Tom Frecknall

Update on 1st Blood Promo Vid

2010-11-30T01:59:00.000-08:00

So many many problems later, were finally getting on with the promotional video edit for the band 1st blood. The footage itself looks really good, all it will take now is cutting the pieces into steady shots, layering live audio over a track provided by the band and sequencing everything so it makes sense to the purpose of the video, a live promotional artist profile.

As for the promo video for gatecrasher, we have been told by the clubs management that they cannot afford to pay us for the edit. Personally i wouldve done it as a freebie, but as there were 3 of us filming, I had to consider their needs as well.

Look out for the finished cut very soon!

Network Map

2010-11-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

Prof Green + 1st Blood @ Gatecrasher

2010-11-07T12:08:00.001-08:00

So I and a few lads I know from Confetti Studios are going to be filming the gatecrasher night on the 12th of November. While our plan to begin with was to film and edit together a segment on a local hiphop group (1st Blood - Check below for links), the management at Gatecrasher have since asked us to shoot the whole night, including the likes of Professor Green, Killa Kela, 1st Blood (Live), Citadels (Live), Masters in France (Live), Club NME DJ's, + the Horseplay DJs.
This will require completing a seperate edit for 1st blood and then everything else (creating a promotional video for Gatecrasher's use + a live gig profile for 1st blood), as we have been hired by two clients for the same night (clients are aware of this fact)...

So to plan for this I have been collecting research together on capturing live music on film. I'v been looking at a number of different live videos including some of 1st bloods earlier attempts. My research included some DVD sources aswell, but its alot easier to link them via youtube than uploading:

I took note of the above video as it shows the kind of angles needed for a professional representation of a DJ live show. Not only does 1st blood include a DJ, but DJs will be a common focus with the Gatecrasher promotional video.

even though this is a amatuer video, it shows of a interesting artist/crowd angle. This is something that will be heavily used throughout the night if the crowd is lively and responding well.

Because of this research, we have decided as a group (theres 3 of us in total)to each rent out a z1 camera each. As theres no narrative involved, theres not alot of pre-production planning to be done. The bit of planning we have done includes:

Camerawork

With 3 people acting as cameramen on the day, we can cover alot of the performance, capturing a semi-professional array of different shots. We have discussed setting a main camera up, that covers the whole stage, with 2 cameras covering closeups of the stage, one focusing on closeups and side angles of the artists + instruments, the other can focus on sweeping crowd and atmospherical shots.

Lighting

Obviously we cannot light the live show independently, which may cause a problem as locations like clubs favour a darker feel. A high ISO and a well thought out post-production should help to solve the potential flaw.

Sound

As the gig itself is a show, within a professional club setting, we have arranged with sound technicians to record everything that goes through the mixer within the 1st blood gig alone. There is still crowd reactions to take into consideration though, so we have decided to take out a unidirecional microphone to pick up every cheer from the audience, this will be recorded via the 'full stage view' camera and then dubbed over parts of the final edit.

for the promotional video, we have arranged to take a single song recorded from the full night, as a promo video is usually accompanied by just one track, making the vid short and sweet. Material like this is often used on a website, which requires content to be easily accessible for its viewers (especially when talking about streaming).

Recce + Risk Assessment ECT ECT

As the location is a live music venue, there are alot of things to consider when filming. Firstly, in regards to risks + H&S, a venue full of the general public (especially intoxicated) is obviously full of issues. This is something we will be compiling and analysing once we visit the location further into this week, so we dont miss anything out.

Also, as some of the film will include shots of crowds and the general public, it is fortunate that Gatecrasher is fully licensed to use images of the people who go there. This is due to the club being heavily photographed (they hire photographers for most nights). This wouldve been something to consider if the gig was at a smaller and less popular location.

MI - Tea

2010-11-05T12:06:00.001-07:00

Time to get cracking with our fiction project!

The group I am in for this project includes:

Myself - Lighting Manager & Sound Technician
Eric Yuan - Wardrobe Manager, Post Production Effects & Sound Assistant
Dave Roddis - Director
Daniel Stewart - Producer
Alessandra Chapman - Location Assistant, titles assistant
Leigh Harrison - Editor
Sonny - Camerawork & Lighting Assistant
Phil Bircham- AD, Locations Manager, Health & Safety rep, Photographer & Titles Designer

For my role i am responsible for the following:

- Resreach into different sound and lighting plans
- Sound Treatment
- Lighting plan
- Testing the lighting at locations specified
- Atmosphere tracks, recording audio on day of shoot
- Music tracks, if director decides to include

The script we have been allocated is called Tea.

Our adaption of the narrative twists the story of Tea into a tale of a relationship turning sour. A couple has just moved into a new flat, but all is not as well as it appears. As the film continues, it becomes evident that the couple are 'falling out of love' as the process of making and drinking tea is the only thing left that binds them together. The audience watches tensely as the pair begin to deteriorate, finally viewing the destruction of the couple. The qestion is how this 'end' comes to be... Surely it wont be their beloved tea thats responsible?

More on Tea to be posted v.soon!!!

DCR - Promotion

2010-11-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

Well alot of stuff to catch up on. Good job im in the mood for blogging tonight.

Within my radio side project throughout the summer (and ongoing), promoting has been an obvious requirement. This is a transferrable skill aswell, which could help out in the future if i decide to work in the MI industry. Ill be posting another segment on DCR soon, about the sound and technical aspects that could provide invaluable skills.

ACCESSIBILITY

Because an internet radio station has the potential of a world wide audience, we had to make the site as accessible as we could. We did this by doing the following:

- Contact web directories (ie: Internetradio, shoutcast) for listings.
- Apply for a listing on media player listings such as itunes, winamp ect.
- Provide a balanced bitrate so listeners could stream easily without suffering too much audio quality.
- Provide URL links for different popular media players such as itunes, winamp ect. As an option.
- Provide a on site flash player

MARKETING

To market our radio station we went through a number of routes, although we havnt got a permanent bit of adspace out there currently.

Firstly we trawled the major music forums, targeting obviously those that were dominated with electronica and dud/reggae. We posted on those generating interest and in doing so built up a respectable postcount. I designed some banners, logos and graphics to use within the forums to give the impression of a semi-professional station.

Another route we took is partnering up with a few other internet radio stations. Swapping affiliate space for sharing traffic. This has provided other connections aswell, establishing a relationship like that has provided artists and Djs that we might have never got.

We then used facebook , twitter and other networking sites to gain further interest. I wont bore you with those details, I think we all know how a group and organisation is set up by now!

Dub Concepts Radio

2010-11-05T03:07:00.000-07:00

www.dubconcepts.tk

Over the summer I was pretty busy setting up a new internet radio station. Now we are fully set up and consistenly on the air, I feel I can finally show off our hard work via this blog.

DCR Management & Development

The project is split between me and a good friend (Laurent Duval) as the co-founders of the company... Our named roles are as follows:

Me: Technical Admin, Web Developer & Assistant Promoter
Laurent: General Admin, Bookings Manager & Promotions/Advertisement

When we began to design the station, the first thing i did was to conceptualise the website itself. As I did this the co-founder to DCR (laurent) began to drum up interest on facebook and other networking mediums. This also includes communicating with different artists and getting mixes/releases of them to put within our archives (which would in turn play out within
After I introduced the basic design we then launched the servers and put the first lot of DJs on for a show that went from 7pm to 2am. This gained quite a few listeners and gave us the confidence that the project has potenital.

Designing the site was especially simple because of my past experience within web development, and the lack of advanced coding needed.
The site itself is done with basic HTML and javascript, with iframes supporting changeable features like the shoutbox and the schedule (as its in the format of a calender type document).
Although I, among many others, find iframes to be unstable and not worth using, they were definately needed as such features would be ever changing. Meaning that I could develop and change the code (or document within the code) seperately to the main sites.
The toughest bit of the site has been implementing a flash banner that acts as a slideshow, giving listeners latest news info and artist profiles all linkable to an internal or even external page. This is STILL in development I'd like it looking as good as possible, with smooth transitions and scripts to stop on hover/click ect ect.

