Check out my People On The Move film!
And subscribe to my YouTube channel - Lennon Media Productions!
Speak soon!
Monday, 12 December 2011
People on the Move - Deadline day!
Our People On The Move project deadline finally arrived on Monday. We all managed to get our films in and to celebrate we got to watch everyone's films in the afternoon. I found watching all of the different films really interesting and it allowed me to see how other people make films. I liked the fact that we were able to give all of the groups feedback from their films; for example we spoke about favourite shots and also special effects that some people used. I was able to learn more about editing through watching all of this films because I saw things that I didn't know were possible or didn't know how to do.
This day made the whole experience of our first filming assignment complete. I liked being able to sit at the front of the group and talk about our film because some people may not have understood what was going on. We seemed to get a very good response, not only from our lecturers but also our peers. I appreciated the applause at the end and it was like a weight was lifted because we had finally completed something.
I felt a sense of relief but I was also sad that the process was over because I have enjoyed working with new people and learning new skills. I know that after Christmas our next assignment will be just as fun and will probably turn out better because we have now had practice!
I enjoyed the camera workshop and the editing workshop because I feel that I learned a lot from these. I have never used the Sony Z1 cameras before or the Avid Editing software - so I tried to absorb everything I could. Learing to use editing software was my big worry; but after the workshop and some practice I found that it wasn't too hard to get the hang of.
Editing was a lengthy process because we had to digitise the tapes, but once we got in to a rhythm as a group (well the ones that turned up!) we found it very enjoyable!
Choosing a song was the last thing that we had to do for People On The Move. This was tricky because we had to find something that matched the pace of the walking in the film and also the editing. We eventually found something that really complimented the piece. You will find out soon enough what the song was and what our film is like. I will try and upload the film on to my blog, if not I will link to it on Youtube. Coming soon anyway, keep a look out!
Speak soon!
This day made the whole experience of our first filming assignment complete. I liked being able to sit at the front of the group and talk about our film because some people may not have understood what was going on. We seemed to get a very good response, not only from our lecturers but also our peers. I appreciated the applause at the end and it was like a weight was lifted because we had finally completed something.
I felt a sense of relief but I was also sad that the process was over because I have enjoyed working with new people and learning new skills. I know that after Christmas our next assignment will be just as fun and will probably turn out better because we have now had practice!
I enjoyed the camera workshop and the editing workshop because I feel that I learned a lot from these. I have never used the Sony Z1 cameras before or the Avid Editing software - so I tried to absorb everything I could. Learing to use editing software was my big worry; but after the workshop and some practice I found that it wasn't too hard to get the hang of.
Editing was a lengthy process because we had to digitise the tapes, but once we got in to a rhythm as a group (well the ones that turned up!) we found it very enjoyable!
Choosing a song was the last thing that we had to do for People On The Move. This was tricky because we had to find something that matched the pace of the walking in the film and also the editing. We eventually found something that really complimented the piece. You will find out soon enough what the song was and what our film is like. I will try and upload the film on to my blog, if not I will link to it on Youtube. Coming soon anyway, keep a look out!
Speak soon!
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Making a game!
Carrying on with the work that we were set in Contemporary Media Issues; we were asked to create a Prezi that explains our game so we could present it to the class. I decided to create one that was only text based so that we could just explain everything properly to the class. The strange thing about our game is that we do not really have any visual representations that we could show except internet sourced imaged of what it may look like. The Prezi has details of everything you need to know to play our game - Chutes and Catapults. Here is the link:
http://prezi.com/iziqtjpm3kbo/chutes-and-catapults/
Speak soon!
http://prezi.com/iziqtjpm3kbo/chutes-and-catapults/
Speak soon!
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Our Stop Motion Animation!
Our Stop Motion Animation is now complete after around 5 hours of work in total, which is amazing! We have worked really well on this project as group: myself, Ashleigh and Gemma. Obviously the process is very tedious but we powered through because we thought our story was really different and hopefully everyone will like it when we present them sometime next week.
For the Stop Motion we used my Canon EOS 1100D DLSR camera, a tripod and a hell of a lot of patience! I just used a regular setting on my camera so that it would adjust itself to the lighting we had, this caused some issues because now and again he just wouldn't play along! For the back drop we just used a black sheet of paper which lines a table and the wall behind. This was used so we could have a plain background and the camera would pick up the characters and props easily. This also allowed us to film on two separate days in two separate locations, giving the process a break in the middle (which was much needed). What we now need to do is put all the images on the computer in University and put them together to create the one minute story. This coming week we are having a lesson on how to do this and I am looking forward to it! Because once I learn this, I will then be able to create Stop Motions of my own for my portfolio and leisure.
Here are some photographs from the shoot, it shows where we had the set and camera placed.
Our little spoon drama - That's a wrap!
Speak soon!
