Social networking is woeful

Week 5 Lecture: Saw the rise of a new and entertaining character to lecture us, Jason. He was comic yet classic and definitely had some good talking points.

- He gave some in depth views on social networking sites and the way they continually rotate according to trends. (For instance Myspace was sold for billions and circulated at the top for 3 to 4 years. Facebook is now ranked number 1. And then this holy grail of disaster 'Twitter' has emerged. People will get bored with Twitter though and so the likes of its failure are promising.)

- He talked about the .com boom in 1997 and the .com crash in 1999

- He filled us in about the RSOE EDIS (Emergency Disaster Information Service) - A map of world dangers/hazards happening 'right now'.

- Then he talked about creating google maps and recording drawings on sketchcast which will be our tasks for the next tute.

- And finally we watched 'United Breaks Guitars' where Dave Carroll sings about United Airlines breaking his $3500 guitar.

Here is a link to the original clip - song 1, and here is the embedded video of the follow up - song 2, after United apologised. Good stuff!

***

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg

(All websites viewed on September 31, 2009)

Short film laconic

Time is ticking and we are now progressing into week 5. The task for this weeks blog is to upload 3 internet delivered short films that are under 10 minutes and discuss why we chose them.

I was using my friends laptop today and for some reason his Youtube is in Japanese, confused the hell out of me, so thank god my mac knows what country we're in! Here is what I came up with when searching for some short films..

I Met the Walrus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmR0V6s3NKk

"In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview. This was in the midst of Lennon's "bed-in" phase, during which John and Yoko were staying in hotel beds in an effort to promote peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon’s every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries traditional pen sketches by James Braithwaite with digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon’s boundless wit, and timeless message."

http://www.imetthewalrus.com/

I am a huge, huge Beatles fan so when I came across this short film I didn't think twice about including it in my blog. The film is directed by Josh Raskin, stars Jerry Levitan and John Lennon and the message that wavers here is timeless. I chose it because its a great short film that captures a really great song writers thoughts and reveals them through  more than great thought and drawn animation. Could say its great! "Piss for peace!" "Profound Whatever". This short film even has its own website - http://www.imetthewalrus.com/ and has both won and been nominated for numerous academy awards.

For the Birds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3IpOFsKcDQ

"One by one, a flock of small birds perches on a telephone wire. Sitting close together has problems enough and then comes a large and dopey bird that tries to join them. The birds of a feather can't help but make fun of him and their clique mentally proves embarrassing in the end."

http://www.pixar.com/shorts/ftb/tale.html

So this is a Pixar Animation Studios short film that was released in 2000. It is damn funny! I chose this short film because of the work that goes on behind the scenes to create such a clever lead up to a feature film. Pixar are renowned for their creative and technical talent to create short films and television commercials using three-dimensional computer animation and in 2002, 'For the Birds' received the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. So you know its good!

Vincent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASHP-vgnjAw

"Vincent Malloy is seven years old, He’s always polite and does what he’s told. For a boy his age, he’s considerate and nice, But he wants to be just like Vincent Price.He doesn't mind living with his sister, dog and cats, Though he'd rather share a home with spiders and bats.There he could reflect on the horrors he's invented, And wander dark hallways alone and tormented."

http://www.timburtoncollective.com/vincent.html

This short film is based on a poem that Tim Burton composed himself and is a fine example of his earlier works. I liked it and I chose this film because its weird and sinister, amusing and gruesomely imaginative! It's evident that Burton was going on to great things with this film, he harks back at the horror films he experienced in his childhood and sets his style apart from any other director because of it. So just to clarify it was directed by Tim Burton and then narrated By Vincent Price.

*** Why is internet distribution important for short films and their audiences?

So the Internet has quickly become a significant retail outlet for the distribution of short films. I think this is important in terms of 'easy access' and 'cost'. The internet has made short films readily available to its audiences at the click of a button and so short films are circulated through online users much quicker and accessed far more conveniently than ever before. This then leads to cost. Short films distributed through the internet can lower production costs as budgets do not have to be split to include covering a films 'distribution'. Saves money I guess for both the producer and the consumer. 

MovieLink and CinemaNow are two examples of major revenues that have begun to pursue their own online distribution options by offering feature-length films already available on DVD for legal downloading. Wow!

(All websites viewed on September 30, 2009)

From big things little things grow..