DCR General Info

We are a fully licensed station (covering DJ sets with a creative commons license) who aims to bring the world the best in the bass driven, electronica music. We have recruited members within the local music community since going live. There is now over 10 regular DJs, an assistant tech admin and another promoter. We tend to view the project as one that belongs to the community. We are purely non-profit at the moment, and are willing to recruit anyone who is willing to help out for free.
We do have plans to introduce advertisement schemes in the the future, although this is something we want to avoid until we cannot afford to keep the site running without it.

We broadcast 24/7 with the majority being live DJs performing over our relay server, which is rented out from an american company called serverhostingcenter.com who offer out cheap shoutcast (which is a type of encoding used in broadcasting live streams on the web) servers.

So, please, if you like DNB, Dubstep, House, Jungle, Reggae, Garage OR anything else with a thumping bassline, stop by our site @ www.dubconcepts.tk (soon to be a .com as i cant bear the lack of a professional touch that .tk provides).

MI - Malac

2010-10-26T06:57:00.001-07:00

On the day of the shoot we ran into a number of problems throughout the process. Although it all came together in the end these issues definately set us back, lowering the standard of our production.

These problems were as follows:

Incomplete shot list - Completely my fault as the director, I was unprepared in regards to the shot schedule and shot list. As I struggled making my mind up on my individual ideas, I wrongly assumed that the group would be able to discuss and decide as to what shots are best on the day, admittingly blagging it. I realise I shouldve approached the team and asked for help, or to swap roles.
Obviously the situation quickly turned into a problem as each shot was being discussed HEAVILY before being taken, which meant each shot took about 25-30mins to get right, even longer in certain aspects.

Loss of Control at times - I have learnt that I shouldve took control in certain situations as well. This also relates to the above point as moments were stressful, resulting in crew members not knowing what to do while others were in needless debate. Again I'll accept responsibility due to the shot list being incomplete.

Sound flawed - A pure mishap, the boom wasn't configured properly. This meant the sound that was recorded was from the panasonic mic. This might be the reason the female actress Ellie was quiet.

We did however manage to capture some really good shots, especially for the title sequence. Tom P did a fantastic job to help create some of the shots that wernt planned also... While Ben, Tash & Leigh covered up the flaws really well within the final edit.

Ill upload the final edit soon!

MI - Malac - Treatment

2010-10-19T03:11:00.001-07:00

Benjamin King compiled our films treatment, which is as follows:

Treatment

Malac is a story of depth and one in which the set unravels. Heartbreak and emotions run wild and spillover. The mental torture of ones past relationship becomes another ones physical torture. A dark twisted encounter, set in a unforgiving, picture perfect basement reveals a hidden story.

I personally think this treatment sums our groups ideas up really well. Our plot is focused on a serial killer who kills to cleanse herself from a painful past relationship that went sour. The twist to our plot is her next victim is actually her assisstant's partner.
Although the treatment doesnt do justice to the depth and complexity of our narrative, i believe it really shows off the methophorical feeling of our story. We want to convey dark and twisted characters, who are all in pain, one way or another. Whether it be mental, physical or memory based, Malac is a tale of pain and suffering.

While I feel confident on our selected narrative, I can also see potential flaws and setbacks. The biggest potential problem is the complex plot itself. As we have only about 1.30-2mins to convey this plot, I personally fear that we will not be able to show our characters background story well enough in the given time.
This is only a potential problem however, so aslong as we keep that in our minds while we develop the plot and screenplay, hopefully, we can get past it.

Screenplay + Shotlist Concepts

While my main role within the production is direction, it also falls into my role to compile a shot list with the cinematographer. Here are my current ideas for shots and shot types:

- Quick, 'flash' shots of object/character closeups within the room, to build tension within the title sequence. Also revealing plot clues?
- Extreme closeups. Tight shots angled to hide certain unwanted aspects regarding the location.
- Med/Closeup shot of the briefcase, opening, contents unrevealed.
- Panning shot of turtore objects and visual plot clues.
- Over HER shoulder shot. Tracking HIS movements (writhing in pain)?
- Extreme Closeups of hands + HER face, to add tension and contrast between drawn out shots.
- Vertical panning shot revealing photos and end plot twist at end CREDITS.#

Expect the full shotlist and shoot schedule soon!

New year, New Project.

2010-10-15T02:08:00.000-07:00

So back again. Fun times.

We have been given a 2 week project to get our teeth in and refresh our minds before the real first assessed piece of work.
The script we are adapting and filming is MALAC... A story which hints at torture, dominating behaviour, physical and mental anguish.

The full script is:

MALac
Fade in from black: white text on black background:
Courage is the belief that there is
something more important than personal safety
Fade to black
Int.Day.Room
HE is sweating. Hard.
SHE stands impassive. Unconcerned.
HE rubs his wrist and we see HE is chained to the chair.
SHE
(Bright. Breezy)
Are you sure you wouldn’t like a drink?
(smiles)
Never too late to change your mind.
HE
(Afraid)
I swear, I swear. Please. Stop. Please?
SHE
(placing a briefcase in front of the chair)
Shush. Be quite quiet. It will no longer be necessary to
lie.
HE
I swear…
HER
Shush, shush.
(popping open the case)
I have here a malac. God it’s beautiful.
Could you hold him please?
MAN steps out of the shadows and forces HE’s hand
horizontal.
HE
Don’t. Don’t. I swear.
SHE
(pleased)
MALacs. Now no more shall we part on this path of truth we
find ourselves on.
Playing with the MALac in the case, its metallic sheen
plays on SHE’s face.
SHE
Pain, enlightening truth. This is what MALac brings.
Shall we continue?
SHE removes the MALac and shutting the case she steps
forward.
HE screams.
THE END

Initally we were put into groups, within which we decided on the roles that we wanted to play for the film project. here is our group and each persons roles:

TOM PIERREPONT : Camerawork + Art direction
BEN KING : Producer + Sound Manager
LEIGH HARRISON : Location Manager + Runner
NATASHA GAYNOR : Editor + Camera Assistant
ERIC YUAN : Wardrobe Manager + Lighting Manager
TOM FRECKNALL : Direction + Screenplay

Flash Quiz Final Outcome

2010-05-25T00:51:00.000-07:00

Finally finished my flash quiz.

Although its slightly off what the brief has set (couldnt figure out how to do action arrays for the life of me) i believe its still successful as a stand alone piece of interactive media.

UNI project - FLASH by ~DJ-Analysis on deviant ART

Quiz Redesign...

2010-05-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

After evaluating my previous design, I decided that graphically it was to a low standard. My revised result is this:

Moving Image - Roles

2010-05-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

While im trying to figure out why youtube wont accept our final outcome here are the various roles I furfilled whiled within this project.

Director

One of the most important roles within the industry, directors are more famed then anyone else within the crew.
Their job is to control and direct the actual filming. This can be anything that immediately relevant such as actor performance and review, screenplay and visualisation, artistic and dramatical camera movement and technique and a large portion of input into the final outcome.

Although public knowledge diticts these people as gods within the film industry, their creative power is limited. Usually producers will have the final say and veto any ideas unliked from director or anyone else within the production.

My favourite director is Park Chan-wook (oldboy and the rest of 'the vengance trilogy) seen below:

Park Chan-wook (born August 23, 1963) is a south korean director/filmmaker, specially noted for his brutal and realistic themes and subject matter, alongside immaculate framing and clever storytelling.

While even Tarantino is a massive fan of Park, he is listed as one of South Korea's best and most famed directors, pulling in over 3 million people (in S.Korea alone) to watch his latest films.