For the Stop Motion we used my Canon EOS 1100D DLSR camera, a tripod and a hell of a lot of patience! I just used a regular setting on my camera so that it would adjust itself to the lighting we had, this caused some issues because now and again he just wouldn't play along! For the back drop we just used a black sheet of paper which lines a table and the wall behind. This was used so we could have a plain background and the camera would pick up the characters and props easily. This also allowed us to film on two separate days in two separate locations, giving the process a break in the middle (which was much needed). What we now need to do is put all the images on the computer in University and put them together to create the one minute story. This coming week we are having a lesson on how to do this and I am looking forward to it! Because once I learn this, I will then be able to create Stop Motions of my own for my portfolio and leisure.
Here are some photographs from the shoot, it shows where we had the set and camera placed.
Speak soon!
Personal Interest - Love Francesca Handmade Jewellery and Accessories
This is a bit on an advertisement for my sister-in-law's company in Liverpool. She has been working now for over a year creating beautiful pieces such as necklaces, rings, bracelets and more! She also creates unique hair accessories and also bikini accessories for the summer. I thought I would let you all know about her products because they are gorgeous! She also has recently started selling clothing and bags, so for winter she has some trendy looks for all you girls! She has advertisements in the Look magazine so keep a look out for that aswell.
I thought I would put this on my blog because I also do work for Francesca, taking photographs of her products for her website, it keeps me busy and lets me have sneak previews of upcoming products as well. All you need to know is on these two links so take a look:
Please take a look at her site:
http://www.lovefrancesca.co.uk/
And also her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000286577712
Speak soon!
I thought I would put this on my blog because I also do work for Francesca, taking photographs of her products for her website, it keeps me busy and lets me have sneak previews of upcoming products as well. All you need to know is on these two links so take a look:
Please take a look at her site:
http://www.lovefrancesca.co.uk/
And also her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000286577712
People On The Move - Locations
Filming our People On The Move piece has been a lot of hard work and one of the main problems has been location use.
We decided that we wanted to film on a bus to show one of the change overs between characters, however, this fell through because our risk assessment form didn't clear. The rules for filming on public transport have changed and so we had to change this idea. We eventually came up with using the train station to show one character entering the gates and another leaving. We asked for permission on the day at Liverpool Central Station and they obliged. We wanted to get shots on the platform but we would have had to book a film day and we didn't have the time!
The next issue for locations that we came across was Starbucks. We wanted to film one of the characters purchasing a coffee but unfortunately we couldn't get permission to film here or in any of the other coffee shops. We changed this idea so just someone walking along with a coffee as if they had already bought it. Again, we come across an issue with this because the shots didn't seem to work, so then we changed to character to someone who is in a rush and so they bump into the next person and drop their bag. This also avoids any accidents with the hot coffee!
Another issue we have had is the Liverpool weather! Of course we were not expecting rays of sunshine, but at least dry weather. However this hasn't been the case in the past few week so we had to adapt not only the filming schedule, but some of the locations as well. One change that was made was instead of some shots being outside on Church Street in the City Centre, we used undercover shopping mall areas because the rain would damage the equipment.
I think we have dealt with the location issues very well and we have been typical students and been a bit cheeky asking if we could film on the day. But all of the filming is complete now and it has paid off! Hopefully our editing session will go well and soon we will have a finished piece!
Speak soon!
We decided that we wanted to film on a bus to show one of the change overs between characters, however, this fell through because our risk assessment form didn't clear. The rules for filming on public transport have changed and so we had to change this idea. We eventually came up with using the train station to show one character entering the gates and another leaving. We asked for permission on the day at Liverpool Central Station and they obliged. We wanted to get shots on the platform but we would have had to book a film day and we didn't have the time!
The next issue for locations that we came across was Starbucks. We wanted to film one of the characters purchasing a coffee but unfortunately we couldn't get permission to film here or in any of the other coffee shops. We changed this idea so just someone walking along with a coffee as if they had already bought it. Again, we come across an issue with this because the shots didn't seem to work, so then we changed to character to someone who is in a rush and so they bump into the next person and drop their bag. This also avoids any accidents with the hot coffee!
Another issue we have had is the Liverpool weather! Of course we were not expecting rays of sunshine, but at least dry weather. However this hasn't been the case in the past few week so we had to adapt not only the filming schedule, but some of the locations as well. One change that was made was instead of some shots being outside on Church Street in the City Centre, we used undercover shopping mall areas because the rain would damage the equipment.
I think we have dealt with the location issues very well and we have been typical students and been a bit cheeky asking if we could film on the day. But all of the filming is complete now and it has paid off! Hopefully our editing session will go well and soon we will have a finished piece!
Speak soon!
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Making a game!
Unfortunatly I was off in the last Contemporary Media Issues lesson, so I have had to catch myself up on what happened. I have found out that after looking at various games in the previous lesson, the task was to create a game that could be put in place in the Liverpool Screen School. I asked my group what they started on and the game they have came up with is called 'Chutes and Catapults'. The idea is based around Snakes and Ladders; the classic childrens game from our childhood. What happens in the game is you are asked questions as you progress down the hall way in LSS and if you answer them correct you are catapulted forwards. However, if you answer them wrong you will have to take the chute back down the corridor.