Week 4 lecture: we succumbed to a tedious talk about the advancements of cinema from the big screen to the small screen. Heres what I absorbed with squeegee to drip into my blog..

Cinema was born into this world on December 28 of 1895 in ye' old Paris, France with a screening of ten short films in commercial exhibition to a paying public. Thank you to the Lumieres and the Paris boulevard.

The first permanent cinema building followed suit in Paris (1987), advancing from a cafe to a theatre.

Then god bless America, Edwin S. Porter became the father of narrative film with his work 'The Great Train Robbery' in 1903.

A few quick dates to skim across in my attempted timeline flow in order from - the first full length feature film in 1906, the serials or episodic film installments in 1912, Charlie Chaplin's rise to fame as the very first 'star' in 1914, Expressionism and a notably bizarre take to film in the 20s, SOUND in 1921 and Technicolor dreams in 1923. Continuing in the early 90s was the birth of the silent film and feature length movies coherent with dialogue, the oscars, first full-length animated feature - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, TV, and film noir.

Then the year 1960 unleashed a Psycho, yes Alfred Hitchcock'd psychological horror, thriller, savage film.

The videocassette recorder (VCR) was introduced in 1969 and the really big screen, the IMAX came into being in 1970 under the Fuji Pavilion in Japan. (Say Fuji! Dumb camera add that has now become iconic in the taking of a picture. Stupid Japs).

A few more events continuing towards the late 90s are the blockbuster, HBO (Home Box Office) which helped along a domino effect towards cable TV and satellite networks, MTV, computer-generated-animation, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Pulp Fiction and DVDs.

Talking about our generation and dripping into the symphonies of the now, we can see how film has greatly altered from the big screen to the small..

2002 - brought about movies on demand, 2005 - Blu-Ray Disc as having a higher capacity for performance to meet the expectations of future demands, 2006 - YouTube and 2007 - Jackass as the first broadband movie ever distributed.

Apparently we are in the year 2009 and expect to see the likes of vibrating, moving, leaning, shaking chairs to heighten the impact of 'the cinema experience'. I take it we are passed the stage of seats with cloud-like comfort? and going to be billed $5 surcharge to sit in a bloody moving seat!

There we have my synopsis to week fours lecture. The Star Wars clip, yeah that kept me tuned in...

Scavenger hunt?

At first I thought this would be a no sweat task for our week 4 tutorial. A scavenger hunt, really? Sounds a charm! Then hits the cold hard facts of no google and no wikipedia to find the answers! Woah! Challenge! Here goes..

1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin? How long did it take to grow?

Joe Jutras of Scituate, Rhode Island , broke the world record of the biggest pumpkin on September 29, 2007. His record beat the previous world record by 187 pounds and as he so proudly states in an interview with Cate Lecuyer from the Salem News "That pumpkin grew in 87 days. It was an average of 20 pounds a day. I went on vacation for three days and came back and it was huge."

(http://salemnews.com/punews/local_story_273234042.html)

2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Lily Allen?

Oh Lily Allen is divine! There's a spelling error within the question though? Lily is with with one L not two! I ventured onto her website anyway - http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/lily/ and from there found links to her myspace, facebook, twitter and even to a forum for her obsessive fans to bath in their neurotic obsessions. I would say the best way to contact Lily would be a message through Facebook. It's quick and it's reliable (that is if it is to reach Lily herself). And if this is to be some sort of trick question of finding Lilly Allen (Lilly with two L's) - then shit! Give me a sympathy mark? 

3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?

A giraffe's tounge can be 18 inches in length (45 cm).

(http://www.angelfire.com/ks3/merickson/Animalia.html)

4. How would you define the word 'glycomics'? In your own words, what does it really mean ? What does the term 'seagull manager' refer to?

Glyco when used as a prefix to a word means sugar, and comic well, relates to laughter. You know as in something is comical so you laugh.. So if these words are in limbo together as 'glycomics' then really we are defining sugar that has slap-stick humour! Far out I don't know, not even urban dictionary has an answer! The closest it relates is with the term 'gly'..

1.	gly
	Derived from 'O rly', gly is just another word for gay. Pronounced 'gayly' 'O gly'  'no not rly'

(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gly)

As for 'seagull manager'..

1.	seagull manager
	A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves. Fred never accomplishes anything. All he does is come in here every now and then, complain about deadlines, puts more work on us, then goes back to surfing the intraweb. He's such a seagull manager.