Oldboy is a success all around the world, with the film and actors winning 17 globally recognised film awards. These range from the british independent to the golden trailer awards.

And on a more personal note, Park Chan-wook also turned down the chance at remaking the evil dead (something that could be easily done and would pull in a huge amount of profit).. This makes him a film hero in my eyes.

Light and Sound crew

These 'technicians' of the film crew are there to plan and devise appropriate light and sound for the production. While within this project I took on both roles, real life would see a crew of around 3-4, just for the sound aspect.

These would include (from sources at wikipedia):

* Production Sound Mixer

The production sound mixer is head of the sound department on set, responsible for recording all sound during filming. This involves the choice and deployment of microphones, operation of a sound recording device, and sometimes the mixing of audio signals in real time.

* Boom Operator

The boom operator is an assistant to the production sound mixer, responsible for microphone placement and movement during filming. The boom operator uses a boom pole, a long pole made of light aluminum or carbon fiber that allows precise positioning of the microphone above or below the actors, just out of the camera's frame. The boom operator may also place radio microphones and hidden set microphones. In France, the boom operator is called the perchman.

* Utility Sound Technician

The utility sound technician has a dynamic role in the sound department, most typically pulling cables, but often acting as an additional boom operator or mixer when required by complex filming circumstances. Not all films employ a utility sound technician, but the increasing complexities of location sound recording in modern film have made the job more prevalent. This role is sometimes credited as "cable man" or "python wrangler".

Camera Operator

Another role that is taken on by alot of people within the industry, the camera operator is what it says on the tin, someone who operates the camera.

This is actually a really hard role as without professional equiptment alot of the pressure is put onto the operator. Without a clean take of each scene, filming would go on and on, something which the operator is aware of obviously.

Although given credit, operators are never noted for fame within the industry. This is for good reason though, as operators are not meant to give creative input (especially if the production is massive). They are there to simply film what they are told to film.

3d Studio Max - Lighting

2010-05-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

Below is my attempt at lighting within studio max, i have used a few different types within the standard lights section of the program.

Omni Light - Produces lights in all directions, good to use with a lightbulb for a realistic effect.

Direct Light - Directs light in one constant direction. This is good to use to fake sunlight.

Spotlight - As youd expect, creates a spot of light in which you can direct at any object. You can either spot

Rendered with a heavy enviroment effect to create a foggy woodland scene:

Rendered without any enviroment effects:

Rendered with a different render device:

Superhero Cave - Research

2010-05-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

I have compiled some pictures of superheros and there HQs, specially within a cave like area.

Quiz Q&A's

2010-05-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

I found a really good site to help me out with the quiz project. http://www.triviaquizgenerator.com is a triva quiz generator. The site generates a free quiz to print out and do whatever you want with it... This will give me decent triva questions to use within my own quiz design.

Here are the questions i generated, under them are a list of answers. If youd like to try and complete my quiz then dont read below the numbered lines below.

1. What does the name 'Ghengis Khan' mean?

2. Feline refers to cats, bovine refers to cows, what does Aquiline refer to?

3. A Dorset shop sells bookends made from 140 million year old what?

4. Tchaikovsky died of what disease?

5. Where was the setting fot the TV show Rin Tin Tin?

6. Roosevelt won the 1932 election. Who did he run against?

7. Sandra Wes of Texas, died in 1977 and was buried in what?

8. Jamie Farr played what role in the TV show M*A*S*H?

9. The song 'Here we go round the mulberry bush' actually refers to which tree?

10. Who is Warner Brothers' oldest cartoon character?

Answers: 1. Very Mighty Ruler 2. Eagles 3. Fossil Dinosaur Shit 4. Cholera 5. Fort Apache, Arizona 6. Herbert Hoover 7. Her blue Ferrari 8. Corporal Clinger 9. Tree in Wakefield prison walked round 10. Porky Pig

Journal Task 2

2010-04-23T10:09:00.001-07:00

Although most of my creative life centralises into forms of digital art, my skills have also started to branch into music and video (specifically film), as my interests have always been in those areas as well.
While I have sold web products in the past, within the past few years I have been building my skills up, along with deciding on the direction Id like my ‘end goal’ to be at. My design work is always something I would be a perfectionist about, whether it is ‘for’ me or not, this means all my results are mostly to my own liking. My musical interests will always be a hobby, as I’m realistic in my chances within the field.
As for the future of my design work, web or video, I am aiming for an eventual position within the professional industry, which means all my creativity will be demanded into that area. Obviously creativity in day to day problem solving will always remain, as that is key to sharpening my critical thinking and increasing personal development. However other areas could suffer due to the demand of a professional position.

To enhance my knowledge of my possible creative future, the need for research would take me through such media as the internet, books, film, digital art collections and public journals. Other artist profiles would be revenues of research to draw on, specifically my favourite filmmakers Chan Wook-Park and Luc Besson, as well as my favourite web design company, 2advanced. I am wary to focus my research into one specific area, as I my options are still slightly open, not to mention that if I were to research multiple pathways and possible options, my final decision will be a more informed one.
It is however irrelevant to research music and other hobbies further, although due to personal interests I will continue slight research into them, not for an end goals sake, but for purely personal interests.

3d Max: A wierd fountain thing

2010-04-22T07:45:00.001-07:00

Ok first efforts with 3D studio max:

Well i did attempt to create a fountain... but it came out really abstract looking for a reason im unaware of as of now.

Oh well, it still looks pretty funky!

Oh yea.... The quiz....

2010-04-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

Although its took a long while to come to my journal, i have been designing the flash based quiz for the interactive media project.
The style of the work has been inspired by a few things. namely who wants to be a millionaire for its 'classic' multiple choice question layout.

To keep to my own 'theme' however i have turned this into a pub quiz type game, hosted by a animated version of Al Murray (famous for his pub landlord act).
Itll be ten questions, getting harder as the quiz goes along.

This is the first draft of a page from the quiz:

More will be done very soon!

Poor Adhension Site - Shot List

2010-03-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Here is the shot list for our groups upcoming film 'Poor Adhension Site'. Its slightly rough at the minute as we are still finalising the extra scene, along with its placement. The extra scene is unlikely to be at the end of the film.

The script of course is here: https://now.ntu.ac.uk/d2l/orgTools/ouHome/ouHome.asp?ou=63212

1.

Shot 1 - Medium Shot, Slowly panning to left, from Alex to Max (contuine until
''I dont want to live here''

Shot 2 - Medium/Close Shot, Fixed on Alex (approx 1 line)

Shot 3 - Close up, fixed on max (approx 1 line)

2.

Shot 1 - Wide Shot, from opposite the road. Max is the focal point. Possibly sped up.
(approx 1 line), Slowing zooming in.

Shot 2 - Medium Shot, facing side of forming queue (approx 1 line)

3.

Shot 1 - Close up on max (over alexs shoulder).
Fixed for 1 line, slow zoom out to include both characters (back of alex's head).

4.

Shot 1 - Wide tracking shot of queue. Focal point is Max.

Shot 2 - Medium Shot (over the shoulder), fixed on max.

5.

Shot 1 - Medium Shot on max, including keycard spin. Over the shoulder of alex. Fixed

Shot 2 - Close up (different angle) on max. Fixed.

Shot 3 - Wide shot of full table. Fixed (for next two lines and ''if these walls
could talk''

Shot 4 - Medium shot of alex. Fixed.

Shot 5 - Close up of Max. VERY SLOWLY zoom in, continue until ''sticking the posters''

Shot 6 - Medium shot of alex. Fixed (same as shot 4)

Shot 7 - Medium / Wide shot of pair of characters, including table. Fixed.

EXTRA SCENE?????

Shot 1 - Medium/Wide shot of bus queue. Fixed on max

Shot 2 - Close up of max. Fixed with the 'bad habit' being the focal point.

END.

Is it a game? A film?? or is just... Heavy rain?

