2 Min Music Video Project

Interactive Cinema Wiki Definition

Interactive cinema tries to give the audience an active role in the showing of movies. The movie Kinoautomat by Czechoslovakian director Raduz Cincera presented in the Czech Pavilion inExpo '67 in Montreal is considered to be the first cinema-like interactive movie. The availability of computers for the display of interactive video has made it easier to create interactive movies.

Another newer definition of interactive cinema is a video game which is a hybrid between participation and viewing, giving the player - or viewer, as it were - a strong amount of control in the characters' decisions. A prominent pioneer of such a technique is the successful Hideo Kojima, whose gameplay often takes a priority to the storyline and long cutscenes. His gamePolicenauts, a point and click adventure game which has shootout sequences (that make use of the lightgun peripheral on the Sega Saturn version of the game), has a subtitle which reads "Interactive cinema" on the cover art of all versions of said game, which is an early example of a prominent game developer labelling their game as such. A recent incarnation of an idea similar to this one is Fahrenheit, (censored version released in US and Canada as "Indigo Prophecy") a game dubbed as "interactive cinema" by its France-based developer, Quantic Dream.

1992 saw the release of North America's first interactive motion picture, I'm Your Man. Certain Loews Theatres locations were retrofitted with controllers to allow audiences to vote on decisions made by the main character. Although initially touted as the first step toward virtual reality cinema, the experiment was a failure and the equipment was removed from theaters by 1994.

The Canadian-produced Late Fragment premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2007, and has been screened numerous times at special engagements, but was not released in theaters.

2 Min Music Video Project.

For my directing class next week I have to create a 2 min music video. I can choose whatever music track I please but the visuals need to be metaphoric and abstract. The must also contain the following 6 things -

• A tall space.
• Use of darkness.
• A glimpse.
• A visual crescendo.
• An opening. 
• Poetic roar. 

Not overly sure what to do. All the music I listen seem to require neon lights, cityscapes, karaoke and arcades! If only I could go to Tokyo I'd be fine.  

In Depth Email To Writers

I'm just posting this email on here because I feel it has some useful points that could be used at a latter date.

Okey, I've been doing a bit of thinking last night about the way we can go about writing this script. I've just tried explaining my thoughts to Hamish and failed miserably so I hope in written form you'll be able to make more sense of it. I'm not handing you anything regarding physical content of the film, by and large that will come from the diary, I'm just trying to maybe alter our perspective, maybe change our approach to the narrative. I hope by doing this we'll begin to think about other aspects of this story. 

Okey, I'm just going to throw in some bullet points. 

• The war starting is the cataclysmic event, the hook, what ever you want to call it. 
• A turning point in Len's life is him joining the army to fight in the war. 
• The war itself is the antagonist/conflict/barrier that Len must face.
• Len's overall goal is not to win, but to survive so he can continue to serve his country. 
• Len's special talent/attribute is his ability to draw. So he uses his talent to help achieve his goal and is what makes him an interesting subject to explore.  
• So, the next dramatic event in our story would be the build up to the battle at Vimy ridge and Len's contribution to that battle. 
• The resolution would be that the battle is won by the allied forces. 
• But the war still rages on. 

Please comment and challenge those statements, but at a basic level that list, at it's core, is the back bone to our film. 

Here's an example of how I think the story can begin, before a single image has even been shown on screen. 

"In 1914 X amount of brave men signed up to fight the great war. These are the recollections of one of those brave men."

"Smithy" (Smithie sp?) 

By doing this we're telling the audience exactly what the film is about, we are establishing a time and place, we're also introducing the character immediately.  

What comes next is up in the air as far as I can see. 

One option is we can straight away introduce Len the drawer, out in no mans land taking sketches. We don't really know anything about this guy other than he draws. He's good, he begins to draw sketches for plans that are used to help the allied forces. 

Or, we could introduce Len through his regiment. It would just give us a quick glance at his back story, give the audience an understanding of how he got to where he is, North France.  I'm not thinking lines upon lines of dialogue just a short little intro. Visually we could then see him sketching at his billet while on a short break from duty, a simple, calm, human moment. Maybe he's sketching a couple of soldiers, or a building. I'm talking seconds here, the above would take about a minute of the film. This is more of a biopic approach. The film would then naturally move to his work in the battlefield, then to vimy ridge. 

