DEFYING TELEVISION

It's hard to watch this show that has started on BBC 2. Defying Gravity, is about a group of astronauts who are on a 6 year voyage around the planets. But all is not as it seems as the characters are all either sleeping with each other, having suicidal thoughts, or are hallucinating in the first hours of the voyage. The production design is very good, it looks like a lot of money has been put into this project, and it is made in Canada (which i'm not sure means if it is a good thing or a bad thing). So far i have learned that they are trying to put Ross, Chandler, Joey, Monica, Rachel and Pheoby into space, and after watching at least three episodes, its almost clear thats what the writers intended on doing in the first place. The effects and design seem to keep up with unbelievable gadgets which have no scientific fact behind them and to be completely honest probably don't have much thought put behind them either, but they don't look half bad. The main character's voice over seems to want to be deeper than it actually appears to the audience, there is too much of a character that shows and because it exposes him so much, i am neither rooting for him, or want him to be the good guy.

The music choice is nothing short of one tree hill, and i'm not exactly sure that's appropriate for such a program. Yet I am still drawn back to the program, it's a concept i like and have always wanted to try out myself if i ever got the chance, but i think i would have serious doubts about ever trying to do it the way Defying gravity has.

My main inspiration (and what proves time and time again as a posible copyright issue) is the BBC docudrama, "Space Odyssey : Voyage To The Planets" which was a much better show with unbelievably stunning effects and production design, a perfect mix of drama and science fact and flawless attitude toward the psychological nature of humans in space for that period of time. Do yourself a favour, take two hours out of your day and watch this fantastic docudrama which never fails to impress.

Blu ray, bright or shite?

It has come to my attention, in the last couple of months, that blu-ray is really starting to step up to the money that it costs nowadays. While on a late night tesco romp with my friends i found a very cheap blu-ray player, from Technika (don't judge me), costing only 70 pounds, due to the very outdated technology it was running on (hey, it still works). Now the first film i bought on blu-ray was one that would be quite obvious to the eye if anything had improved. What else but Danny Boyle's sci-fi, Sunshine (don't judge me). Now i must say, i was unbelievably impressed at first glance at the screen when the spaceship Icarus 2 flies by the camera, with the sun beaming off of it's heat shield. The clarity of the picture was fantastic, i was completely immersed in the picture, almost as if i was there myself. The sound was also incredible, pumping out a full surround sound clearer than any dvd to date, the sound of the sun's rays striking the shield and the low boom as the ship blew its way past.

But here's my question for this round. Does Blu-ray take you away from the story and place you in a position where pretty pictures are more important.

Now I'm writing this after just watching one of my favourite horror movies 30 Days Of Night (don't judge me) on blu-ray. It was brilliant, the motion was perfect the effects pumped up, the deadly soundtrack slithers through the speakers in the clearest form possible, i was completely immersed in the events, the suspense and the movement. Now you may be questioning why I am so impressed by these pretty colours and pictures, and i must say i do have a soft spot for a beautiful looking film (don't judge me) but there is always a need to be immersed in the story as well as the pictures, behind the beauty and the shots there has to be depth and substance. Now Blu-ray seems to take that edge off, some people say. They say, it is so detailed that you spend so much time trying to follow everything with your eyes that you have no time to process the story.

I disagree. That first paragraph? forget it! It isn't worth the money. You buy a blu ray player expecting something new and fresh, and for about the first five seconds of the film, of coarse you'll look at your friends and say "fucking hell thats awsome!" but after that, it's the same film you love, the same film you saw in the cinema the first time, the same story, the same characters.

That detail, that immaculate sound, it's all out the window when you loose yourself in that film, in the characters, in the story, in the emotion, compare those feelings that you feel everytime you watch your favourite movie to a detailed picture and just guess what's gonna win. Not saying its not totally worth it, it is pretty cool, but don't judge me!

a bit on sound design

This part of the coarse is a particular favorite to me, pretty much because when i leave the academy i hope to progress into a career of sound design and other sound related jobs. Andy picked one of the most influential sound designers/editors out there to give us an example of what sound can do to make a film what it is. Using the film The Conversation, edited by Walter Murch, we were shown how one conversation played throughout an entire story can affect our understanding of the characters feelings and fears.

The Conversation may not have been my cup of tea, still not a bad film, just no the kind of story that i'm generally interested in. But not one person can deny that the films sound scape and design is utterly fantastic and is almost as if not more important than the visuals, in creating Gene Hackman's fear and obsession with one of his clients whom he has been putting under surveillance. Throughout the film, whenever we are on Gene Hackman, we are constantly plagued by snips of the conversation he originally recorded right at the start of the film. This is used to show the guilt that he is feeling that one of his recordings may have gotten someone killed, and so he is plagued by his own work and obsession. What happens when the only things you really care about in the world turns against you, I'm guessing is the question that Gene Hackman must face.