2010-03-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

On my break from shot listing, I stumbled across a new release for the ps3. While have not played it I watched a good few hours of walkthough footage on youtube and I'm immensely impressed.

The game itself is a crime thriller, packaged as a interactive drama type of action button pressing adventure.
Check below for a trailer, and a IGN, which explains the games premise:

IGN.com is a fantastic reviewing platform for entertainment media. It is to games what IMDB is to movies.

What appeals to me greatly in this, is the massive link between film and game... Showing how the industries are becoming more and more alike every day.

Within the gaming industry, there has always lacked in emotion. The pure fact that your viewing a digital representation of the world (something which is not yet to the standard of high end CGI) has blocked most games from connecting with the audience. There has been some exceptions (most notably ico), but most have failed to reach out to most individuals.
Films however, have always lacked interactivity. There have been obviously flawed attempts at bringing this to films within the past... And you also have to consider that one of the ideas behind films, is to show an audience a certain perspective of the world... rather than their own.

So for an interactive film, that shapes itself accordingly to the audiences will, it makes perfect sense to bring these two industries together. This HAS been done before of course, (farenheit in the xbox days) but theres a key difference in that to heavy rain. While both titles use action buttons, as a way to 'directly control' the media, farienheit had little sense of a interactive plot. There were 2-3 certain possible endings, however the ending was the only possible difference. Heavy rain is designed so any failure or success can be played through, meaning that the plot is heavily twisted depending on your actions. Any one of the 4 playable characters can die given the chance, which discards any involvement of them later on in the plot. Even mundane tasks (which are completely rewarding with the controller system) change throughout each play. The ultimate goal is to make it your game, and heavy rain seems to have done a cracking job at it.

With this in mind, and the advances of 'easy to control' gaming (as in project natal and motion capture), I'd assume more and more games to come out with the same intentions as Heavy Rain. The stage is truly set for the next generation of interactive media.

Poor Adhension Site - Narrative and Context

2010-03-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

Poor Adhension Site is the title of our groups script for the upcoming 3 minute film project.

I have read the script and tried to define its narrative within the overall plot, plus the possible underlying meanings underneath it.

The plot consists of a mentally troubled man (Max) describing a series of events to an authoritive figure such as a therapist, or counseller (Alex). The events take place within a bus queue, involving bizarre interactions between Max and the public around him.

After discussing with Christine, the other half of my group, we came to the following underlying themes within what we would like to take the script into:

- Mental Health, particulary the decline.
- Public Tolerence of such sufferers, including attitudes from parties known to them.
- Social Adaption towards these people in socially difficult situations.
- Personal and social disconnection.
- Mundane and repitive routine, also known as life.

With this current script and these thoughts we can begin to write the extra scene, along with storyboarding, shot lists, film schedules and risk assements sheet.

Expect our revised script very soon!

EVE - Corporations, contracts and calculus

2010-03-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, now more than a month into the game, Iv finally learnt all the basics and began my quest at success within the stars.

And yes, getting to grips with the basics has REALLY taken me this much time.

So while I have been training my character towards combat, I have also gained the skills needed for a mining barge. This makes mining highely profitable, pulling in around 3.5 million ISK an hour.
Mining has become a solid income to support my many lost battles and ships. As PVP in the game is amazingly difficult and every decision is final, (ship gets blown up thats it... no getting it back) this semi boring profession is just what my character needs for the boost in cash.
I have also just trained to mine ice! This is alot more exciting than your standard ore because it pulls over 100k per unit that you mine! While you only get 1 unit per mining cycle (with my current skills), it still means a bigger influx of finace.

In other news i have recently joined a corporation. This group of players acts much like your average guild or clan, except working together requires much more thought and planning. While there is still the option to go out and destroy people as a group, every other in game profession (whether big or small) can also be done together. This means if you cant afford to buy your latest ship, you can work it out with your corporation to build one instead... Ultilising everyones skills and abilities.
The word party is replaced with fleet in eve, and 'fleeting up' for a specific task in known as a operation. There are daily operations in many corporations including the one I have joined. These operations can range from simple mining ops (members are assigned roles such as foreman, miner, hauler ect) to exploration groups that hunt down new systems and complexes to farm (mine/loot/hack ect).
This is a MUCH better way to play eve as you feel like your actually a part of something, and your group is actually effecting the rest of the universe.

Below is a huge ice mining operation in action. ALL of the [+]'s you see are players, working together to pull as much ice as they can.

Also, my corporation is planning a move to live in wormhole space. To which I will be a recon specialist for. I provide more details of this at a later date... as its going to take another full post to describe the mechanics involved in such a move.

Until next time!

IGN Predicts the future of gaming

2010-02-16T04:39:00.000-08:00

IGN got video game specialists together to predict what 2020, will be like for us game neeks.

IF you like your games, then its a cracking read:

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/106/1066907p1.html

The first weeks of Eve

2010-02-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

Tutorials and Training

So after creating your character and choosing your race (which only affects what part of space is your start point), your thrown into the open wilderness with only two options..... Do tutorials based on your preferred career path OR go out and find your own way.
The tutorials are all a set of 10 missions designed to give you a good start in the universe. They will give you skillbooks, basic equiptment (known as 'civilan') and also a few basic ships to set you on your way while also teaching you specific techniques that will boost your rate of survival.

After completing the tutorial (or tutorials, as you can do them all), youll be well on your way at making some ISK (international space kredits). To pay the bills however, your gonna need the skills. This can be very confusing to start with as there is a expansive list of books to learn, especially if your still undecided on a specific career path.

I decided to get the best of all worlds by creating a alternate character. This means I can focus on combat based skills with one account, and industry type skills on the other character. Ill let you know how that very confusing task goes.

The Universe is BIG

The Eve universe is quite honestly, a universe. Just flying about within the first week, I quickly realised just how big this game is. The following 'star map' shows this point off. Each dot on the following map is a star system, and within the systems are as youd expect, many planets, asteroid belts and space type structures. Each system is linked by a stargate which means while the game gives the feeling of a massive, playable area, the stargates are the only way to other systems, making each system like a 'room'. Bear in mind the following map however and thats right, each TINY little dot on there is a complete system (the map is set on a players in the last hour filter, to show how busy the game can get):

Until next time!

My Journey into EVE online

2010-01-24T06:57:00.000-08:00

Ok so I finally did it. I finally crumbled and gave in to what PC gaming has demanded off me for the last 5 years.... thats right... iv subscribed to a MMORPG, a massively multiplayer online role playing game. Im now in the same league as them World of Warcraft kids you see on the news, getting sent off to counciling because they have played so much there now intrepreting the real world as if it were still fantasy, jibbering spell translations over breakfast before trying to dejuice a frog into there A level science project. Or much like the ones that turn so pasty that they become allergic to the sun and.... uhmm.... life.

However, the same league does not mean the same game. Thankfully iv fallen for a MMORPG that is so ridiculously complicated there are no kids, because quite frankly, most kids wouldnt be able to understand the point of EVE online. The learning curve is in fact a cliff, and thats great for keeping immaturity out of the formula.... And lets not be fooled, this is a hard game, alot of adults would simply turn down the effort it takes to realise the mechanical genuis behind this massive sandbox of a game.

So the game itself is set in the distant future. Space travel is in its golden age... Average humans can now become a space pilot with ease, which means exploring the heavens, fighting distant aliens or conquering the universe corporately is open to almost anyone.
Then, for some crazy reason the games story twists, depicting a blackhole sucking alot of human civilastion up to a distant part of space they now call eve. Your avatar starts from here, with the universe of eve at their feet. Now i dont really see the point in this twist in narrative, but i can only assume it was the only way they could create a believable plot that gives specific reasons why you cant visit earth and walk about on planets.