Or, if we wanted a docudrama approach, we immediately begin talking about war artists in general. We then move onto Len Smith, his work, the use of his work then vimy ridge. This approach would lead us to need two narrators (?). A narration to describe the generic use of of war artists for espionage purposes. Then the second narrator being Len Smith himself to add a more personal touch to things. The film will then lead to Vimy ridge. I think we're all in agreement that Vimy ridge is going to play an important role in the film whatever decision we choose. 

I think, if we break it down into a simple 3 act structure of some kind we have this -

1 act - Introducing Len.

2 act - Out in no mans land, drawing. The build up to Vimy Ridge. 

3 act - Highlighting that his work was used during the battle, his work contributed to the victory. End credits explaining a brief history of what he did after the war etc.       

Thinking about it, now I'm just reading back what I've just wrote, I like the idea of opening the film in the billet, just chilling sketching. Its a good contrast, his sketches just for fun, for memories in a diary then suddenly out in no mans land drawing to help win the war, its a dramatic shift and it's interesting. I think if we choose this route we'll need to really hone in on exactly what parts of his diary we are going to use. We'll have to move time and space with a line or two or else we'll risk running over. 

More Music

30 Second Film Project

Ken Burns On Story

Ken Burns: On Story from Redglass Pictures on Vimeo.

Males Suicides Outline (rewrite)

Below is a bullet point outline of the film, there will be 3 lists, each one covering one of the characters. Then I'll attempt to merge the 3 lists into the timeline of the film.


Character 1. 19 year old student.

• We see the student looking despondent as his friends laugh and joke at a table in their local pub. 
• The student has a couple of empty beer glasses besides him, he's clearly been drinking faster than his friends. 
• He takes a long drag of his beer, empties the glass. 
• Something is said/ a friendly nudge from his friends suddenly causes the student to snap. 
• He gets up, angry, shouting at his friends, then leaves the pub. 
• Outside, the tirade continues for a little while, then the student begins to cry, he tries turning away to hide his face. Looking on, one of his friends hesitates slightly but then grabs his shoulder and embraces him. 
• Information cards? 
• We then see the student walking in the park, he passes the 16 year old school boy and the 24 year old with his girlfriend.

Character 2. 24 year old professional.

• We see the 24 year old in his car, upset, staring aimlessly through the window, silent and still. 
• The car is somewhere outside of the city, it's night and the rain is falling heavily. 
• At his side his mobile phone begins to ring, he ignores it. The caller ID is 'Molly' 
• Information cards?
• We then see the 24 year old with his girlfriend sat on a park bench chatting calmly. The 16 year old and 19 year old student are in the park also.

Character 3. 16 year old school boy.

• The school boy is sat in the dark, lit only by his computer screen, he looks tired, his hair is dishevelled and bags hang under his eyes. 
• We see him scrolling through Facebook, stopping at times to read a post or two. (or, maybe responding to a friends post - 'How is the studying coming along? I hear you've got to get a * grade to get into college' - 'Don't worry, I'm fine' ?) 
• At his side are a stack of school books, A level text books, screwed up paper lies on his desk.
• Information cards?
• We then see the school boy perched up against a tree in the park studying. The 19 year old passes him buy and the 24 year old sits with his girlfriend on the park bench.   

FILM TIMELINE. (revised version)

We see Jack, a 19 yr old student, looking despondent as his friends laugh and joke at a table in their local pub. 

Jack has a couple of empty beer glasses besides him, he's clearly been drinking faster than his friends.

Jack takes a long drag of his beer, empties the glass.

/cut

We see David, a 24 year old, in his car, upset, staring aimlessly through the window, silent and still. 

The car is somewhere outside of the city, it's night and the rain is falling heavily.

/cut

Alan, the 16 yr school boy, is sat in his bedroom in the dark, lit only by his computer screen, he looks tired, his hair is dishevelled and bags hang under his eyes. 

We see Alan scrolling through Facebook, stopping at times to read a post or two. (or, maybe responding to a friends post - 'How is the studying coming along? I hear you've got to get a * grade to get into college' - 'Don't worry, I'm fine'  or maybe not responding at all.)

/cut

/Display some information about male suicides.

/cut

Back in the pub with Jack, something is said/ a friendly nudge from his friends suddenly causes Jack to snap. 