(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=seagull+manager)

5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film? Which of his films Had 'Blondie' in it?

Cronenberg's first feature film was a 1966, called "Transfer," about a psychiatrist being stalked by a patient.

"First it controlled her mind, then it destroyed her body... Long live the new flesh!" The tagline for Cronenberg's Canadian psychological thriller film of 1983 called Videodrome. Yes singer Debbie Harry from 'Blondie' was a part of it.

(http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/11/30/cronenberg/)

(http://www.freebase.com/view/en/videodrome)

6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?

Hackers Manifesto was originally written January 8, 1986 after a hacker was arrested.

(http://www.puremango.co.uk/2004/11/the_manifesto_77/)

7. Why do phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?

According to Yahoo answers it's because no matter what area code you use, any phone number starting with 555 will take you to the phone company information line. That way, they don't run into problems by accidently picking someone's real phone number and having millions of people call them because they saw it in a movie or tv show. It started in 1973, the same year the 555 directory assistance system began.

(http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006012003316)

8. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Sydney?

Cheapest form would have to be by suspended animation, teleportation or plane. Yeah by plane. Depends on the date you want to travel as to which 'flight' will be the cheapest but head 'here' for a closer look at GC to Sydney flights from around $98..

9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?

That would be Shakin' All Over, by Normie Row and the Playboys. (Shakin' All Over, by the Guess Who, sits head and shoulders above Normie though! Well, in my opinion..)

(http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=101)

10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?

Punk band, the Black Assassins!

(http://members.optusnet.com.au/~toxicoh/blackas.htm)

5 W's and the H

Week 3 lecture: To reiterate a further understanding on week threes lecture (learning the language of the cinema) I went and watched a movie just as Josh recommended to explain the who, what, when, where, why and how questions as they are subconsciously answered through different types of shot sizes. I made myself a smoothie, chucked on a dvd from my fav stash and watched it according to shot composition. The movie I watched was Domino, it rates pretty high on my scale of 1 to 10 so check it out. 

The close up - sweet and simply answers the question of 'who' by showing the character in detail as they deliver dialogue. The main character, Domino Harvey, is unearthed through close up shots on ears end.

The mid shot - answers the 'what' question by showing the character or subject performing an action. So basically Domino is a bounty hunter and I think the guns give this one away.

The long shot - is the answer to 'where'. It helps to identify spacial relationships and at the beginning of a scene it is also known as an establishing shot (because it establishes the location). 'Where' happens to be in and around the glitterati of LA.

Both the wide and close up shots - can help answer the 'when' question. Time though, can be a difficult thing to capture on the screen as mentioned in the lecture. I only really took note of the wide shot answering the when question as it made day and night a clear contrast.

The big close up shot - answers the 'why' question usually by revealing more about a character and their actions. Domino in this instance is portrayed in becoming bored with her LA model lifestyle.

Then finally the medium close up or a serious of general close ups - can be used to answer the 'how' question and explain the event that is occurring. Well, she gets bored, becomes a bounty hunter, runs into trouble and fights to get out of it..

This analysis of the movie is considered 'internal'. An 'external' view relates to the production side of things. My external view is short and sweet...

Who: The who would be the actors involved in the film - Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke, Edgar Ramirez, Delroy Lindo. Also the director - Tony Scott. 

What: It is an action, crime, drama, thriller.

Where: Filmed in LA for French production. 

When: Released in 2005.

Why: Money, profit, fame, ratings for New Line Cinema. 

.. and thats a wrap!

Language of the screen!

So week three has us researching the 'Language of the screen'. Yeah, there are clues to this research embellished in the very first line of instructions for today's blog. Piece of cake!

To unearth the meanings of the terms ECU, WS and MS I headed to google and searched 'film and screen analysis ECU WS MS' and was rewarded with tasteful and straight to the point results.This very first site Film Directing and Film Making Tips for the Independent Filmmaker did the task justice and ergo I have come up with the following definitions..

ECU - Extreme Close Up (focus on the eye)

WS - Wide Shot (figure is shown in relationship to their surroundings)

LS - Long Shot (subject is shown in a small scale)

Heres a few examples of these types of shots. They are all from some of my personal favs!  

The Extreme Close Up (ECU). Damn hard to find a film still! Instead heres an example in full swing. The first thing that came to mind was a close-up of an eye and in the movie Requiem for a dream there are heaps of ECU sequences.