I, myself, have started working on a presentation for next week so that we can show the rest of our class and lecturers the idea in full detail. I have started a Powerpoint giving all the information needed about the game we are creating. I also think it is a good idea to create an advertisement capmaign for around the Screen School. Therefore, I am creating a poster, instruction manual and also an advert that could go in the LSS newspaper. Creating all of this will allow everyone outside of our group to see that the idea could be feesable and fun too! (of course this is based on having an unlimited budget and freedom to do what we like).
I think that the game sounds very interesting and could liven up Liverpool Screen School if it was put in to place. As we all know, getting around LSS is very linear and boring; so the idea is to change this and make the students want to come to University more because of the fun and educational aspect of Chutes and Catapults. The educational aspect is that the questions you are asked at each room are related the the subject you are studying. So now you will have reason to revise, because if you dont get the questions right you will never reach your lecture!
Anyway, I will do another blog about this project showing the advertisements and presentation we have made. We are also looking at getting feedback from others to see what they think about our game. We will also create a small model to show what LSS would look like if we put Chutes and Catapults in to place!
Speak soon!
I, myself, have started working on a presentation for next week so that we can show the rest of our class and lecturers the idea in full detail. I have started a Powerpoint giving all the information needed about the game we are creating. I also think it is a good idea to create an advertisement capmaign for around the Screen School. Therefore, I am creating a poster, instruction manual and also an advert that could go in the LSS newspaper. Creating all of this will allow everyone outside of our group to see that the idea could be feesable and fun too! (of course this is based on having an unlimited budget and freedom to do what we like).
I think that the game sounds very interesting and could liven up Liverpool Screen School if it was put in to place. As we all know, getting around LSS is very linear and boring; so the idea is to change this and make the students want to come to University more because of the fun and educational aspect of Chutes and Catapults. The educational aspect is that the questions you are asked at each room are related the the subject you are studying. So now you will have reason to revise, because if you dont get the questions right you will never reach your lecture!
Anyway, I will do another blog about this project showing the advertisements and presentation we have made. We are also looking at getting feedback from others to see what they think about our game. We will also create a small model to show what LSS would look like if we put Chutes and Catapults in to place!
Speak soon!
Work :(
Realising how much work we actually have to do on this course is terrifying. Everything is happening at once and I dont know where to start with the long list of things that need to be done! Rather worried I wont make it through, but I am damn sure going to give it a go. Hopefully everything turns out for the better because I usually am organised, but there isnt enough time in the day for all of this! Help!
Hope I do well tomorrow in the Film Language class test, that will put me in a better mood! Doing my Stop Motion at the minute and then filming later in town. Lets see how we get on then...
Speak soon!
Hope I do well tomorrow in the Film Language class test, that will put me in a better mood! Doing my Stop Motion at the minute and then filming later in town. Lets see how we get on then...
Speak soon!
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Lego Serious Play
In our latest Creativity and Concept lesson, we had a Lego Serious Play activity which concluded of half the class playing with Lego for 4 hours. No, this isn't some silly task for 5 year old's, its a 'serious' matter!
Lego Serious Play (LSP) is a thinking technique that is now used among may businesses to hire employees or present ideas to large groups. The idea is that you are able to express yourself through play a lot better than in simple conversation. The famous quote we have learnt is:
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
― Plato
This quote seemed strange before I had taken part in the LSP experience, because I thought to myself 'well, how?'. This all soon became clear as we paced through various tasks and questions in the LSP technique.
We started with a task that required each individual to create some sort of tower; and the only rules were that we had to use the green bases for the bottom and also to have a Lego person on the top. We then discussed these pieces in detail and you soon realise that what you create is actually a representation of yourself - no matter what you are asked to do.
Here is a photograph of my tower that I created using Lego:
What I came across when analysing my tower, was that I liked symmetry; through this it became my organisation skills and my perfectionism within work and the quality that I bring. Not bad for a little five minute creation, ey?
Next we were asked then to develop this tower in to something that represents the skills that we bring to a team. I expanded on the idea that I like perfection and organisation and came up with this creation:
I created an area behind my tower, I thought it could be the place where the king on top of my tower (or castle) lived. It is all completely symmetrical and I spent ages trying to find all the correct pieces. I think it looks like something out of Lego Star Wars, but oh well!
This piece again was analysed by myself and my group. I further discovered that I like to look at the finer details of a project, I like to make sure everything is in order. This is true because in reality I love making lists and being on top of the work set. I never thought that playing with Lego would reveal so much about myself; it was like unlocking thoughts in my mind and making me say 'oh yeah!' about the things that I naturally do when working as part of a team.
Next, we had to create a completely new model representing a quality to have as a team member. It could be anything but I decided to stick with the theme of perfection and organisation. I made something that represented the final outcome to a project, with all its trimmings and the seamlessness of it all.