Jack gets up, angry, shouting at his friends, then leaves the pub.

/cut

We're now back with David, at his side his mobile phone begins to ring, he ignores it. The caller ID is 'Molly'.

/cut

Now with Alan, at his side are a stack of school books, A level text books, screwed up paper lies on his desk.

/cut

Outside the pub with Jack, the shouting continues for a little while longer, then Jack begins to fight the urge to cry, he tries turning away to hide his face. Looking on, one of his friends hesitates slightly but then grabs his shoulder and embraces him. 

/cut
/Display some more information.

/cut

We potentially see all the characters again in a public space going about their day to day lives. We see David with Molly, we see Jack and we see Alan. (This isn't 100% confirmed yet). I want to use this scene to say that anyone can be suffering but you can't always see it, we've just seen 3 intimate moments where our characters have displayed signs of mental strain but in this scene we see them in a very objective way.  

/cut .

/Display - Time to talk. Time to listen. Time to Change. 

*If you need a point of reference to understand how the film will look and flow please watch the Cancer Research adverts. e.g; Mirrors. 

Royal Armouries Directors Package

Below is just going to be loads and loads of random stuff, links to websites, captions from articles, videos, sounds, anything relating to the Leonard Smith documentary. I'll date everything so I know when it was posted.

A link to The Great War Society. - 8/10/13

Directing Photo Exercise

This week we had to go out and take a single photo that tells a little story. I wanted to use this as an opportunity to add a little of my own personality into the course work.

NHS 1st Treatment

For this 3 minute NHS film highlighting the 'Time To Change' campaign I've decided to focus on the issue of male suicides, a huge problem largely unknown by most of society. This film will try to raise awareness about the problem.

The film will follow 3 characters, each one in their own unique situation, all suffering from depression. First we have a 19 year old student out on a chilled night with his friends. The next character is a 24 years old, employed and dating, seemingly with the world open to him at his feet. And finally we have a 16 year old school boy struggling to study for his final exams.

Depression, mental health and/or emotional difficulties manifest themselves in different ways, so having the film follow these 3 characters we can display 3 very different situations and 3 different emotional responses.

The film will begin with a light introduction to each character, quickly establishing that they are not content, that something is amiss. The 19 year old ignoring the friendly banter of his friends. The 24 year old sat in his car, alone, on a rainy night outside of town and the 16 year old scrolling through Facebook ignoring his study books on his desk. Archetype characters but characters the audience can understand very quickly.

We then move a little closer to each of the characters. It's been said that when a man has something seriously troubling him that their outward actions are commonly interpreted as being anti social, aggressive and even violent. So, what the 2nd act of the film will show is these characters breaking down. Further research needs to be done to make sure these characters act out in a real and legitimate way. I want to really give the sense that these characters are bottling up their emotions then suddenly the lid bursts open letting their feelings begin to show in a very real, random and human way.

The 3rd act will see these characters embraced by their friends and/or family. The message I intend to deliver with this film is that you should not feel alone in your suffering, that it is OK for a man to show their feelings, that your friends and family will be there to help and listen. But I also want to make the public aware that we should all be open to help anyone, regardless of gender. As a society it is wrong to think less of a man for displaying emotions or admitting he has problems. That's where the message 'Time To Change' is so relevant.

With regards to style visually/structurally I believe that this film will work in a way similarly to the Cancer Research adds. Those films display multiple stories and multiple characters in a short but emotive time frame.

We will need a multitude of locations if we are to follow the 3 characters. The stories will take place in a pub, a car outside of town (preferably), a bedroom and a park. I understand that within the time frame of this project that might pose a problem, this maybe something to take into consideration before work really begins on the scripts.

At the end of the piece I'd quite like the 3 characters to meet. Just briefly. In a short scene that hits home the message that 'you're not alone'. I want to leave as positive a feeling as possible at the end of the film. Hopefully inspire these men who are suffering and make the public appreciate that this problem needs addressing.      

Intent

Originally, we wanted to create a short narrative character study of Leonard Smith but when the idea was pitched the panel felt the film would work better as a documentary. I'm just glad one of our ideas was green lit, however doing a documentary was not something I had anticipated. I think what I would like to do with the film is to use a lot of reconstruction, I want to see Leonard in the film, out on the battlefield taking sketches, I'd like to see him in the trench at night finishing off his work with the aid of candle light. It's going to be a documentary but I want to avoid the generic base of what a documentary is, I'd like to do something a little different, a mix of documentary and narrative filmmaking.

