alien, drama  from half truths and lies. cliffhanger at the end.

First Major Project: Research for Ideas in relation to characterization of aliens

 (BBC)Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy ep01

The title screen to The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

I watched the hitchikers guide to the galaxy during my idea accumulation phase, I examined ford prefect especially, his character is fairly interesting, his slightly alien outlook on life and the way he's characterized by  David Dixon. 

I focused on his demeanor, how he talks and thinks, slightly out of phase with the rest of the scene, a quiet intensity, and consistent good cheer. He does however have a darker side, his alien-ness means that while the earth is about to be demolished he doesn't tell anyone, waits until the last day and tells Arthur just before the end of the earth, he seems comes across as self centered however looking deeper this is simply his character seeping through, the demolition of earth is like the demolition of a small house in a village a hundred miles away, he's just on earth, a visitor, and he doesn't really seem to care.- this exemplifies how inconsequential earth is to the rest of the galaxy.

David Dixon as Ford Prefect

technically speaking ford prefect is a vehicle for exposition, for world building,, a character to explain to the audience and  Arthur whats going on. as a character he's an archetypal monster, cares little for the benefit of others outside life and death situations. he's the sort of character you'd enjoy during the good times,a character that would save your life, but only yours, otherwise hes self centered and seems to be a little bit millennial. 

(BBC)Dr Who ep1 (2015)

Dr Who Logo

I also examined the current incarnation of The Doctor(played by Peter Capaldi) from Dr who. to see the other end of the spectrum, both the doctor and ford are similar, and yet almost polar opposites, they're both self centered, the doctor is intelligent, good, sarcastic, witty and angry, has a deep self loathing, and will help. he's not the most archetypal person, but yet a monster all the same.

Peter Capaldi as The Doctor

from a technical perspective, the doctor is the main character, he's a hero and a monster at the same time, its interesting how well this works, since the 50th anniversary special his motivation to continue living has been to try and find Galifrey, he no-longer feels remorse and sadness for destroying Galifrey, he now knows that  the planet's lost and he knows he cant possibly search for it, space is too big. so he feels a white hot self hatred, its a really interesting take on a classic character.

I looked at these two characters and TV shows primarily to help in the creation of Mia Madeline, I had a vague idea before hand of how I wanted her character. I used these two characters to decide how i wanted her to express her alien origins, how she speaks and walks, how she's presented as a character.

Public Service Broadcast: formatting changes

I Will no-longer be referencing Kubrick films in my titles, I'm sorry but i have to be practical.
this is en external and marked blog, so i'm sorry if you where reading only for the Kubrick references, they stop now.
...
again, Sorry.
...
BUT, for everyone else, I have GOOD NEWS!, and that is that  i can now assure you that my blog is almost exactly 45% more navigable, with clearly marked mast heads and whatnot, so, enjoy my blog and have a lovely evening, day, or even night of your reading this at 3AM.
I'm Niki Vossler, and we're done here...

Oh, and expect my research to be expanded upon in the next update, i showed a little of my work in the idea source update, however I still need to explain(to myself and you) what influenced me from the three online shorts that i watched, I know something did, I'm just not quite sure what yet, ideas tend to blend in my head.

yours,
Niki V

First Major Project: Idea sources, where i got my ideas.

research still TBA

when having Ideas I tend to mental mind map, I'll work through several different possible plots/stories/moments until i decide what elements i want to use and integrate into my step outline/timeline.

so here's the half formed ideas that resulted in the last post.

"police procedural"
from the moment i got the brief i'v wanted to do sci-fy, i thought about where i could film and came up with this, a very simple single camera drama involving two GCHQ cyber-crime operatives, this idea was no-noed when i released that cybercrime is boring and i couldn't really create good conflict without straying too far from the breif, would have resulted in something more like the first ten mins of a procedural, rather than a complete story. i did incorporate the sci-fy elements into my final story however the tone is completely different.