As for the general gameplay its all about you and your ship. Sorry but there is no walking about currently in the game (CCP is developing a walking in stations system, which will be described later in my miniblog). The bulk of the game is made up with various careers, which can be mixed, developed and partaken in any way you see fit. Careers involve mining, trading, mission running, couriering, manufacturing, inventing, piracy, pirate hunting, pvping and MANY MANY more.
These careers will require certains things to be successful. Ships and equiptment will make your career easier and more profitable, such as expanders for your cargo or upgrades for your mining lasers. Now buying this equiptment isnt the be all to end all however. Skills are required to use certain equiptment and act as 'levels'. Eve doesnt use a normal level up system to dictate how good your character is. Instead skills are trained in real time (ie: Refining skill takes 2 hours to train to level 2, 8 hours to train to level 3 ect) and these skills train even when your offline.
Skills are the most the important thing and because there are so many, careful planning must be taken in order to boost your chances at success within your chose practice. Industry skills need to trained for traders and miners, while combat and mechanic skills need to be learnt for a.... well... combat profession.
Now the sandbox part of eve kicks in... as what you do with these professions/skills/ect is completely up to you. Missions are given by agents around Eve's many stations that are usually directed towards combat. These agents come in levels, the higher ones paying big enough bucks to make many eve players what i said earlier as: 'mission runners'. People who gear themselves towards the industry however are completely on there own, having to utilise the player driven economy to buy and sell there way into profit. OR they could mine away the many asteroid belts, refine the ore and either sell it on. Ore can also be used to manufacture in game items or ships to sell on. Basically, what im trying to say is... The choice is really yours.

Whatever you do, make sure its making you ISK!

Look out for my continued posting for a more detailed explanation of Eve.... I cant begin to describe the many features in this post, so look out if space ships interest you as much as me.
>

My most recent mixes

2010-01-24T06:43:00.000-08:00

So i realised i havnt actually posted any of my DJ sets/mixes on here yet.

Thats gonna change right now.

The first is a straight up Ragga Jungle mix, featuring tracks like The dream team - stamina, Topcat- Junglist, Diamond Geezer - Dont cry and lots others.

You can download it here:

http://www.dnbshare.com/download/knowname-RaggaJungleMix09_1.mp3.html

The next is of the harsher sides to Drum & Bass, inlcluding Evol Intent, Spor, Break, Renegade hardware and more.

Download it from the link below:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZGR0EA8S

And the below youtube mini mix is for anyone who likes their jungle to be of the old school nature. Features tracks from ST flies, DJ Nutnut, Spider Don and others.

Watch below:

Hope you like! If you do please visit this blog and my youtube account for more mixes coming soon!

Introducing Mr Burton

2009-12-08T02:53:00.001-08:00

Just a very quick update for my proposed film. Luke Burton (from the 2nd year) has agreed to co-direct it with me, so look out for any updates from him on his blog:

http://hatedinthenation.blogspot.com/

Untitled Project - Ideas

2009-12-08T01:20:00.000-08:00

Ok so Iv been researching narrative ideas for inspiration for my own short film.

As I grew up in a small town, achohol, drugs, partying and violence have been a part of everyday life for me. While Iv not partaken in any (cough, cough), I have witnessed first hand how these things have had a massive impact on a community, good and bad. I have seen how it creates relationships, destroys families and effects social status. How alchohol can make a night out, while secretly ruining lives. How drugs inspire and expand the mind, while creating their own brand of social misfit. And how violence depicts an age of degenerate sheep that just cant say no to their peers. While this might be expected anywhere, its the fact of 'small town mentality' that give its younger inhabitants an almost pathetic choice, be cool, or dont be.

I have realised that in places such as my hometown, having a good time has a price.

I want to create a narrative that describes what Iv mentioned above, but without fitting to a standard drug film cliche. While the massive question is on the eventual issues with mental and physical health, I also want to depict the change in social status and personal wellbeing of individuals facing such problems, including the good times one can have with the right self control.

While I have no definitive storyline or structure, I feel like the below images suite what i eventually want to achieve.

In the next few weeks im going to attempt to write a base storyline, maybe even storyboards and a rough script. Ill keep you updated.

Generation Kill

2009-11-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

So Iv just started watching the debut season for this new piece of gold, direct from the series masters, HBO.

From what iv seen of the show is highly impressive, and contary to what the trailer dictates, it isnt just action and americanism. The show is split into two conflicting perspectives; the macho, american stereotype like soldiers, that want to get in their and kill the enemy.... and a actually intelectual focus on the realities of war, what they do to the mind and body of a soldier, debate on the war in terms of it being just and fair, outside and civilan perspectives and the terms in which the mission can be completed. This mass conflict creates a tension in the show, mainly between the soldiers but also seen in almost everything the war touches.

As for production quality, well expect a series from HBO. Audio and visuals are very slick as usual, while some of the stars can be recognised from other HBO's (True Bloods Alexander Skarsgård makes another HBO return) acting on a whole is fantastic. You immediately get a sense of knowing with the characters, you know what type of person they are and which 'side' (the conflict i talked about earlier) they lie on within seconds of meeting them. Some are obviously more harder to get, but thats because of a more mysterious approach being played, something thats still highly believable.

Anyways to wrap up..... WATCH GENERATION KILL.... HONESTLY.

Dragon Age: Origins

2009-11-09T23:57:00.000-08:00

Dragon age origins, a fantasy based rpg from bioware has been released recently. The story is set in the land of fereldon, while the infamous blight is taking place again since the last one 100 or so years ago. The blight is a global fight between civilisation (i would call it good but the game doesnt depict it like that) vs evil. While creatures from the depths of hell, or darkspawn as there called, battle to wipe out the world, an organisation called the grey wardens swear to protect the world from evils wrath. As they have done for thousands of years. Now fate brings the grey wardens to a new recruit, one that will become, unknowingly, the worlds only hope.

So iv been playing playing away at this since it came out last week, and i cant begin to tell you how good of a game it is.

Although quite familar in idea, origins breathes much needed new life into the rpg scene. While the quest, loot, collect and level up systems are pulled from any slash and hack adventure, dragon age excells in other aspects.
Firstly is the world in bioware have created.... its quite literally jaw dropping. The pure depth & detail that the developers have gone into is amazing, and it doesnt just stem to visuals, a whole back story is created for this virtual world. One in which is mature, deep and highely exporable. Not only does everywhere in the game feel like a new world, but even characters have a feeling of belonging there, which in a game sense is really hard to do. For example there is huge tension between races (human, elf and dwarf) which makes the games quite nod at racism actually believable. Stuff such as this litters the in game world and you feel like YOUR an actual part of it, of a grand scheme so to speak.

One of the best things about the game is the idea behind it. The origins. You can select one of 6 bg stories for your avatar, 2 for each race. While there mostly noble or begger options, each one is entirely unique in its narrative. I have played as both a dalish (noble elf) and a elf in midst of poverty, each one giving me a complete new start to the game (approx 2 hours of 'tutorial quests'), each with its own story and reason behind the next part of the game. After you join the grey wardens ranks however, the origins merge into one and play out the same story, well more or less the same anyway.
You see bioware do like the whole consequence thing, and this time they have it down to a tee. There is no moral compass, no indication of whether or not you just killed that man for the greater good or not, no guide into the decisions you make. Instead your thrown into the 'wilds' so to speak to figure it out on your own, and mostly such game altering decisions are so morally grey its very easy to make a snap decision, good or bad. Personally i love this aspect, as i find im always on edge, looking for key info that will help in these decisions....... thats how a game should be played in my eyes.

Anyways if your a fan of kotor, or mass effect then this game will blow your tits off, just be prepared for the 150+ hour gametime (main plot and some side quest/exploring), my arse, fingers and eyes sure were not!

A hard, but yet old man.

2009-11-08T13:38:00.001-08:00

Taken

They took his daughter. He'll take their lives.

For another fast paced, hard man based thriller, this film was actually really bloody good.