Here it is:
I created something that resembled a garden, with ladders climbing up to it and a victorious character standing at the top. To me, this shows the climb to final goals and products at the end of a project. It shows how perfect you can make something if you reach your full potential. And f course the pretty flowers add to my love for perfection :)
After all of the models were created, we then had to link all of the models through various ways so that it showed the workings of a good team. We included our first models to show the qualities we have, and the second models to show other qualities needed. We then added sticky notes to each model to let others who were not in our group know what they represent. We were taught that not everything has to be literal, and meaning can come from anything that inspires us. This allowed me to see that ideas and inspiration can come from anything around me, and learning and thinking is all part of this adventure.
Here is the final outcome of all of my groups creations:
To you, it may not look like anything that could possibly make sense; but to us it shows the workings of a good team and the progression that we go through when coming up with ideas and finally having an outcome.
I loved this exercise, besides the fact that I got to play with Lego for a day, I learnt so much more about thinking and so much more about myself. I hope the next job interview I have uses this, because now I know what it all means!
Speak soon!
Lego Serious Play (LSP) is a thinking technique that is now used among may businesses to hire employees or present ideas to large groups. The idea is that you are able to express yourself through play a lot better than in simple conversation. The famous quote we have learnt is:
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
― Plato
This quote seemed strange before I had taken part in the LSP experience, because I thought to myself 'well, how?'. This all soon became clear as we paced through various tasks and questions in the LSP technique.
We started with a task that required each individual to create some sort of tower; and the only rules were that we had to use the green bases for the bottom and also to have a Lego person on the top. We then discussed these pieces in detail and you soon realise that what you create is actually a representation of yourself - no matter what you are asked to do.
Here is a photograph of my tower that I created using Lego:
Next we were asked then to develop this tower in to something that represents the skills that we bring to a team. I expanded on the idea that I like perfection and organisation and came up with this creation:
This piece again was analysed by myself and my group. I further discovered that I like to look at the finer details of a project, I like to make sure everything is in order. This is true because in reality I love making lists and being on top of the work set. I never thought that playing with Lego would reveal so much about myself; it was like unlocking thoughts in my mind and making me say 'oh yeah!' about the things that I naturally do when working as part of a team.
Next, we had to create a completely new model representing a quality to have as a team member. It could be anything but I decided to stick with the theme of perfection and organisation. I made something that represented the final outcome to a project, with all its trimmings and the seamlessness of it all.
Here it is:
After all of the models were created, we then had to link all of the models through various ways so that it showed the workings of a good team. We included our first models to show the qualities we have, and the second models to show other qualities needed. We then added sticky notes to each model to let others who were not in our group know what they represent. We were taught that not everything has to be literal, and meaning can come from anything that inspires us. This allowed me to see that ideas and inspiration can come from anything around me, and learning and thinking is all part of this adventure.
Here is the final outcome of all of my groups creations:
I loved this exercise, besides the fact that I got to play with Lego for a day, I learnt so much more about thinking and so much more about myself. I hope the next job interview I have uses this, because now I know what it all means!
Stay Fresh, Liverpool! (JamesDunn/BeccaFadden)
So two of my wonderful classmates have embarked on a radio waves adventure with Looprevil radio (if your stupid like me it will have taken you about 48395446543 hours to realise that the name is Liverpool spelt backwards).
So this is basically a plugging blog for James and Becca to revel in their fame, and I have been ordered to at least mention Mr Dunn in a blog seeing as I am the blog master...
James has patriotic services to facial gruff.
And Becca likes to walk in to windows!
Here are some links for you guys ;)
http://looprevilradio.co.uk/
Website link through Looprevil itself
https://www.facebook.com/groups/267971286580524/
Facebook link to the group for Stay Fresh, Liverpool!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Looprevil-Radio/211073568359
Looprevil's Facebook page
And for all you sexy ladies out there, you may need to know that James is off the market. I know, this a blow to humanity itself, but we shall just have to wonder 'what if?'
Anyway guys, enjoy Stay Fresh, Liverpool! Wednesday mornings 10am - 11am!
Speak soon!
So this is basically a plugging blog for James and Becca to revel in their fame, and I have been ordered to at least mention Mr Dunn in a blog seeing as I am the blog master...
James has patriotic services to facial gruff.
And Becca likes to walk in to windows!
Here are some links for you guys ;)
http://looprevilradio.co.uk/
Website link through Looprevil itself
https://www.facebook.com/groups/267971286580524/
Facebook link to the group for Stay Fresh, Liverpool!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Looprevil-Radio/211073568359
Looprevil's Facebook page
And for all you sexy ladies out there, you may need to know that James is off the market. I know, this a blow to humanity itself, but we shall just have to wonder 'what if?'
Anyway guys, enjoy Stay Fresh, Liverpool! Wednesday mornings 10am - 11am!
Stop Motion Animation Work.
Working on a Stop Motion is something that I have been looking forward to on our course as Animation is what I am most particularly interested in.
I'm not really sure why, but over the past 4 years I have become enthralled in Stop Motion animation; mainly fuelled by my love for Tim Burton and his collaborations with Henry Selick. Stop Motion to me is very personal and requires so much time and effort its a wonder these films even make it to the screen. I of course love the classic Wallace and Gromit films and shorts, because they were part of my childhood. I myself have not yet created a Stop Motion but I have created figures that could be used for Stop Motion purposes in my A Level Graphic Communications course. I am so looking forward to having a finished piece so I can finally say 'I did it!'.