"the artist and the poet"
idea first appeared after an interesting conversation with the cleaner who came to do our kitchen when i was off sick, very intelligent guy, a poet in his free time, we talked of life the universe and everything as i made my lunch. so an idea based upon a real conversation, good idea.... not good for conflict, interesting diualogue, probably would have been Tarantino-esque, but it would not have been a real story, could've been but, in the end i decided to incorporate the artist character into my final text.

in the end i decided to look back at my life and decided to go with what i knew, relationships breaking from secrets, so that's my B story, my A story is fairly bland, get attacked, run away etc. so it might be a comedy, might not we'll see how i write it, the tone will come naturally so i dont really think i can say at this point.

influences(+ 1 research item):

Dr Who

(new series ep2 opening scene in particular)
on a more general note, Im influenced by Dr who because of its current tone, the last series and the new series, Dr who has been rather sarcastic in a comedic sense while also remaining dramatic, like the series block casting Matt smith as the doctor, which was silly and dramatic most of the time.

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy(TV series and film[research item])

the first scene containing Arthur Dent, this was an influencing scene, i wondered where could i go from there, rather than the mostly surreal and slightly silly nature of HHGTTG. I wondered how could finding out your best friend is an alien effect your relationship, in fact how could finding out your LOVER is an alien effect your relationship, the idea grew after i had an image of a scene, a moment that worked really well, it was then that i decided that this was my final idea, would be the one that I would use. so yes, this influenced me a lot.

Steve's stories about how he writes and his lectures we've had so far

Steve comes across as a bewildered middle aged writer, he isnt bewildered and he Is intelligent and sharp as broken glass, his talk on moments reminded me of the importance of good story, how one remembers the moments within a story, as well as the plot etc. but more importantly he showed us the out-liers, how you can break the rules and still make a good story or scene, writing isn't only about the trade-craft its also about people... but dont forget the tradecraft.

The boat that rocked

having watched the boat that rocked on the weekend i was reminded why a good secondary or tertiary plot is extremely important, this happened because i watched the american cut after having watched only the UK cut several times, point is this: in the US version they cut an entire scene about Twat(with two tees) infiltrating the boat, destroying a major part of the under-plot, a moment that foreshadows the engine of the boat exploding, removing the build up for the dramatic moment. In the UK cut quite a few conversations between Ser allister and Twat often reference the awful shape that the titular boat is in, also foreshadowing the engine explosion and sinking. without the foreshadowing the film is much, much worse. this taught me to show and foreshadow more than anything, giving the audience a taste of the characters etc.

First Major Project: Story, Narrative and Plot ideas

coming soon: research notes

story, narrative and plot
here i will attempt to explain my ideas regarding my story, my plot and my narrative.

story:
Sheryl's girlfriend is hiding a terrible secret and through a series of unfortunate and fortunate events, the secret will be revealed to Sheryl and, unfortunately "the suits", a paramilitary organisation interested in unforeseen and unexplainable things.

plot:
Sheryl and her girlfriend, Mia are returning home from a house party,
they're assaulted by a gang of thugs looking for "a good time",
a flash of light and the two are running through the streets, they rest at the riverside (quay?).
Sheryl puts Mia on the spot, to explain how she incapacitated the gang.
mia comes clean with Sheryl, explaining who she "really" is and where she's from.(this takes up the bulk of the script, includes brief flashbacks to when Sheryl and Mia met.)
Sheryl doesn't believe until Mia shows her some interesting things,
suddenly rotor blades can be heard, an argument ensues and Sheryl has to decide, to run with Mia or to run alone.
the two run away, together.
after they're gone two suits show up and examine the bench, remarking upon where the girls might be.
end.
I am thinking of making the final edit nonlinear because it allows us as the audience to start pretty much at the bench.

Narative:
I'm using narrative in relation to the sub story, the story of two lovers who's relationship has been damaged due to the half lies and diversions of one of the couple.