Pierre Morel's 2008/2009 film stars Liam Neeson, a former MI5 spy who has his daughter taken by some very nasty french folk. The film follows an easy enough strategy, man has kid, kid gets taken, man kills everything in his way to get kid... and so on.

Although the plotline is predictable, the film surprises in many ways. The locations are all shot perfectly which gives the film a sense of realism, camerawork is neat and tidy, while frantic in climatic scenes. The cast is also very proficcent, adding even more to the realism factor.
Also without giving away the story, the plot is better than your average 'bourne style' romp, with Neeson employing clever tactics that would outsmart james bond himself. And as for his daughter.... she gets a really rough deal. Theres no cuddly overtones here, just a gritty image of what youd expect human trafficking to really be like, which is terrifyingly dark.

On problem i did have was with the ending, and while ill try not to reveal too much.... its absolutely fucking ridiculous to say that a man who has killed countless of people (even in the name of saving his daughter), some rich and powerful, doesnt see ANY consequences.... any at all.

This film would have been a 9/10, but the ending pushes it down to an 8.5.

Another BEATflex concept

2009-11-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

Im really liking my C4D today.

Dub Concepts.

2009-11-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

So me and a mate are starting abit of a collective. Not sure whether its gonna continue as just me and him or if were gonna introduce any other djs, but i thought id start designing concept art for the project.

As im a jungle dj, and he's a dubstep dj.... were gonna team up and spin a variety of jungle/dubstep/dnb/reggae/dub/ect.

The first stuff iv come out with is below:

Dub Concepts, probarly the name of our group.

ParlourBEATflex, my dj alias.

The toys of the future.

2009-11-02T18:27:00.001-08:00

Project Natal - Xbox 720

Microsoft announced this very recently, and everyone is going nuts for new info and rumours. Its looks utterly..... amazing. Not only does natal bring full motion capture into gaming, but also in depth voice recoginiton, minority report style menu systems and a character called milo who is extremely annoying... and even more clever.

The above looks really cool, but also really linear. Hopefully it could also feature some specific point movement that draws thin lines.

I dont like milo. But the tech behind it is amazing, this is potential for games like no other... where players can actually interact on a intellectual level and, as seen further in the video, visually as well. Imagine a FPS, where you can see yourself (as in YOU not the in game character) in mirrors and water....

Next gen concepts

District 9... not 13.

2009-10-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

District 9

While little green men begin to invade our screens more and more, District 9 trys to be original in yet another alien based film.
The newest outburst from peter jackson poses us with a question; What if aliens came to earth as immigrants, poor, starving and stranded? From this, district 9 takes form as a documentary style affair, depicting scenes as if they were a film crew running about. Its actually refreshing as far as major blockbusters go.

Well ill not ruin the story but the documentary style angles do get changed about half way through the feature. And unfortunately thats where the films style starts to diminish and holes begin appearing in the plot and presentation. While i do give praise to the main actor, his southern african accent does flaw him slightly, especially when the film is trying to be deadly serious. He isnt helped by bits (and i mean small bits) of stupid writing however, and worst of all, the whole undertone of the film is cheesey and simple.

All in all, its worth a see. Not as big as the hype made out, but not a shambles either.

A Summer of Film Thinking

2009-10-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

Among other things iv been watching alot of films this past few months, and as im still undecisive on what I TRULY want to go for next year (either moving image or web design), its been fueling ideas on making my own short.

....... ill get back to you on that.

Theres also a film shoot going down in my hometown. Im hopefully getting involved, with either editing or concept art & special effects. Ill keep you updated, they have just started shooting so i should recieve something to play about with soo.

Waking Life

2009-05-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

I came across this film the other day and was literally blown away.

Its very hard to keep up with it, especially when tired or drunk so watch when you really want to think about the world we live and dream in.

Apart from sparking debate the film has another strengh. Its anamation. Im really glad im not bothered about doing anamation because it would be very hard to beat Waking life's style and uniqueness.

Final user interface!!!

2009-05-20T03:43:00.000-07:00

Simple i know, and im struggling to master my latest track so unfortunately the only audio is with the video.

Hope you like!

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1242815258

Crash, burn and probarly fail.

2009-05-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

Why do computers seem to meltdown when deadlines are to be met?

Completely my fault for leaving things to last minute i know, should of had things uploaded and on disc a week ago...
Im not sure if it makes the difference but ill try and get to waverly when its free today and sort it for a late hand in tomorrow.

Logo

2009-05-14T04:45:00.001-07:00

Ok i think this is the design for my logo, its way simple and easy to implement into any website or interface visuals.

the logo says Hekt, which is short for Hectik an 'alias of mine'. Im also playing about with my Y3 productions logo. If i get anything decent AND different to the above ill upload it regardless of what im using for the brief.

User interface ideas

2009-05-14T04:25:00.000-07:00

Im thinking of modelling a computer station... based on my very own!

I think this would be the perfect interface because theres a designated area in which components such as AV would appear in... focusing the user and making the whoile interface much easier to navigate. Also the need for buttons to change content comes easy enough within a rendered computer model and although it could be considered as a boring solution to the brief a wee bit of personalisation could makes things a little more interesting.

Im finishing of my proposed model now... and will upload as soon as i can.

Identities Module: Ideas and conceptual work

2009-05-14T03:15:00.000-07:00

As the submission deadline approaches i think its time to get everything uploaded onto the old blog, especially as i have not completed my user interface, uploading will give me chance to piece eveything together properly.

So looking back to when the brief was set, I firstly began collating together visual works to construct a mood board. As the brief is on MY PERSONAL identity I found images that represented myself, my interests, hobbies and my style of work.

This is the finished result:

The mood board can then direct me towards the concepts for the identity brief. Using this I can already think about points within my project like the audio specification. A rendered turntable would solve the audio problem and fit within my general mood, as would a film which includes me playing my own turntables.
The rendered model idea is something that has been done before though, and although the concept isnt unique to my identity, turntablism is a massive passion of mine so it probarly has to be included. Looking at the possibility i search for models already done and posted on the web. I found the below image:

This model has been done extremely well and considering my lack of skill within 3dmax i doubt ill be able to create something as visually nice as that.

Essays and decisions dont go well together

2009-03-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

Im now desperately stuck.

Iv written as much of my essay as i can, started drawing my plans together for the presentation on monday, and yet i still havnt decided what route is best for me to go down next year.

Its driving me insane so I think the best approach is to lay down my reasons for wanting to do each and figure it out from there.

MOVING IMAGE

This subject has been a new one to me from this year, iv always been interested in film but studying and creating it is a different matter.
I have throughly enjoyed the work however, and felt competent enough within the field. My 'sort of' natural ability to realise what looks good (in terms of shot type and progression of story) is niggling at me to go forward with the subject. Plus i find editing quite easy, and actually really furfilling, although theres always the chance that the deeper into film i go, ill eventually realise im completely rubbish at it, in terms of a professional level.

ONLINE ENVIROMENTS

The world of online enviroments has been known to me for quite a while now, and although i feel a certain level of ease within website design, im now beginning to feel abit bored of the subject.
A few years ago i set up a website design company with some online friends, gaining some real insight into the industry. I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences within the field, and reached a level of design in which would give me a certain head start at a professional level. However i realise my heart has gone in and out of it so to speak, meaning that while i could possibly excel at the subject, im not so sure ill be happy with it as a career path.

VIRTUAL ENVIROMENTS

Finally with this subject comes an easy decision. Although i was very interested at the prospect of 3D animation and virtual space design, iv now found it to be extremely difficult, time consuming and unfurfilling (at least for me anyway).
I think i can safely say im not going to be doing this subject.

So now i must read back what iv written about a thousand times, and somehow come up with a decision for the 24th. FANTASTIC.

Dairy of an Avatar - The End.