Sound design is something which i find particularly amazing.

Swiftly moving on from Walter Murch, i would like to go straight to the crazy stuff, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Sunshine, and the sci-fi lot. How does one create a sound that no one has ever heard or knows what it would sound like?

Imagination, is a key point in all of these films. From what effects you see on the screen we are to create a sound which matches it in every way, shape and form. If it is an explosion it should be analyzed and each and every element of the explosion should be recorded individually to be put together at a later stage and the finished output, no matter if it has a hundred tracks with it, should resemble the sound that an audience would expect from their understanding of previous films.

The most amazing and wonderful part of sound design has to be the sheer imagination put into each sound, to create that sense of fast pace, or real depth, or even just silence in order to impact an audience, either to give them what they really desire while watching a particular scene, or to withhold what they expect, in order to strike them, catching them off guard and putting in the awkward position of having to agree that the images must go with the sound, even in a clash situation.

If i had to give an example of one of the most fantastic uses of sound design, surprisingly, I'd have to go for Steven Speilberg's remake of War Of The World's, in which Richard King designed the sound. The one sound out of that film which is one of the most terrifying things i have ever experienced in cinema has to be the Tripod alarm, just before they proceed to kill humanity. That alarm is able to send a shiver down my spine every time i listen to it. It has just right amount of bass to shift the floorboards, but still enough to leave a shrill bell in your ears. Once hearing the alarm, you know their is trouble to ensue, and that even as an audience member you don't want to be there. Just like in Jaws, with John Williams score signifying the shark is near, that alarm signifies the same danger and acts as an signal to the audience, be afraid, be very very afraid.

PANDORUM

Another sci-fi. Belter. It must appear by now that I myself am quite a science fiction freak. So let me set it straight. My friends I am indeed the biggest geek alive, I love sci-fi films, the design, the far out concept of being as far away from home as physically possible, the idea of no help, no sound, no boundaries. Just love it! So here comes a brilliant sci-fi which has looked at all these things and thought, its time for another horror set on a massive space ship, e.g.. Alien, Event Horizon. Essentially my first thought of Pandorum was that it was going to be exactly the same as these classics, (still likable but over used) but it wasn't. In some ways of course it can be matched up but altogether, the performance of one of my upcoming favorite actors (Ben Foster) and the concept and overall design of the film is fantastic, not to mention the unbelievable lighting which had been involved.

The first thing to notice is of coarse the expensive production design. Where do you get the idea to design a fantastic (small) country size ship, then make the inside one of the most claustrophobic spaces in the universe. Physics. Look at the designs of the space shuttle and the international space station, they are themselves big structures but inside, due to the amount of space needed for the necessities of the crafts there is almost no room for personnel. These new designs are no different, in fact in a couple of thousand years these ships may even be just like this, hopefully without the horror, aliens and mutated people thing. Although we don't actually see a lot of the ship, we get a sense that the whole thing is just one big maze, and with the power kicking on and off, its a maze immersed in darkness. The idea of making the ship a sleeping city was also quite a creepy thought, thinking what could happen while your asleep and what happens if no one wakes you up, and thats exactly what this film plays on. The massive sleeping bay is a personal fav of mine, because after we have been brought into this world of claustrophobia we are brought out into this wide open space, where the characters are at their most vulnerable which means they have to use the small tight spaces to hide and fight. Perfect.

The next thing is lighting. The first scenes open into darkness while the power struggles to come back on, flaring the lights on when it surges through the ship, trying to restart. The most claustraphobic scenes such as the air duct scenes are shot in darkness, this gives some of the most fearful moments in the films, showing that the characters are indeed alone and have no sense or idea of what is going on around them.

Apart from being a sci-fi, this film is also a very smart thriller which promises twists and brilliant performances, but also, one hell of a ride, so get yer geek hats on and take a look at the stars (or just go to the cinema).

Back on top!

And so it comes to my realization that after all this time, to come up with a theme all you need to do is come up with the main characters Unconsciousness Need and Conscious goal, put the two together to come up with the characters final realization, that either makes or breaks him, ending your story in either heartbreak or warmth. Richard has certainly put things into perspective in our first class back, i now find it much easier to get idea's down on to paper now that i have a full understanding of what exactly i'm writing about.

So here we go, back again for the next year, the tough times begin. Quite nervous bout the whole thing, don't really know what to expect or how different its really going to be, but i'm sure it'll hit me in time, cough cough first assessment.