The mini task we have been set is to create a one minute piece if animation, of anything we like. Naturally, having a sense of humour, me and my friends ran with this idea in to something very silly and comical.
We decided to create a stop motion about cutlery and a sort of melo-drama of what would happen if said cutlery had an affair! We think its hilarious and hopefully you all will to when its finished.
We are half way through (or there about's) as we have 24 seconds of stop motion so far. Of course we knew the enormity of creating a stop motion and so we decided to try and keep it simple. It seems, however, that the story we have wrote and storyboarded may be too long for the one minute we need; so we will have to work our way around this.
Here are the 2 pages of storyboard that I drew out:
The final Stop Motion will be posted soon for your enjoyment. I will probably have pictures from our shoot days to upload shortly as well.
Speak soon!
I'm not really sure why, but over the past 4 years I have become enthralled in Stop Motion animation; mainly fuelled by my love for Tim Burton and his collaborations with Henry Selick. Stop Motion to me is very personal and requires so much time and effort its a wonder these films even make it to the screen. I of course love the classic Wallace and Gromit films and shorts, because they were part of my childhood. I myself have not yet created a Stop Motion but I have created figures that could be used for Stop Motion purposes in my A Level Graphic Communications course. I am so looking forward to having a finished piece so I can finally say 'I did it!'.
The mini task we have been set is to create a one minute piece if animation, of anything we like. Naturally, having a sense of humour, me and my friends ran with this idea in to something very silly and comical.
We decided to create a stop motion about cutlery and a sort of melo-drama of what would happen if said cutlery had an affair! We think its hilarious and hopefully you all will to when its finished.
We are half way through (or there about's) as we have 24 seconds of stop motion so far. Of course we knew the enormity of creating a stop motion and so we decided to try and keep it simple. It seems, however, that the story we have wrote and storyboarded may be too long for the one minute we need; so we will have to work our way around this.
Here are the 2 pages of storyboard that I drew out:
Speak soon!
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Film Language Grade.
We finally found out our grades for the scene analysis task that we handed in last Friday. I have been anticipating the grade because I want to know what the Film Language lecturers think about my work.
I'm not entirely sure what the grade was out of, but anyway I got 65 which is a 2:1 in University gradings. I am fairly happy with this result but as you my know I am a bit of a perfectionist, so I did want to do better than this. However, now I know how they grade and what I need to improve on when writing essays, etc.
We have a class test next week in the lesson and so now I am going to practice for this essay and try to improve on my analysis skills. I thought that the exercise was good for revising what we have learnt so far but was numbing towards the end. We gave the lecturers feedback on what we thought of the scene analysis and they now know that we would prefer to write essays.
I thought that the table format may have hindered my writing ability because it was just short sentences rather than better explanations.
Anyway, I hope all of you did well on your scene analysis task!
Speak soon!
I'm not entirely sure what the grade was out of, but anyway I got 65 which is a 2:1 in University gradings. I am fairly happy with this result but as you my know I am a bit of a perfectionist, so I did want to do better than this. However, now I know how they grade and what I need to improve on when writing essays, etc.
We have a class test next week in the lesson and so now I am going to practice for this essay and try to improve on my analysis skills. I thought that the exercise was good for revising what we have learnt so far but was numbing towards the end. We gave the lecturers feedback on what we thought of the scene analysis and they now know that we would prefer to write essays.
I thought that the table format may have hindered my writing ability because it was just short sentences rather than better explanations.
Anyway, I hope all of you did well on your scene analysis task!
Speak soon!
Monday, 14 November 2011
Fim Language - Scene analysis update
I handed in my scene analysis on Friday. Well when I say handed in I mean uploaded it onto the JMU site for the lecturer's to download (technology eh?). Anyway, I think it went really well, I didn't mind doing it because it allowed me to put into practice some of the new things that I have learned so far. The task itself did becoming a bit mind numbing - tabbing through all the boxes and filling in minute details about the shortest shots in the world. But hey, at least it didn't ruin Inception for me, still love the film in its entirety.
The scene that I chose ended up having 112 individual shots in it, but I grouped a couple of shots together so eventually wrote about 95 shots. I wrote about the composition, edit, cinematography, voice/dialogue, sound effects, music and dramatic function. I think the whole assignment took me about 10 hours to complete, then I proof read the whole thing and added in any extra terminology or theories I could.
I can't unfortunately upload my actual analysis because of the size, etc. But its not exactly a light read anyway so I will let you use your imagination. Hopefully I will receive good feedback from the assignment, and even though it will not go towards my final mark, I am interested to find out what the lecturers think of the way I write about film.
Speak soon!
The scene that I chose ended up having 112 individual shots in it, but I grouped a couple of shots together so eventually wrote about 95 shots. I wrote about the composition, edit, cinematography, voice/dialogue, sound effects, music and dramatic function. I think the whole assignment took me about 10 hours to complete, then I proof read the whole thing and added in any extra terminology or theories I could.
