Story Idea!

Hey everyone I've been thinking all week what my story could be about. and I think I've come to terms with it.

A RAPACIOUS KITE: The story.. The kite is a 'box-kite' like below.

• The story begins with, Day 1: a young boy letting his kite out, the kite soars through the air, getting quite high it see's a bird. The kite 'chases' the bird trying to catch it in its so-called mouth. (The front of the kite flaps about as if he is getting hungry.) Doesn't quite catch him, the boy brings the kite back down and goes back indoors.
• Day 2: The boy comes out again, sends the kite up again, like before, the kite soars around, and spots the same bird again. He tries harder this time to catch the bird, you can see him trying harder due to 'stretching + distorting' again he doesn't quite make it and decides that's all for this day.
• Day 3: the boy comes out for the final day, this time the kite goes up, soars about for a while and spots the same bird! He sets up the chase, he speeds towards the bird, he is now right behind the bird, nearly got him in his 'mouth', when the camera cuts to the kites' string, we see it start to fray and snap

The string snaps and the kite shoots towards the bird, the bird carries on flying normally and the kite shoots  right around the bird and plumets to the floor. The camera cuts back to the bird who is 'laughing' at the kite, the bird then hits the wall face first and the scene fades out.

Now.. Does that get too complicated? I would love to have some input please people :) Thanks.

Review - Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho 1960.
This film was amazing. I dont usually enjoy black and white films but this one kept me gripped. Im just going to list the main points about the film. Strange thing was I stopped taking notes about half way through 'cos I was so interested!

Female Lead - Marion;
Starts at a hotel/apartment it seemed as though we couldnt tell wether she was having an affair or dating the male character.
She is trusted by her boss at work with $40k to deposit into the bank.
She then feels like she is being 'followed' and 'watched' as she is driving home with the money.
She pulls over to sleep and is found by a police officer, who follows her for the majority of the film.
She trades her old car for a new one + $700.
Not being followed anymore she pulls into Bates Motel/Hotel.
Hides the money in her Newspaper.
As she is in the shower, a female figure comes in and stabs her to death.

Motel 'Clerk' - Norman;
Kinda Creepy
Treats Marion with care and respect when they meet
He starts to flirt with Marion
When Marion mentions putting his mother 'Someplace' (Mental Home) he turns mad/crazy
When Marion returns to her room to shower and change, he watches her through a hole in the wall.

'The Figure' - Killer;
First seen entering the bathroom to kill Marion
Second time she is seen she jumps out from the bedroom of Norman's Mother and kills the Private Inspector.


The environments are small 'ish and everything feels 'set' in place. The soundtrack adds tension at special times, one time she speaks to the police officer after which he starts following her.


Well theres a small break down of Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock.

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Thought I'd add this too. Hope you guys like :)

TutorPhil, Please Read + Comment.

Hi Phil, I was just wondering, as I have learned FCP at the Maidstone UCA last year would it be possible I could stay at home tomorrow (Tuesday 09/02/2010) and do some uni work?

If not its ok I can still come in, but I thought I could do something more 'productive' ?

Thanks.
Dan.

The Uncanny.

The Uncanny, a conncept of an instance where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time, resulting in a feeling of it being 'uncomfortably strange', thought up by Freud. Because the uncanny is familiar, yet strange, it usually creates a conflict within experiencing the subject due to the paradoxical nature of being attracted to, yet repulsed by an object at the same time. This conflict often leads to an outright rejection of the object, as one would rather reject than realise.

The Uncanny Valley

The Uncanny Valley was very clever indeed, below is the 'uncanny valley' created by Masahiro Mori. It shows how the more realistic to humans things get the more un-easy we feel about them.

The following is an example of what was said previously, this is actually a robot, Repliee Q2 Made by the japanese. To make the face of the Q2, several Japanese females were photographed and then merged together to create the perfect Japanese face.

Inspirational Research..

Massive Black - http://www.massiveblack.com
"Massive Black is a full production artwork and asset outsourcing studio that has contributed to over 85 projects for multiple video game platforms, film, print, toys, comics and more."
KillZone2, inFamous, Tennis Masters. (-For all the gamers :P)

Concept Art - http://www.conceptart.org
"We are a web community of artists who are here for one purpose. We want to help eachother learn about art, provide the best place to showcase work, further our art educations, and to meet other artists
from around the world."

Concept Art World - http://conceptartworld.com
District 9, Section 8, Transformers 2, Guild Wars 2..

Ryan Church - http://ryanchurch.com
Worked on Transformers 2, Star wars, Dead Space, War of the Worlds.

Last one for now..

Hydro Pix - http://www.hydropix.com
"My name is Bruno Gentile and I have been working in the video games industry since 13 years. I started as 3D Artist ("Alone in the Dark IV") and Concept Artist at Ubisoft Montreal ( Prince of Persia Warrior within, the Two Thrones, prince of persia 2008, and farcry 2). I'm currently Art Director at Ubisoft Montpellier, in France, where we are developing... a mysterious new game :)"

The Haunting

The Haunting a horror film was made in 1963, and directed by Robert Wise. Which is also an adaption of The Haunting of Hill House: Shirly Jackson. The film is based around a team of 'Paranormal Investigators'in Hill House, which they spend a few nights in and witness the strange happenings in the house.

**Something went wrong with blogger when trying to upload picture.. Still editing.. Just re-booting internet explorer... Problem Sorted :D**

Right back to it.. Uploading Image..