Sheryl and Mia's relationship has been on the rocks recently,(this is mostly due to Mia's reticence

to open up about her past and her paranoia about Sheryl still loving her after revealing the truth)over the course of the bench portion of the film, stressed and frightened,  Mia and Sheryl air out a lot of dirty laundry, and in the process Mia comes clean about her origins, shaking Sheryl's worldview, they're about to "kiss and make up" when they're interrupted by the suits, after running away the story is left open, do Mia and Sheryl have a wholesome relationship?, or do they break further apart because of the ensuing drama.

quote of the day:

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."

"Very deep," said Arthur, "you should send that in to the Reader's Digest. They've got a page for people like you."

-Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.


film of the day:

The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy(2005)

First Major Project: Character Biography: Mia Madeline

Mia Madeline
(Mia, Mai,)
student of languages, strange accent, interested in enjoying her life, tends to do things without premeditation, intelligent but a little derpy sometimes, enjoys walking about and watching earth stuff, loves parties and traveling, currently on gap year, Mia is generally polite but seems to use weird colloquialisms or anachronisms in conversation.
Mia has been seen wearing skinny jeans or Jeggings with T-shirts, full goth gear, harajuku style clothes, she doesn't have a specific style, she seems to be trying to find one.

Mia is a Hero-Monster as defined by Steve, She's driven by her own wants, but doesn't/cant express herself properly due to her past and home. she's definitely a monster and maybe and existential hero,... maybe.

Mia walks into a bar(or pub) alone:
she orders whatever the most popular drink is then sits wherever hoping for an interesting conversation.

Mia walks into a bar(or pub) with a friend:
she tries a new cocktail every time, trying to find one she likes before the night ends, never seems to get verry drunk though

Mia bag is stolen in the street
she maces them and runs

Mia goes shopping:
she looks at everything, everytime, even though she may have been to the same shop the day before.

First Major Project: Character biography: Sheryl

 my ideas boil down to XXXREDACTEDXXX

this is what i have so far as far as characters, coming soon is Mia Madeline(2nd character) story and plot so far posts.

anyway, so characters, who are they and what are they like, who do they like and why do they do things....

Sheryl:

(Sher, Sherry)

Artist, philosophy student, INTELLIGENT, self conscious.

likes to go out for walks along the seafront, contemplate life, chill but enjoy a night out.

Sheryl was born in Bristol, moved to Manchester and studied philosophy, psychology and literature in college before eventually settling on art for university.

she talks with a mostly clear accent with a hint of Devon and Yorkshire.

when stressed falls back on sarcasm, can be a bit rude at times of high stress.

Sheryl is the woman in this situation, she has to choose, to stay with Mia or to leave and remain safe, she stays.

situation experiments

wears hoodies, harem pants tank-tops etc. when going out goes UV to the brim with big boots, loud colores tempered by dark's and blacks.

sheryl walks into a bar(or pub) alone:

she orders a mohito then sits outside to people watch

sheryl walks into a bar(or pub) with a friend:

she orders something similar to her friend, they chat and have a fairly normal bar experience.

Sheryl's bag is stolen in the street

she checks her pockets for her phone, then heads home while trying to remember the situation and decide what to say to the police.

sherryl goes shopping:

she feels awkward every time her card is declined, enjoys clothes shopping but hates grocery shopping. 

A short opinion and technical piece on the film momento(2000:a Memento Odyssey)

the film Memento, a retrospective(?)
(here there be dragons)

Anyway, the film memento is a rather good film,characterization was good, liked the setting, loved the nonlinear plot design, didn't like the characters, the characters where all pretty normal, sure one guy has a memory issue, but that doesn't make up for the lack of characterization otherwise, the characters weren't 2D, they just didn't feel all that interesting, the memory guy has an excuse, he physically cant develop as a character, but the others...

the big problem with the film is also my favorite part, the nonlinear story, instead of watching people develop we're watching people get revealed, who they are etc, not who they want to be or who they used to be.

there's also my issue with the story's message, it doesn't do much social commentary however the commentary we get is this: "everyone is out for themselves and only themselves,... except for the one guy who tried to help our main character and got himself killed", the only real social commentary is something along the lines of dont bother trying to help those in need of help which doesn't mesh well with my worldview, I guess it could be a commentary on how trying to help often explodes in your face but that's a discussion for another time.