2009-03-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Ok so iv been playing secodlife (on and off) for just over a month now, and i have to be honest and say it hasnt been exactly thought provoking. I still have the exact same quims and quieries as the first time playing this delightfully pointless game.

Now, when i say pointless I fully understand the 'point' of the endless virtual space in which secondlife presents. I realise the fact that some people arent confident enough to lead a successful (first)life, and that some people love social interaction so much so that they would gladly lead a second, but the extent that the developers of the game have gone through to make this virtual world as realistic as the real one is well..... pointless.

Im probarly not making much sense so its best to explain what adventures my secondlife have endured, then perhaps this question of point and need will start to focus.

Let me start by saying the world is absolutely massive. So massive in fact a month of playing couldnt give me at least an idea of how big it is.
Not only do you have community created town(ish) looking areas, complete with parks, beaches, bars and shops, but a powerful search engine, in which anything you can think of typing will result in pages of mini worlds to explore, much like websites on the internet i suppose. The funny thing is (again much like the internet) most these virtual worlds relate to porn, spam or get rich quick schemes.

The above pic really doesnt do justice to the space

As i have explained in earlier posts, not only are these virtual spaces open for browsing, you can work within each one, add content yourself and if your really good at the old computer coding, even create a mini world yourself. All this is alright, its add massively to the gameplay but I feel its brought down by one single fault. LINDEN.

The money system (otherwise known as linden) within the game is so needed, but yet so pointless its unreal. I tried working many jobs within the game to try and build up some sort of bank account, but within a month I havnt even got past 100 linden. Most of the jobs are shocking aswell, as said in a earlier post a common job is dancing in a spot, and as you cant move while doing it you literally have to spend days dancing away in order to afford something as simple as a new hairstyle.

While there is alot of free stuff to get your hands on its mostly rubbish. And aftere deciding your going to do things the free way, theres not a whole lot you can do, walking about and talking to randomers who want to know you less than you do them isnt the greatest use of my time. So yet again i need money to have fun.

Anyway im gonna have to draw up my conclusions otherwise ill be ranting on about this forever.

I believe that while secondlife has a great deal of content, playability and lifespan, the essence of it as a GAME is flawed.
Secondlife should be left to the devices of social misfits, coding geeks and people who feel unlucky within there first life. Rather than a game i suppose its a tool, uneeded and mostly pointless.
For those who would argue that its a great social invention, look up msn or facebook.

Dairy of an avatar - Part 2

2009-02-20T07:12:00.001-08:00

After exploring what seems like an endless virtual world, i finally got a job dancing at a 'popular' virtual bar. This job paid me 6 linden every 20 minutes and after i was about ready to do my first real shopping trip.
Many of the shops dotted around offer premium clothes/skins/hairstyles ext ext ext. One i found even offered the chance to give me a real looking genitals. Fantastic.
Then i found something which really intrigued me. A shop selling vehicles.

Well the above car costs about 500 linden. Looks like iv got much more dancing to do.

3D Holographic Projection - The future of motion picture

2009-02-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

Today i was thinking about the thing that intrigued me the most about the multimedia course. I have to say, my best memory of open day is Simon showing us the 3D projector.

Looking through you tube i found a few clips that demonstrate the technology and its possible advances. The first is a Virgin Media showcase, in which Richard Branson gets 'downloaded' right onto the stage. Check it out below:

Then I came across this catwalk show featuring kate moss' holographic twin. This really blew my mind (even though my opinion on kate moss isn't exactly positive) and seemed somewhat beautiful.

Imagine the possibilities of this within commercial use.. far distance communication will never be the same again, not only will people be able to talk to each other from around the world, but actually see a 3d representation on them... Meetings wont have to actually be attended, advertisement options will increase ten fold... new art will litter places without actually being there... interior space and design would be changeable at the touch of a button, I MEAN IMAGINE! As above in the kate moss video, there definitely would be an audience for a artists use of this projector... and I'm not even going to talk about what it could mean for the games industry. It would take literally days to finish this post.

Some more examples are below.

Dairy of a Avatar

2009-02-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

Ok so i finally got the chance to fire up secondlife, make an account and attempt to rule the virtual world. AS IF.

After completing the short registration, and throwing myself into the THEpond community, i quickly realise how im going to need alot of money, patience and ego to become even the slight bit successful. After struggling to create a avatar that resembles me in any way i decided to really try a '2nd life' and i recreated my character into a girl, a much easier option (as most male avatar look quite femine anyway).

>

The next half an hour was filled by bumbling around, getting to know the controls and realising that this virtual world offered everything a real one does... and more.
Apart from the obvious social interaction, scripting offers the user the chance to build anything they want... from mansions to shops, which can even sell virtual things to other users.
At first i hated the system, as i thought i would have to buy 'linden' (virtual currency) for real money. After a while a few friendly people (bearing in mind my avatar) showed me that virtual currency is obtainable through job seeking, survey taking and much more, which opens this virtual world into... well... a 'real' world.

Did i mention you can fly?

Even with all this in mind, im still not sure the average joe needs a program like this. I know that for some people social interaction is daunting, but something like this doesnt solve any problems, its surely unhealthy to spend all your time playing with your 2nd life rather than dealing with problems with your first. The question im really asking is... When does a SecondLife become a persons first????????

Anyway the program is quite fun and slightly addictive... but i cant see myself loggin on every night. In my opinion people should lead a successful real life... before concentrating on a second. I can see that some people would just use this as a social site, but with the likes of facebook.. why bother?

I think thats enough virtual living for one day... ill try and keep you updated on the happenings of my second life within the next four weeks... After then who knows, it could grow on me and completely destroy my first life, but, somehow i doubt it.

The Meeting

2008-12-11T06:17:00.000-08:00

Here is my one shot film entitled 'The Meeting'

Changing Colours - Photoshop

2008-12-09T04:30:00.000-08:00

My selected image to manipulate is one of my friends from back home.

I then used photoshop to change the colour of his guitar.

This is done in many different ways, the easiest has been introduced to CS3. There is a colour replacement tool within CS3 that takes all the ballache out of layering up colours and carefully cutting (or rendering) parts of the image. All that happens now is you choose your colour, click on the part of the image you want to change and the tool automatically changes it for you.

I decided to change the guitar colour as green and pink are two colours that complement each other, rather than blue and pink.

One shot film - Prep and Shoot

2008-12-09T04:09:00.000-08:00

As a group we decided on intrepreting the title of 'The Meeting' as the awquardness of meeting new people.

The shoot will be silent so that music can be overlayed, which also gives members of the group chance to write in 'thoughts' of the characters within the film. These thoughts will hopefully show how people will try avoiding making the first move when meeting new people.

I created the following image as a plan to shooting the film.

The camera (inspired by that 70's show) will be panning to each character sat round the table. It will stop on each character for about 5 seconds so it would be possible to add the thoughts in through the edit, plus body language of each will be portrayed properly.

After we completed the shoot I realised how interesting this idea could exactly be. Each person within the film acted differently, some alot more than the others. This is perfect as each group member will interpret the body language differently, meaning there is a possibility of 6 totally different films coming out of one shoot.

After studying the footage, i began to draw up characterisics and personalities for each character, making it far easier to add thoughts into the film. Below is a sort of outline of what i came up with. I must stress that these outlines are based on the film and not what i actually think of my group members!

Imogen - Flirtious, bitchy, IT girl
Grace - Lazy, unenthuseasic (however you spell it)
Dan - Hungover!
Will - Stereotype boy (makes excuses to why the situation isnt his fault???)

The final edit of the film be up as soon as i get enough time to let youtube upload it (my pix project took 4 hours! these film is about 2-3 times longer!!!!!).