I can't unfortunately upload my actual analysis because of the size, etc. But its not exactly a light read anyway so I will let you use your imagination. Hopefully I will receive good feedback from the assignment, and even though it will not go towards my final mark, I am interested to find out what the lecturers think of the way I write about film.
Speak soon!
Days off...
On my days off this week I have decided that I am going to visit the Walker Art Gallery and also the Liverpool World Museum. I visited the Tate gallery and the Museum of Liverpool last week and it proved to be a wonderful day!
In the Walker, there is a Matisse exhibit on which I am terribly excited about because he is one of the artist I have studied throughout the year I have done art and graphic design. The exhibit focuses on the original art books of Henri Matisse, and there is 63 framed original illustrations from Matisse himself. This exhibit is on until April, so another visit may be in order if it is as amazing as I hope!
Another exhibit that the Walker has on, which is only on until the 4th December, is 'An Alphabet' which consists of work from Sir Peter Blake. For you who don't know, Blake is the creator of the infamous Sgt. Pepper work for The Beatles. He is a renowned British artist and the collection of Alphabet pieces (from A to Z) show his creativity and design preference throughout.
The thing about the Walker Art Gallery is that its so big compared to the TATE. Many more exhibits go on in the Walker because of the sheer size of the building.
The third exhibit that is on at the moment (end date is to be confirmed) is called 'Feathercuts and Flares - Fashion from the 1970's'. This takes you through the fashion styles of the 70's through disco and beyond. An interesting exhibit to say the least, and as I have always had an interest in fashion, I think I will particularly enjoy it.
The final exhibit is 'Savage Style: Costumes from Lily's wardrobe'. Of course, everyone knows about Lily Savage! The expensively dressed lady of television and beyond. The exhibit is part of Liverpool's Homotopia festival, focusing on art based around gay, bisexual, transvestites and more. As I have previously mentioned, when I went to the Museum of Liverpool, 4 of Lily's dresses were there in the window. This made me want to go and see the rest of the collection. Paul O'Grady is one of the most famous faces to come out of Liverpool and his alter ego Lily Savage is just as well know as he is! I am looking forward to this exhibit because of the flamboyant and risqué clothing I know will be there.
Of course, the Walker has many other art works that are permanently on show, from Monet to Hockney. I am looking forward to my trip to the Walker, to get inspired and to learn more about the art of the world.
I am also going to be visiting the Liverpool World Museum, which has an array of exhibits from dinosaurs to samurai's. This visit I will not be looking for anything in particular as I have not been to the World Museum in a long while. I just want to go and spend the day walking around all of the exhibits and seeing all of the fascinating artefact's such as mummy's and meteorites!
Photography is allowed in all of the exhibits (also in the Walker) so hopefully I will have a lot to report back with.
Here is the link to the website where I found all of the information about the Walker and the World Museum. They also have information about many other places to visit in Liverpool so enjoy!
Speak soon!
Director Insights...
I've decided to start a new thing for my blog called 'Director's Insights'. They will be blog's about different directors that I am interested in, new and old. I will talk about various aspects of these directors, from their filmography to their interests and techniques. Knowing about different directors and having knowledge of how directors in the industry work will allow me to develop my skills and learn from these masters of the art. It will also enable me to discover works that I have yet to watch and broaden my film knowledge.
I hope these insights will be of interest to people and I would appreciate comments and feedback if possible! Not only on these but on any of my blog's. Thank you!
Speak soon!
I hope these insights will be of interest to people and I would appreciate comments and feedback if possible! Not only on these but on any of my blog's. Thank you!
Speak soon!
Gerbils
I don't know if you guys know this, but I have two gerbils! And I have been taking photographs of them lately because they are just so photogenic and cute! Plus I get to use my new camera so that's a bonus. Little bio on my gerbils? Oh go on then!
Names: Turk (Black one) J.D (Blonde one)
Age: 2 and a bit years
Address: Gerbalerium (that's what its called on the box!), my conservatory, my house
Ethnicity: Mongolian gerbils
Passtimes: Chewing through tonnes of cardboard, play fighting, pooping, long walks on the beach...
Anyway, enough about them, here are a few pictures I took the other night :)
They are cute aren't they? I think so. I love my little munchkin's but they are getting old in gerbil years now! I hope to have them for a few more years, they are my little buddies! I was thinking about doing a gerbil animation, just for these guys.
Speak soon!
Names: Turk (Black one) J.D (Blonde one)
Age: 2 and a bit years
Address: Gerbalerium (that's what its called on the box!), my conservatory, my house
Ethnicity: Mongolian gerbils
Passtimes: Chewing through tonnes of cardboard, play fighting, pooping, long walks on the beach...
Anyway, enough about them, here are a few pictures I took the other night :)
Speak soon!
Museum of Liverpool
Alongside my visit to Liverpool TATE, I also went to the Museum of Liverpool on the docks. It is a new build and is still installing exhibits, but I went anyway to see what it was like so far.