Online Articles On Leonard Smith

"Leonard Smith, a sapper with the Royal Engineer's Special Branch, was often armed with no more than a crumpled piece of paper, a pencil and crayons.

His diary records that he took huge risks to sketch German troop positions, their weapons, formations and movements.

He hid the finished sketches, some in full colour, down his trousers and they were later used to plan military strategy.

In one of his missions in Arras, France, in 1915, Mr Smith crept within yards of an enemy headquarters and drew a tree so accurately that a hollow steel replica could be recreated.

Soldiers removed the real tree under cover of darkness and replaced it with the replica, which was then used as a listening post. A soldier stationed inside was able to report back every German movement.

A network of underground tunnels gave soldiers access to the 'tree'.

Mr Smith, known to his comrades as 'Smithie', wrote in his diary: "The spot where the natural twin tree stood now would commence a job of much daring danger and need for caution."

In another sortie, Mr Smith spent four days avoiding mortar shells and sniper fire to produce a two-yard long, panoramic view of enemy front line troops at Vimy Ridge.

He wrote in his diary: "the Huns' shelling was almost incessant. So I had to scramble over the top, making rough pencil notes over a period of four days - real hard risky work, and at dusk poling back to the billet cellar to prepare the whole thing as a finished coloured sketch by the aid of the candle."

Mr Smith's great nephew, David Mason, has published a book containing the sketches, 'The Pictures and Diary of a Wartime Artist'.

Mr Mason, 62, of Woodford Green, Essex, said: "Len, like most of his generation, was a humble man who did not boast or revel in what he had been through during the war."

Mr Smith died in 1974, aged 83."

A link to Smithies Art Online.

Coward, WWI Short Film

My Style & Influences

Having just had my first directing class in my 2nd year I thought it might be fun to draw up a list of all my possible influences and my 'style' as a film maker, we were talking today about why we want to direct and what we want to direct/write if given the opportunity. I don't think I've ever really tried to define my 'style' so lets see what I come up with!

Early Years

 I think as a kid a lot of what I was exposed to with regards to cartoons and TV shows helped shape who I am today, a lot of what I enjoyed back then, in some way I still enjoy now. Thunderbirds is a prime example, I'm a huge fan of sci-fi and as a film fan I much prefer the use of animatronics and models rather than CGI. There is also that 1950/60s vision of the future in Gerry Anderson's shows, things like Stingray and Captain Scarlet have inspired a sense of wonder and have subtlety influenced my approach to visuals and storytelling.

Other shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have also shaped my interests, I'm a fan of martial arts films and have always been intrigued by Eastern culture leading to the biggest influence of all; Japan! But we'll get to that latter.

In the early 90's kids all over loved two things; martial arts and dinosaurs. So when Power Rangers came out it was easily my favourite show of that era. So much so that the feature film I'm currently writing is going to be a huge love letter to the show and that era in general.

At this point I think it would be stupid to ignore the other large interest I'd developed around this time; I loved playing games. When I first got my SEGA Mega Drive I knew nothing of video games, I just loved Sonic. When the N64 came out I moved onto Nintendo and was opened up to a world I'd never really seen. Nintendo, in a way, has a Disney-esc catalogue of characters and worlds that just blew me away as a kid. Games like The Legend Of Zelda, Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie pulled at my sense of adventure in a way no other medium ever had. Though, looking back, I can see how other games have perhaps influenced me also. Games like Duke Nukem 64, a parody of the 80's action genre, was perhaps an early sign of my love for B-Movies.

But no games have ever influenced me more than the following two. Firstly we have Poekmon! Pokemon embodied everything I loved about games, the sense of adventure and scope of it's world. I just wanted to be given my own Pokemon and set out on my own adventure, meet new people and see amazing new things. Around this time I had begun to write, just short stories, usually based on TV shows and games but some were original pieces. I knew I was never going to live in a world like Pokemon so I think I naturally started building my own worlds and stories in my own head.