I especially liked the look and feel of The Haunting as for starters the b&w had appealed to me for this kind of film. Dark scenes where necesary and lighter where needed. I have yet to see the remake but according to classmates and reviews its nothing like the original..

Looking forward to the upcoming films Phil is going to show us. :) thanks Phil for showing me a new light on 'Older' films. :D

ALIEN.

Alien, THE original.

I really enjoyed this film due to the 'scary-ness' and the environments. The vast amount of detail that went into each and every shot. Even the ones which are only seen for about 20 seconds at max. (Last Pic) Ill admit, I did laugh at the part where the baby alien (1st Pic) burst out the guys chest. Well I think quite a few of us did ;) It also made me laugh when the people who said they had seen it before, still jumped a few times when the 'Aliens' Jumped out. :)

Phil Gomm Conceptual Art.

Phil Gomm's Lecture/Seminar on Conceptual Art.
Images will be Sorted soon...

Ron Cobb Concept Art, Nostromo Interior, Alien 1979

HR Giger Concept, Alien 1979

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, Peter Greenaway 1989

Ken Adam Concept, Bond Movies: GoldFinger, Dr.No, Thunderball, Moonraker.

Ralph Mcquarrie, Star Wars

James Clyne, The Fountain, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Minority Report.

Ryan Church, Star Wars 3 Revenge of the Sith

NecroVision, Prince of Persia 3.

The Night Of The Hunter

Well this film was a Comedy/Horror :P
At the time of filming, 1955, this was classed as a Horror. A typical scene of horror in 1955 was when the main character, Reverend Harry Powell, jumps up from the bottom of the screen. Everyone in the lecture theatre yesterday was laughing at him :P

We also found it funny when the lady at the end, that takes the children in, points the shot gun at Rv Powell, and shoots him, he runs off screaming and shouting like a girl :)

This film was not recognised very well on release with the critics/audience, which lead the director, Charles Laughton, away from the movie industry. He never directed another film. The Film has a slight touch of German Expressionism, with strange shadows and strange camera angles, to create a disturbing atmosphere.

AND! It's number five in the list of films you should see by the age of 14!!! Well, According to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFI_list_of_the_50_films_you_should_see_by_the_age_of_14
(I know.. wikipedia... but thats a useful list :D)

Metropolis!

Metropolis.. What more needs to be said? The film itself was VERY VERY clear as to how it inspired the Sci-Fi genre.. The Rise of the Workers? How about the Rise of the Machines? Hows about the 'Machine-Man' could be like 'I-Robot'? taking the look of real humans..

The look and feel of this movie are absolutely stunning! Even for a film made in 1927! The Image above shows one of my favourite scenes, where the 'machine-man' turns into Maria.

I wont give a full description of the film as lots of other people have it so heres one Adam Bailey wrote:
"The city is being controlled by the upper class which is led by a man called Jon Fredersen. Fredersen controls all of the workers who run the machines which are beneath the cities depths. Maria who is a evangilical character advises the workforce that they should not start a revolution but wait for the arrival of the Mediator, Freder Fredersen (son of Jon)." - I have given credits to Adam Bailey for this quote, taken from his blog.

The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari

Well, we watched a film today. Called 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' It was filmed in 1919 (or 1920, Cant quite remember) This film is B&W, and is a Silent Movie. This film is also one of the earliest Horror and has been a inspiration for the recent Horrors been released. It runs for approximately 70 mins.

"The deranged Dr. Caligari and his faithful sleepwalking Cesare are connected to a series of murders in a German mountain village, Holstenwall. Caligari presents an example of a motion picture "Frame Story" in which most of the plot is presented as a "Flashback", as told by Francis." -(Not taken from wikipedia!!) (aww, www.wikipedia.com)

This film was entertaining, as I havent seen a B&W film before. The Critics have
praised 'Dr. Caligari' for being extremely expressionistic. The set design is very abnormal due to it's odd shaped walls and windows.

Well not much more to say about it sooo... Catch you Bloggers Soon..

Project 2: Space/Environments.

Well for this project, we were given a random folder, I got folder 7. (Anyone else?)
The contents of this folder were from a book called 'Titus Groan'
Ive looked into the book a bit more and found this..

"As the first novel opens, Titus, heir to Lord Sepulchrave, has just been born, he stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that stand for Gormenghast Castle. Inside, all events are predetermined by a complex ritual, lost in history, understood only by Sourdust, Lord of the Library. There are tears and strange laughter; fierce births and deaths beneath umbrageous ceilings; dreams and violence and disenchantment contained within a labyrinth of stone." -www.Play.com

Sounds pretty cool :D I briefly read over the extracts and am liking what im reading. I have ordered the book from play.com hopefully it will be the same version, ish..

"The Hall of Bright Carvings" - This one sounds to me like a long hallway, made of stone, carvings over the entire wall, (Makes me think of Aztecs)
"The Great Kitchen" - Im getting a picture of a kitchen out of ratatouille (However you spell it) A huuuge kitchen with several cooks and tons of ovens, pots, pans.
"The Attic" - This one sounds like there will be dust falling, low light, light rays coming through cracks in cielings/walls. wooden floors/walls.
"The Room of Roots" - Somehow makes me think of Monkey Island 1 I think, where the Voodoo Lady's hut is in the Swamp.


Well thats my thoughts so far :D