EDIT: after having looked at the film again from a different angle, i will say that from a technical perspective, this nonlinear form is something i would like to experiment with during my project, that way i can start at the meeting and then jump back to the inciting incident that sets off the events of my film.

so as a final thought: I enjoyed the film but dont particularly agree with its messages all that much, however it is worth watching again and it is a rather good film.

quote of the day:
“Murphy’s Law doesn’t meant that something bad will happen. It means that whatever can happen, will happen.”—Cooper, Interstellar

Film of the day:
Memento(OBVSL)

WORKSHOP TASK (A CLOCKWORK IDEA)

IMAGINEERING WORKSHOP, 23 SEP 2015
BREIF: to design a short film based upon three randomized details(in this case, the location of a country road, a retired naval officer and a plumber.)

PITCH:
Short Comedy, Susanne, Ret. Naval officer arrives at a closed road, at which is Bob, Plumber they argue until Susanne decides to relax and enjoy life.(as cars pile up behind the closed road sign)

conflict: closed road, destination
characters: susanne and bob
result: Susanne relaxes finally
motivation:
Susanne: getting somewhere by road
Bob: working/on break.

IMAGES:

Niki Vossler Or: How I learned to start worrying and escape a fugue.

Foreword: Apologies for grammar, spelling or Caps issues, this is a blog, a professionally slanted blog, but a blog all the same.

professionally and mentally I am scared, tired and excited all at the same time.

this last year between my time at Wiltshire college and my soon to be course at Rochester has been an eye opening experience, i have lost much but I have gained insight. throughout the course of the year I have attempted to create works with other people, friends, relatives etc. this has not worked, contributing factors are wide ranging, from geographical distance to being disinclined to communicate(with me) after the end of my college career.

in this industry one works mostly upon good relations with ones peers, i knew this before, however after being physically and mentally isolated it takes upon a new meaning. being excited about the coming term i have realised what i had been lacking after the finality of my college career, and that was my passion, when entering college and throughout the vast majority I  had a passion for this vocation and I had been optimistic of my future, I lost this however it has returned with the new year.

"this year has definitely not been in vain." is the message the above is meant to convey, while I have had little practical experience over the last year, I have had much time to review content by others, not just for their entertainment value but to analyse and explore their nuances and to review their creation. at this point I feel unready to begin this course, mostly because of the lack of professional growth over the last months.

A brief on me:
My name is Niki, I have a passion for the moving image, my favourite shot is the MCU(followed by the EW), I find the art of montage fascinating and beautiful, i prefer models plus chroma key over CGI models and I believe that Strauss is the best way to hear the movement of objects in space. I Like the Film AVATAR despite its simplistic plot, I am entertained by the film Titanic in the same vein, I prefer The Big Lebowlsky over The Maltese Falcon because the dude abides in a Neo-Noir, and I like interstellar because of its commentary of how our grandchildren are going to see us(I love interstellar for its use of montage and its mis-en-sine). finally i respect the transformers franchise because they do what they where meant to do(sell toys and Merch) despite their artistic quality.

Television wise, I don't like Game of thrones(no matter how addicted i am as of the end of season five) I enjoy Breaking bad because of its black as night comedy and semi-demi-realistic portrail of methanthetamine, I find hell on wheels intriguing because of its setting and characterisation, I re watch battlestar galactica at least once a year because I'm still impressed by the characterisation and its social commentary.

Below is myShowreel, below that is a link to my youtube page, my catalogue of work is split between that which I have uploaded and that which is linked to thrugh a playlist.

I've been Niki Vossler.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZMXhWR5oV9Xu4G9x-3wT7Q


Film of the week: Grand Theft Auto(1977)

quote of the week:
  “When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons, what the hell am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!”- Cave Johnson