A Slight Change of Plans….

To coin a phrse commonly used by Top Gear Presenter Jeremy Clarkson to describe the weekly challenges on his show, my work can often be described as “Ambitious, but Rubbish!” The key part of that being AMBITIOUS.

From the very start of the Xcode project, Pegg ran it like every good production team should be: team members were divided up into pairs, assigned different areas to focus on, and different code to implement. We were excited at the chance to try something new, and while I was absolutely terrified of code, as I would discover later, it actually can be rather fun 😀

After 3 full production meetings [that’s 2 more than either of the previous modules had 😦 ], we all had *fairly* clear idea of what we all had to do. In my little team, partner Jen Ryan would be in charge of visuals and photoshop work, while I would be tasked with implementing the content into Xcode. As it panned out, I would also produce some short After Effects renders, and take care othe voice overs, as well as a few hidden extras to give the app a personal flavour.

Under guidance from Pegg, we all planned to work our individual areas as part of a complete app; aiming towards creating a complete product for Harper Collins. However, as time slowly rolled on, our inexperience with Objective C began to show. With progress falling behind, each team gradually began to work on their project as individual applications, rather than parts of a whole.

Why xCode?

If there was a  UIButton for passing the module in one go, I wish I knew the code for it. Objective C, and the multiple derivatives, has challenged me in ways I never thought possible, and has yielded results I never thought I could achieve.

When this module first reared it’s head up, the choice between learning to use Adobe InDesign, and following a purely visual route towards a simple iBook style piece seemed liek the obvious choice for me; I’ve always been a visual practitioner, and it would be a chance to, well, if I’m honest, try and show off.

And then I thought BALLS TO THAT. I came to university to learn…and to meet a nice young lass to call my own, go out all the time, become a socialite who no one really likes, and alienate most of the friends I made…thank god that part of the plan fell through XD.

Having done a film art foundation course last year, it seemed logical to leave xCode and all that jazz well alone, especially with my ingrained fear of all things intensely computer-ey or deep beyond basic application depth.

However, and I to this day don’t know what tipped it, I decided to go with it. It was something new. Something exciting, something that I could be proud of myself for having at least tried. But most importantly, especially to a student, it makes money.  And if you’re very good at it, it will make you LOTS of money 😀 People may scorn financial reasons when it comes to higher education, but hey, if I can’t afford food on my table, and a roof over my head, University will have been a glorious waste of time.

Having launched into Xcode, I was instantly out of my depth. For those who don’t know, Xcode is an apple supported tool that implements the API Cocoa Touch, and is used to design apps for Mac OS, and more specifically, the iOS. iOS powers the iPhone, the iPod touch and their magnum opus, the iPad. Without it, apps and all the various functions would be impossible. Even for seasoned media practitioners, delving into the dark and sophisticated world of app programming is a harrowing feat; it requires that the user (at least try to) learn Objective-C, that bastard child of C – the core of all computer language, and the masterpiece of Dennis Ritchie, who sadly died last year in October, shortly after Apples Tyrant/Saviour Steve Jobs.

Understanding the language is not the most important part; it is the logic. Understanding where you need to code something, and why it won;t work when you done, is the first step in understanding Code. But when you finally start to “get it”, there’s a buzz in coding more and more, learning new phrases, implementing more and more complicated code. Try it, and you might surprise yourself (;

In Retrospect…

One crit down, one more to go. With today, the most frightening 2/3 weeks of this course so far have passed, thank god!

The project was, in theory, the first instance of group work. It allowed us to work with fellow practitioners to create a project that showed off all our specialisms and showecased a blend of our ideas.

The main enemy was time. Due to struggling with the Principles of Computer Graphics module, and the start of Digital Publishing, it was late into December when we realised that we had to change our concept. This gave us just over a month, including the Christmas holidays, to prepare. I used this time to streamline the concept and write the script, the final draft of which came in at 8 pages.

Due to a degree of inactivity in the group, the film project became something of a solo project, in order to simply get it done: had we had more time, we probably could have coalesced as a group.

The first flaw of the film is its duration: a hectic all-night editing session, where as much content was cut and thinned out as possible, left the film at 5:12; 3:12 longer than the duration set out in the brief. Although no way as long as some of the shorts out there, a length of 5 minutes moves it out of the usual material watched by the target audience, who want to see short, entertaining videos that are able to convey the purpose/narrative in 2 minutes.