We're back to our theory classes studying the history and development of both cinema and television. Gotta say i there's one thing i missed, it has to be our weekly screenings as a class. with no free time and work constantly over the summer i hardly got the chance to watch any of my favourite films over the summer so it's good to come back to a bunch of freshly picked films for study.

Andy already has us started on the classic greats, with his enthusiastic involvement and constant attention to show us just how much film has changed over the years. Metropolis, although long and over acted in my opinion, proved to be a real treat. Something in which i had never seen before yet was so expressive and ahead of its time. You can really see where a lot of film makers today get their influences. The production design was to be the main point we took from the film, the absolutely unbelievable designs for the future, such as the workers city underground working hard, killing the lower classes so that the upper classes could live in bliss, video phones, roads and paths in the sky and even mega cities.

We also have this new directing class with Zam, and this is proving quite exiting as i've never really been involved in directing, having never really had experience with it. But even so, it's very interesting to get tips from an experienced director such as Zam. The classes are mainly only in introductory stages so far but still hold a great deal of information from the beginning as well as keeping the class a live with interaction and open opinion, such as bringing in our own favourite films to show, obviously mine wasn't the most glamorous but i still stand by my decision down to emotional involvement.

Technical studies : and so it begins. Back with the ever so active Ray, who is cheery as usual. No slowing down, straight into action, and now in our first day back with Ray we've been introduced to our new tripods and heads, which we'll be using through the year, and so far they seem very cool, much more sophisticated than the original Vinten's and Vision's we were using before. And we also now know how to change the bulbs in every lamp that's in the kit room.

What can be better to finish off with what i posted earlier on in the week. We've been asked by Adam to come up with two new idea's for a new channel four Drama (ya beauty!). This is pretty much the best thing ever with the exception of a lot of things, but just to give my point some emphasis, it is. Seriously though, the comedy drama's that channel four produce are among my favourite television shows and constantly grab my attention making me laugh, cry and even vomit some time (not literally). But just thinking that one of us may be able to be a part of that kind of industry gets me all exited.

Gna be a good year lads!

The Comedy Of Channel 4

I have recently realized with the help of one of Television Development classes that I absolutely love these comedy drama's that channel four are pumping out. Shows such as The Inbetweeners, Shameless, The It Crowd and the now extinct Teachers seem to be really enjoyable and i think it's all down to this style of youth. Not to make myself seem shallow or anything but the shows main appeal seems to come from their relation to the youth of Britain and the popular cultures that seem to be followed by almost every young adult, myself included. For me a lot of revolves around the music. The chart topping songs seem to appear and with every new episode update themselves to the most recent chart while in production so as to keep in style with the fast paced times.

Speaking of these fast paced times, it would seem every new album i buy seems to be out of date by the end of the month. I recently bought an album by Friendly Fires, and already it has left the charts completely and even I'm getting a little bored of it. So what do i do? I move on to the next big thing.

It's amazing that channel four have been able to keep up, but i'd say they've done pretty well.

The other thing that i notice about these shows is that they seem to be able to easily relate to relevant workings of the mind of the youth today. It's all about sex, violence, drugs, family, friends, nights on the town; stuff that you would find in your own life. Just watching the shows comedy even reminds me of me and my mates all having a laugh.

From a personal perspective it would seem that channel four have hit the nail on the head and hopefully will continue to do so with their cutting edge comedy and drama.

DFTV 2, lets jump straight to it!

MOON

Unbelievable would be a good word to use for this particular film. Got to say the guys done well, created a fantastic film on a low budget with the feel of a low down sci-fi. Lets mention a little something about the production design. The first thing i notice that i adore about this film is the use of live action models rather than using computer generated crap. Its back to the original sci-fi films, and in such a fantastic way. It is quite obvious that these lunar vehicles and structures are not created from nothing, they have been assembled and delicately built by hand to create the ultimate reality of the moon. The story is twisty, but not in a bad Shymalan way, in a good interesting curve of events way. So we have the story and the effects, all we need is Sam Rockwell's stunning performance with himself throughout the film. Its hard to believe that Rockwell is actually performing without a clone of himself there to reply and fight with. It's very exciting to see an actor completely immerse himself in his role, and he dragged me in with him, I completely believed his character, and wanted him succeed in his quest of getting home and seeing his daughter again. What adds to the role is the role reversal between him and his clone, the second clone being scared and confusion then straight away accepting what is going on, then the original clone, while in a dying state refuses to believe that this is happening. There is also some sort of emotional bond that the two go through while they struggle to comprehend what is going on and the complexity of their situation, and as they stare death in the face they show this compassion, as the first clone sacrifices himself to save himself, so that the second clone can see his daughter.

This film has shown true stature as an outstanding sci-fi picture which doesn't only give a good story and good effects but also reveals the humans identity by mirroring it.

09/10