The exhibit that they do have is all about the past, present and future of the city of Liverpool. Including mounds of sports memorabilia, city landscapes and items of interest from celebrities related to our wonderful city.
Taking photo's was allowed in the museum, so I took full advantage and tried to capture everything! The exhibit allowed me, someone born and bred, to learn more about Liverpool and it will give everyone a chance to learn about where they have moved to and the history of the city.
I love going to museums and galleries because looking at famous works or historical artefact's is so interesting. I feel privledged to have so many places to visit in Liverpool and I suggest going to them all whilst you are here, because the culture and art work that you will absorb is priceless!
Here are some photographs that I have taken with a short description under each one explaining what they are. I apologise for any reflections a most of the collections are in glass cabinets.
The exhibit that they do have is all about the past, present and future of the city of Liverpool. Including mounds of sports memorabilia, city landscapes and items of interest from celebrities related to our wonderful city.
Taking photo's was allowed in the museum, so I took full advantage and tried to capture everything! The exhibit allowed me, someone born and bred, to learn more about Liverpool and it will give everyone a chance to learn about where they have moved to and the history of the city.
I love going to museums and galleries because looking at famous works or historical artefact's is so interesting. I feel privledged to have so many places to visit in Liverpool and I suggest going to them all whilst you are here, because the culture and art work that you will absorb is priceless!
Here are some photographs that I have taken with a short description under each one explaining what they are. I apologise for any reflections a most of the collections are in glass cabinets.
Model of the Liverpool Liver Buildings with the actual buildings in the background.
Two Everton season tickets from 1890-91 and a match ticket from 1890 against Notts County
The original 4 'Beatles suits'
British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award (BAFTA)
Lily Savage dress - rest of collection in Walker Art Gallery
Classic wartime memorabilia poster WW2
The names of all those who died in WW1 and WW2
Speak soon!
Thursday, 10 November 2011
The Albert Dock
Being from Liverpool, I have spent a lot of my time on the Albert Dock visiting the various shops, the TATE, The Maritime Museum and much more with my parents and grandparents. As a child, however, you can't appreciate the beauty of the Docks themselves.
The building are a beautiful red with striking pillars all around, making the buildings look as though they are floating on the water. The many boats that are docked here have so much variety, from those that look like Pirate ships, to the small lived in boats. The multicultural aspect of Liverpool is present in the various places that the boats are from, and also the people that walk the Docks as tourists and workers.
The view of the rest of the city from this point is priceless, because every building that is new or old can be seen. The Liver Buildings are clear and the new Museum is now present. You can also see right across the Mersey to Birkenhead and beyond, and especially during my trip, the sun setting over there.
I took a lot of photographs but I will just show you the ones I think are the best, showing what the Albert Dock is like and why you should go if you haven't been already.
Hope people are reading my blog by the way, I am trying for a first time blogger! I actually enjoy documenting all this stuff :)
Speak soon!
The building are a beautiful red with striking pillars all around, making the buildings look as though they are floating on the water. The many boats that are docked here have so much variety, from those that look like Pirate ships, to the small lived in boats. The multicultural aspect of Liverpool is present in the various places that the boats are from, and also the people that walk the Docks as tourists and workers.
The view of the rest of the city from this point is priceless, because every building that is new or old can be seen. The Liver Buildings are clear and the new Museum is now present. You can also see right across the Mersey to Birkenhead and beyond, and especially during my trip, the sun setting over there.
I took a lot of photographs but I will just show you the ones I think are the best, showing what the Albert Dock is like and why you should go if you haven't been already.
Speak soon!
Cakes!
Another little tid-bit from the Tate gallery Liverpool. In the gift shop, fitting with the current Alice In Wonderland exhibit, they had various cakes and treats hanging from the ceiling. The piece was surreal but made the shop seem a lot more like the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. I took a couple of photographs because I thought that it was an interesting way of tying in with the Alice theme.
In the last two photographs I played with my depth of field and tried to focus on one of the cakes in each frame. I picked the most delicious looking ones. They were so real looking, you could be tempted to take a bite...
Speak soon!
Speak soon!
My pet snail.
I was walking home yesterday evening and I saw this tiny baby snail, and so naturally I had to take photographs.
Cutest thing ever! Besides that, my camera is too awesome, you can zoom right in to see the detailing on the snails shell and everything! Anyway,
Speak soon!
Speak soon!
Alice In Wonderland Tate Liverpool Exhibit
Yesterday I dragged my boyfriend to the Liverpool Tate art gallery to see the new Alice In Wonderland exhibit. I was so excited to head about this exhibit and have wanted to go since I heard about a month ago. It was reiterated to me that this would be a valuable experience when in our Creativity and Concept lesson, Sarah mentioned the exhibit.
The whole exhibit is work inspired by Lewis Carroll's original Alice. But there are also pieces that are original Carroll work. The exhibit is on the ground floor and the 2nd floor, and is a very fluid walk through experience.
The group floor has the one room, with various paintings and information around the walls. Then (probably my favourite piece) from the ceiling there were LED lights in the shape of words linking with Alice In Wonderland. The contrast of the wonderfully detailed paintings to the abrupt colours of the lights was fascinating. This room was a simple square room but very large.
