Client Project- Holgate School

Filming at the school has been going relatively smoothly, our interviewees this week consisted of Mr. Day, a geography teacher with almost 30 years of teaching at the school, and Deputy Head of Sixth Form Miss Bickerstaff. We are at the stage now where we are compiling all the footage and sorting out the structure of the documentary. Also, i have composed a musical score for the film which is totally original, and suits our needs for the type of imagery we want to portray.

Client Project- Holgate School

Me and G were filming again today in the school, we got a massive chunk of interviews done, which was massively important. We interviewed Sarah, our client for the school, two year 10 girls who were involved in the Stickman project, 3 girls who had run a fair trade assembly BY THEMSELVES and a helpful 6th former who wants to help us with some of the cutaways next week.

PRP Artefact Three

My third artefact is aimed at looking at how audio can change the perception of a films genre. I have used a clip from the 2005 Lexi Alexander film Green Street, which depicts the summation of a feud between two groups of football hooligans. The clip, which shows the fans from rival football teams having an epic battle, was originally set to Doubtful by the band New Found Glory. This music is very slow and acoustic sounding, which gives the audience a feeling of the bravery and camaraderie of the men.



I wanted to find out if using a different type of musical score could change the entire feel of the sequence, possibly changing the genre for that scene. So for this artefact I have created a drum & bass audio track, which I felt would suit the high paced, heavy hitting video. I also added sound effects of the cries and yells of the fight, ensuring it did not seem to be just replacing all the audio in the sequence.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the new clip, I separated people into two groups, those who had seen the film before and those that had not. Participants were asked to fill in a short questionnaire in order to find out what adjectives they felt best suited the sequence.

Client Project- Holgate School

Georgia and I took a trip into Hucknall town centre today, just to get some fill/cut shots for the documentary. It was a clear day, and the town was bustling, making it a good day for shooting. After reviewing the footage we were really happy, of course we will have to go back to get more at some point, most likely next week.

Client Project- Holgate School

Georgia and I have been told that in order to film at the school we need to get a CRB form filled out and sent away. This is because we are filming around children and the school obviously have to play it safe.

In order to get around this in the meantime, we plan to allow the 6th formers helping us to play an independant role, where they will be able to film even when we are not there.

Because we want original, believeable footage, allowing the pupils to be filmed in their own environment by their peers could prove to be a very wise decision. We are visiting the school this week again to run an afternoon session with the 6th formers, just to show them how to set up an interview and conducting proper interview techniques.

audiostreet.net

I was looking for somewhere to host my musical compositions and came across this website

http://www.audiostreet.net/

It allows free hosting of three songs, which for now is fine. I could have hosted on something like myspace, but it seemed more professional to use a dedicated music site. It will allow me to embed the songs into my web log, so once the security checks clear I can put up some of the stuff i've been making recently.

Website/Portfolio

I have been looking more into what i want to do for my portfolio. I have decided on a few key areas to categorise where the stuff will go. So to be included in the website/portfolio will be:

1. Home page (main interactivity from here to other parts).
2. Covering letter/CV.
3. Uni work.
4. Outside Uni work (and other works i have assisted in).
5. Contact details.

I am working through some early ideas for the layout and interactivity issues. As soon as i have some working drawing i will put them up here.

PRP Artefact Two

My second artefact uses the same video sequence as my first artefact (from Jean-François Richet’s 2005 remake of Assault On Precinct 13). The difference this time is that the audio is totally fabricated through the use of a DAW (digital audio workstation). I have used FLStudio 7, which I have used for many years and which I understand. With it I can create complex sounds and effects.

The aim of this experiment is to examine the response of the audience to fabricated sounds which are non-specific to the mise-en-scène. Can the tension be implied without any use of the original sounds? This means no speech, Foley or musical scores. The main initiative I want to explore is how the audience reacts to the audio within film where the audio has no real relation to what is happening on the screen.

The sounds are very synthetic and use lots of changes in pitch, timbre, volume, panning and velocity. Using the software I morphed a series of notes and samples into a complex sound using algorithms and variable equations. This means that the sounds are almost unique, and do not relate to anything that might be apparent from what is happening on the screen. The audio is unearthly, hopefully suggesting unease and the horror of the unknown.

I am using the same questionnaire as for the first artefact, as it is the same piece of the film. This means I can easily compare the two artefacts should I need to look at the differences between them. Some participants have been filmed as they watch the clip, others filled in a questionnaire afterwards. It was important that no one who participated in the first test completed the second, I did not want any erroneous results.

Client Project- Holgate School

Today we filmed the ex-miners visit to Holgate School, which gave us a chance to meet the crew we were planning to use for the documentary project. We are working with three 6th formers, two guys and a girl. They were a bit shy at first, but got the hang of it eventually. The footage isn't great, but we now have an enthusiastic crew, and because they attend the school we dont have to pay extra expenditures, and of course gives the kids a chance to work on a degree worthy production...i hope!

Photography

Took this out in Cervinia, Italy. I was strolling down the road when i saw this guy just chilling in the sun. Had a quick word with his owner and got a few shots of him. I think its worthy of a place in my web log.