The second game (pictured above), was Shenmue on the Dreamcast. This was the first game that I played that really tried to tell a mature story and it flowed with the pace and style of cinema. Shenmue was a revolution at the time, but no one was in love with it more than me. It had everything! A sprawling adventure set in Japan with a story dripping in martial art folklore and sensibilities. It's aged poorly but the mark it left on me, without doubt, is huge. The result of my love for the game came in the form of a short story called 'Harbour Lights'. A story of a young girl living alone in Hong Kong dealing with the loss of her father. I wrote it at the age of 16 and it helped me find the creative path I'm currently walking. I genuinely believe that I may be living a very different life if I hadn't been inspired to write 'Harbour Lights'.

I just want to touch a little bit about my sense of humour as I feel that the following TV shows have Americanised my humour considerably and when writing anything with a humorous twist I always seem to refer back to the likes of South Park and Beavis & Butthead. However the one show that has had a big effect on me and the world over is The Simpsons. I think a lot of my humour can be easily linked to these kinds of shows.

Now

I don't believe my interests have changed much over the years, I've just moved from one thing to the next, soaking in various shows and films, adding those experiences into my creative bank. In my early twenties I became a huge fan of the X-Files, yet another sci-fi show that has left it's own unique markings.

I was now fully absorbed in Japanese pop culture, specifically with its Anime. Ghost In The Shell pretty much cemented my love of sci-fi, but not just any sci-fi; Cyber Punk. It's no surprise that one of my all time favourite films is Blade Runner. Over the years its becoming harder to say that it IS my favourite film as my interests and influences sway back and forth but there is something about it that just seems magical to me. The cinematography, the music and the style of the film is just perfect and is the benchmark of all sci-fi films in my eyes.

Another Anime that has influenced me a lot is Naruto, a martial arts adventure show with about a bazillion episodes. The character development throughout the show is just fantastic, no matter how unhinged some of the content is in Naruto it just feels right. I think what I love most about is that you can have a 'cartoon' set in a mythical world but still deal with some pretty harrowing and adult themes, when done well some episodes are fantastic and are genuinely very emotional. A lot of themes explored in shows like Naruto have had an effect on the nature of my writing, I like stories about firendship, loyalty and self discovery, in some shape or forms these themes can be found in most things I write.

With my strong love for anime its no surprise that I'm also a really big fan of Studio Ghibli, the most recent film being From Up On Poppy Hill, it's easily one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. I think these films far surpass anything Disney have ever made, even though I do have fond memories of Aladdin and The Lion King, the art style of Ghibli is breathtaking at times. As a filmmaker I'd love to create visuals that have such vibrancy and colour as the films from Ghibli. My college film, Dreamers Rest, was inspired heavily by Anime and the Ghibli films.

Moving forward, as my influences have started expanding in various different directions there are still a few shows that I can point out that have really changed me as a writer and filmmaker. The most recent and most influential of all is The Twilight Zone. On the surface The Twilight Zone is a fantastic and intelligent show but for me it's the writer, Rod Serling, who shines brightest. Not the most famous of writers and not the most successful, with regards to cinema writing that is, Planet Of The Apes being his most popular film he still however is my most favourite writer. I love the social commentary of his show, I love the use of his language; verbal and metaphorical. Most of the episodes of The Twilight Zone can change your perception of the world around you in less than 30 minutes. Even though it was written in the 50's the themes and stories are more relevant today than they ever were. He is a true inspiration to me.

Narrowing down and trying to work out my style as a film maker is hard, but through some of the influences above I do think I can piece together something that may vaguely explain what I'd like to create. Oddly, I don't actually believe there are many, if any films out there that really define who I am as a filmmaker, its exciting really to think that maybe one I can produce something highly original. Taking the artistic flourish of studio Ghibli and the likes of Shin Megami Tensei then turning it into cinema I think what we get, visualy, is something similar to what we see in films like Drive and Only God Forgives. Then also add the offbeat nature of anime and it's unusual characters and what we get is something that can be found in David Lynch's Twin Peaks and Mullholland Drive. Plenty of metaphor, commentary on the world around us and scathing attacks on areas of our society that needs reform, these story elements found in The Twilight Zone are what gets me exited as a writer. I think these are the components that have built me into the filmmaker I am today and will continue to mature and develop.

 

*Just as a footnote, to make things clear, I've tried to deliberately avoid using films in the list to highlight my influences, I think it was important to compile a list of other forms of media/entrainment to help explain my style as a filmmaker.