Moving to the 2nd floor, the space was more of a walk through area with a sense of a journey throughout the pieces. There were many pieces by the same artists, a sort of collection of works. For example, Salvador Dali was present with drawing depicting a strange world that he saw as Wonderland.
I found the exhibit very interesting, with the video projections and various moving images, it really made it feel as though you were travelling through the space. The velvet red curtains that framed each doorway did make the exhibit more of an adventure, you entered one room and the mood and theme changed, much like Wonderland itself.
The books that were presented in glass cases were from various era's, all variations of the story of Alice. There is also historical content in the gallery, explaining who Alice's character is based upon and her background.
I have a few photographs from the exhibit of the quotes that lined the walls and other bits, here they are!
It was a fantastic day out and money well spent I think! Looking at works inspired by one of my favourite childhood tales was amazing, and I would go again. Anyway, that was my Alice In Wonderland Exhibit blog, enjoy!
Speak soon!
The whole exhibit is work inspired by Lewis Carroll's original Alice. But there are also pieces that are original Carroll work. The exhibit is on the ground floor and the 2nd floor, and is a very fluid walk through experience.
The group floor has the one room, with various paintings and information around the walls. Then (probably my favourite piece) from the ceiling there were LED lights in the shape of words linking with Alice In Wonderland. The contrast of the wonderfully detailed paintings to the abrupt colours of the lights was fascinating. This room was a simple square room but very large.
Moving to the 2nd floor, the space was more of a walk through area with a sense of a journey throughout the pieces. There were many pieces by the same artists, a sort of collection of works. For example, Salvador Dali was present with drawing depicting a strange world that he saw as Wonderland.
I found the exhibit very interesting, with the video projections and various moving images, it really made it feel as though you were travelling through the space. The velvet red curtains that framed each doorway did make the exhibit more of an adventure, you entered one room and the mood and theme changed, much like Wonderland itself.
The books that were presented in glass cases were from various era's, all variations of the story of Alice. There is also historical content in the gallery, explaining who Alice's character is based upon and her background.
I have a few photographs from the exhibit of the quotes that lined the walls and other bits, here they are!
Speak soon!
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
People On The Move
We officially started filming yesterday! We are group M1E and we decided that because all of the group will be in Liverpool over reading week, that we might as well start filming right away. Yesterday we had a morning of filming which went well, we filmed the opening scenes and tried a lot of different shots just so we have extra material to work with. Unfortunately, due to the weather, we had to reschedule our filming that we were going to do today. This isn't really a set back because we are ahead of schedule anyway!
We seem to have a few clashes of personalities going on (not naming names), but because everything is planned out we are working through these minor problems. Our film schedule is good to go and we are working from that, of course it has been adapted because of the change in day that we are filming what we wanted to film today.
I can see the filming being a success because we want to be ahead of the deadline so we have more time to fix anything that our lecturers think could use some work, and for the rough screening we want to have something that is coherent. I will keep updating about the People On The Move project when it develops.
Speak soon!
We seem to have a few clashes of personalities going on (not naming names), but because everything is planned out we are working through these minor problems. Our film schedule is good to go and we are working from that, of course it has been adapted because of the change in day that we are filming what we wanted to film today.
I can see the filming being a success because we want to be ahead of the deadline so we have more time to fix anything that our lecturers think could use some work, and for the rough screening we want to have something that is coherent. I will keep updating about the People On The Move project when it develops.
Speak soon!
Creativity and Concept - Ways of Thinking...
To get out minds ready for our assignment in Creativity and Concept, we were split in to groups and asked to research a specific thing that we have looked at over the past few weeks. My group got 'Eno Cards'. We had to create a visual research poster to show everyone else in the class what Eno Cards were and anything to do with them which might be useful such as web links. We decided to do a spider diagram sort of layout so that the information was pretty short and clear. We collected quotes, websites and information about the cards and wrote them down in an easy to understand way.
After everyone had created their poster for their given theme, we all stuck them on the walls and then had a look around at all the different posters! This was a very useful task because instead of all the information being in a boring essay form, we were able to see peoples hand drawn diagrams and different takes on the thinking methods. Here are a few photographs that I took during the lesson of the posters:
After looking at everyone's work, I jotted down a few notes that I found useful from their posters and also ours. The assignment is to create a ScreenR presentation about the role of reflection in learning and creative practice. so I have decided that I am going to choose certain techniques to talk about and compare and contrast such techniques by linking them into Divergent and Convergent thinking.
Hopefully this assignment will go down smoothly, we have until 22/12/11 to complete this!
Speak soon!
After everyone had created their poster for their given theme, we all stuck them on the walls and then had a look around at all the different posters! This was a very useful task because instead of all the information being in a boring essay form, we were able to see peoples hand drawn diagrams and different takes on the thinking methods. Here are a few photographs that I took during the lesson of the posters:
Hopefully this assignment will go down smoothly, we have until 22/12/11 to complete this!
Speak soon!
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