Of course, more content can be cut, but this highlights a second failing: the script. At 8 pages long, it should have been evident that film would be near impossible to condense into 2 minutes. And, due to the writing style I used, it was not compartmentalised into different chapters/zones, that made sense on their own, out of the context of the whole film. By the time it came to filming, it was far too late to change the concept, and as a result we blundered into the dark, knowing that we would be unlikely to match the 2 minute constraint.

The film also suffered from a series of, not crippling, but noticeable inconsistencies with the footage: different white balances, colour palettes. It made work in post-prod much harder, and left the film feeling far less polished and professional than it could have.  Audio also suffered, but the recorded music soundtrack helped to cover that to a degree.

however, looking back, I believe the writing to be solid (not blowing my own trumpet :P) The idea of a cheeky, audacious and outrageously talented thief made for a good yarn, and although there may have been plot and logic holes, such as sleeping in his victims house, if executed well, it could be carried off without raising story-killing questions.

24 hours of consciousness and one mug of green tea later, and It Is Done

“If It was Hairy Before, It Was The Wolf-man Now…”

It all started with us finding out that another group of our hardworking classmates had already started to shoot and re-shoot a short involving firearms, soldiers and well shot and edited action sequences. Seeing as they had already motored along with their project, the last thing we wanted was to seem like trend-followers, or worse, plagiarists. Also, thinking of the module as a catalogue of films, we didn’t want to add another film with guns and racy action music.

So, I rethought the concept and what could best achieve the idea of “A Day in the Life of…” With practically no support from my teammates, I took it upon myself to write a new script based on “A Day in the Life of a Thief.”

The idea behind the film was to, in 2 minutes, follow the day of a particularly talented Burglar who gets his kicks from breaking and entering, with minimal disturbance or evidence to the occupants. He takes for the sake of taking, often discarding or giving away his ill gotten goods, such as a car he steals form the neighbours of one of his victims, and the wallet of a man he bumps into at the Supermarket.

When writing, I envisioned a film that would be witty, clever and not a little bit cheeky. The audience would (hopefully) be awed and amused by the audacity of his acts: the introduction shows that he has in fact slept in the house of his latest victim, and leaves without leaving anything to suggest anything is amiss (except for stealing a winning scratchcard left on the fridge).

In terms of casting, it would be easy enough to match the description of the Thief: lean, athletic, dark haired and sharp eyed. Late on in writing, it became apparent that team mate Ashley Sutherland was perfect for the part. Unfortunately, Ashley fell off the grid early into 2012, and I had to discount him from the cast.

Just a few days before the shoot, and with the final draft of the script adapted and agreed upon by team mate Rob Moore, some excellent storyboards were produced by resident artist Jen, which helped take us a giant step closer to visualising the film.

Disaster truly struck, however, the day before our planned shoot on Saturday the 14th: as 5:00pm passed, I came to the horrifying revelation that WE HAD NO EQUIPMENT BOOKED. Rushing to confer with producer Rob, we fears were confirmed: No Camera, No Tripod, No Sound kit, No lights. Nada. After a night of frantic facebooking and phonecalls, trying to call in what few favours I’ve accrued over the years, but by 11:00pm it was apparent that neither me nor any of my teammates could borrow, beg or steal a camera that would suit our needs.

As a result, we postponed our shoot to Monday 16th (which at time of writing is slipping into the 17th). With one week to go and still so much to do, I confess to being more than a little worried. If it was getting hairy before, by now it had turned into the Wolf-man…

Happy New Year and all that Jazz…

A New Year, a New Day…yet nothing changes: stress, deadlines and an ever mounting pile of work that never seems to lessen. Welcome to Digital Media Production, the “easy” Media Degree….(attr. my friends doing English at Oxbridge).

The year has already yielded some fast and furious developments: development of an iPad app  for the Digital Publishing module has been kicked into overdrive under the steely gaze of programmer extraordinaire Chris Pegg,  due to the proximity to the deadline (just over a week).

Likewise, the Sound and Video Production module is also hurtling, terrified and aflame, towards it terminus. After a close shave with a deadline just days after the start of term, my colleagues and I believed we had a stay of execution when it was pushed back by a fortnight. Woo Nelly, things were about to get bumpy..