The rule of thirds

2008-12-09T03:31:00.000-08:00

The rule of thirds is a commonly known rule relating to camera position within photography and film. As you can see from the example above, this rule uses two horizontal lines and two vertical lines to split the image into thirds. This gives a basic outline of where the focal points and horizon lines should fall.
It is my understanding that a interesting focal point will fall into one of these thirds directly, with the main components of this point falling to the left or right vertical third. The horizon line should then be shown on either the top or bottom (horizontal) third.

I took a photograph (of the one and only Luke Burton) to try and describe this rule.

The focal point (Lukes face/eyes) fit within the top right third, and the horizon fits on the bottom horizontal third.

PIxelation - Finale

2008-11-29T09:15:00.000-08:00

So I have finally made it to the library to upload my end result. I called the scene finale, hope you all like!

There is a valid reason behind the camera jolting near the end! I knocked the camera at that point, so i couldnt get it back into its original position (sush, dont tell anyone!).
Anyways on a bonus i guess i could just say its like his true transition into the afterlife..... (artistic bullsh*t ext)

Youtube Account

2008-11-27T06:31:00.000-08:00

So i have finally sorted my password for youtube out, which means i once again have a fully functioning account.
Not only will the account showcase my NTU work, but it also has a few videos i made of me Djing. The DJ Warefare ones are quite old (i dont go by that alias anymore..) but new additions will be added as soon as possible.

http://uk.youtube.com/user/ParlourBEATflex

Please feel free to check out any of my videos, comment and critise!

Pixelation - Shoot & Edit

2008-11-27T06:07:00.000-08:00

After composing my ideas on my selected ‘Death’ scene, I then got about shooting it.

Location - Mansfield Rd Cemetery
Actors - Luke Burton (Main Character), Matthew Robinson (Grieving boss)
Props - Leafs, Empty Gravestone
Dress - Dark Hoody and trousers (Luke), Formal Suit (Matt)
Notes - Shooting will have to be done about an hour before sunset, so that images are progressive within time and darkness.

As you can see from the above images, the shoot came out really quite dark. I wanted to represent death as a good end to ones journey, instead of the usual doom and gloom associated with it. I used Photoshop’s batch action to create a feel for the short that would satisfy my needs for the representation. I used a variety of filters and adjustments (colour, saturation ext) to come up with the following look:

I really like the grain effect I have used, as it represents the process of aging really well. With this and a complete colour balance, I feel I have created a much warmer mood to the piece, again trying to look at death a different way to the norm.

Successful Design Practice

2008-11-20T12:24:00.000-08:00

The above is a picture of the Nokia N95 phone. It is my current phone and although it lacks in important issues such as battery life and reliability, it is my favourite of all the phones i have had.

Why is it that we want our belongings to do more for us than to function well?

The quality of a product depicts two aspects, function and form. While function is the more important, form truely sells the product. As there are many companies all specialising in the same thing, the differences surronding the product are mainly visual and sensual. This means that a potential user will pick a product depending on how that product makes them feel, or makes them look. Noticably, the best selling products (when referring to phones) are ones that portray the user as sophisicated, modern, stylish and expensive.
This all comes down to todays society and the way the user would think society would look at them. When people buy things like phones, they realise that the rest of there world will view there new purchase as well, so it would be very important for the product to give the right impression.

Why are we willing, as soon as we can afford it, to pay extra for things with appealing forms?

The fact of the matter is that products that look better visually, make us feel better sensually. Again, it boils down to the requirements of the user, which is mostly social and functional satisification.
For example, the difference between and ipod and a mp3 player (with equal functions/memory) is the visual aspect and of course the price (Ipod being the more expensive). The ipod, possibly the best known music player, has been purposely designed to be beautiful, or visually appealing (again it matches todays social requirements of modern, sophisicated, stylish and expensive). This is the reason most people would rather spend the extra money to afford one, rather than a functional rival.

Pixelation - Individual Collaboration

2008-11-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

Finally! The first assessed project is now underway - Consisting of 3 stages, which include; Pixelation, one shot film and interactive enviroments. Beginning the first stage we were quickly seprerated into small groups for sharing a camera with and set about the basics of Pixelation.

My group consisted of Luke Burton, Matthew Robinson, Jaime ?, Sonny ?.

With pixelation being a whole series of photograhs that create motion, careful consideration was needed to fully meet the brief criteria. Our group discussed ideas and decided to create a narrative that broke into scenes, one directed by each group member. We then decided on a ‘rags’ to riches type story and came up with ideas on how the scenes will be parts of the main characters life, each scene will make sense in its own right, but as a collabration, the narrative will be much more clear.

Never trust a ISP

2008-11-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

The following posts are all late! Its been real hard connecting to the internet... Real hard. After realising how much the glasshouse entrusted company 'CableCom' was ripping us unfortunate students off (160 quid for a full year of 'basic' internet, in other words no big downloads, no torrents, no video streaming ext ext, a extra 60 quid for the deluxe package) i decided to hook up to one of the popular mobile broadband packages. With T-Mobile being the cheapest/fastest of all i went with them, expecting a strong signal and finally a chance to access the internet.

BUT NO.

I am now experiencing such slow speeds id rather have dail up. What the nice people in T-Mobile forgot to tell me was that the nearest 3G transmitter was malfunctioning, and could be for the next 3 week. Somehow Im not keen on finding out and surpassing my refund date.
So tommorrow its back to T-Mobile, and on to Vodafone, reccommended by a good friend who has been with them in notts for about a year.

As i said at the start of the post, the following assignment based posts are all late, i prepared them onto word for when the internet was available to me.

FreeSat - The Newest way to watch TV?

2008-10-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

For all you lucky enough to catch onto the idea of HD instead of blue ray, there is a new satellite based television provider coming onto the scene. Free Sat is (basically) a HD version of Free view, running similar to Sky except it is practically free (At the moment the system is integrated within new HD TVs, but I assume a box version will be available in the future). There are no monthly subscriptions for the package and they also include programs that you would normally pay for. For the full list of features go to the Free Sat website located HERE.
They are also finalising the design for Free Sat +, the equivalent of Sky + (enables the user to record/rewind/pause live TV).

This new system really shows how quickly high definition has taken off within our culture. More and more we are seeing HD replacements, HDDVD, Sky HD, ext. Entertainment systems like the Xbox 360 now give users the chance to experience gaming in high definition.
At this time however, Free Sat probably won’t make a huge impact within society. Unfortunately for the technology, a lot of homes don’t have high definition sets, they cannot afford to upgrade, especially with the credit crisis affecting today’s market. This is definitely an idea we will see in the near future, as it’s the next general step to upgrading everyone’s television to a digital high def signal. The full digital switchover is likely to be completed in 2012, unless your area has been already, meaning the complete halt of television analogue signals throughout the UK. It is probable that some time after, the switchover between normal and high def will occur.

I believe this will be a bigger success in the near future (within 5-10 years)... As more people will have upgraded to a higher definition by then. As I have a HD Monitor though, I will be taking advantage of this new technology to the fullest.

Whiteboard Animation

2008-10-24T03:11:00.001-07:00

The results of all the first years whiteboard animations are now uploaded to youtube!

My groups is the one with the big stickman coming out of the house roof. I believe we were successful at the task although alot of the events within the animation dont follow a similar narrative, making it (as a whole) quite random. Looking at others work i can see the benifit of creating a 'story'... Even if its based on how a box moves to the other side of a house.

The Nottingham Welcome

2008-10-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hello Nottingham!

So I have now been here for about two and a half weeks.... coming up to three. I moved into the glasshouses as early as possible, because my hometown is boring! Not so boring here though! Everyone has realised how good the nightlife is... and now i share the same feelings about my course.

Although the 'Welcome to Nottingham' lecture didnt hold much point, the following course specific ones really impressed me. Pin hole cameras and white board animation were really interesting introductions to the world of multimedia, and gave us all a chance to get to know one-another.

Im now going to get ready for the unions 'Big Bang Theory'. Should be a pretty heavy night, so i need to get myself dolled up to impress the ladies. Until next time!