The Wide Shot (WS). 

The Long Shot (LS). 

Apparently we are to find an explanation for a few more of these film terms. I researched them quick smart at Digvidflynn's Blog and Ken Stone's Final Cut Pro Web Site, but they are actually pretty easy to guess.

MLS - Medium Long Shot

MS - Mid Shot

MCU - Medium Close Up

CU - Close Up

BCU - Big Close Up

I don't know whether having our tute before the lecture is beneficial or an absolute pain in the butt! We do get an insight into what the following day's lecture will unearth but at the same time we are forced to edit our blogs time and time again to make sure we know what is going on. Anyway misery aside, I found Josh's lecture (week 3) about 'cine speak' a somewhat time warp back into high school. We studied film composition in terms of shots, camera angles and technical aesthetics so the lecture was helpful to polish all that language of the film that has been softly stored away..

Bibliography

Digvidflynn's Blog, Revision for digital video, viewed 12 August 2009 <http://digvidflynn.wordpress.com/>

Film Directing and Film Making Tips for the Independent Filmmaker, Understanding camera techniques - shot size, viewed 12 August 2009 <http://filmdirectingtips.com/archives/165>

Integrative Arts 10, Film terminology, viewed 12 August 2009  <http://www.psu.edu/dept/inart10_110/inart10/film.html>

Ken Stone's Final Cut Pro Web Site, The language of film by Michael Wohl, viewed 14 August 2009 <http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/language_of_film.html>

Warhol would find this boring!

Please don't bore yourself, this uploaded video is about 10 seconds of your life that you will never get back!

Tongue lashing lecture

Week 2 Lecture: Before I forget, here is a post about the tongue lashing lecture we experienced about the history of the computer and the internet. I say tongue lashing as an emphasis on the amount of information piled into our heads within the tiny space of an hour.

Well, the first computers date back to the time of Charles Babbage in the 19th century. Babbage designed the 'Difference Engine' which calculated and printed mathematical tables. It wasn't until the 70's though that a cascade of developments began. 1975 brought about the release of the very first PC (personal computer) and then Bill Gates dropped out of uni to write a language for the Altair system called BASIC. He then (from the confinements of his garage) started to market his program though a little company called Microsoft and by the end of 1975 more companies had jumped on the bandwagon and joined the PC industry. 

What next? Apple! From bite size to un-bite-able the company was fathered by the likes of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They produced the 'Apple I' and sold it for $666.60 US. Within two years and at the age of 25 Steve Jobs was worth over $100 million and the PC turned from a toy into a business tool. Thank god for Apple right? My Macbook Pro is my baby!

Anyway to further this history of the computer I actually took the time to visit a few links from the 'suggested reading' section of the NCT09-GC post.

The third link led me to a page called 'Triumph of the Nerds: A History of the computer'. The name itself was a little daunting but I continued to plow on through its depths. No there was no depths, just more links that uncovered some concrete facts as to how computer technology has transformed from the simple counting aid called the Abacus in 3000 B.C. to what we now fixate as part of our lives, the Internet. At first I would have said the world wide web, but the lipstick red words from the lectures post just screamed at me 

"It is important to understand that the internet is not the same thing as the web."

And yes in my ignorance I have learned that the web is just one part of the broader internet which includes many other things as well as the Web. It's ever expanding and it's an infinite source! Who knows where it will take us in the future! I think my summary here is done. Just a quick insight into what I have managed to take away from the lecture.

Below are some links to timelines, looking at both - the history of the computer and the history of the internet. Go feed your brains with some history! I found these very useful in accompanying the lecture notes!

(Computer) http://www.pbs.org/nerds/timeline/

(Internet) http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/timeline.asp

Beating around the bush..

Or is the bush beating me! No, no way. I'm just getting up to date with my 'blogging' and so to follow suite with the last post I am to include some before and after shots of simple photoshopped images? ("just a simple edit, a crop, a change in colour, size, orientation".)

There we go, the first pic is the original and the following three are some simple modifications..

Also to stress or underline the skill of embedding video I thought i'd include another snippet from youtube. I heard somebody quoting 'old greg' today. I had a slight relapse of painful internal laughter to tell you the truth, its good to know that people outside my stretch of friends are keeping Mighty Boosh quotes in solid gold rotation. Maybe we would get along well. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then we probably don't share the same sense of humour. 

Differences aside, I love mighty boosh, so check it out..