documentary group meeting # 2

31st Oct 2008

Since we will be filming at Raunds, Northampton, pre-planning means the world to us as we have no room for mistakes.

we have yet to find out the dates our interviewee will be free and his gig schedules - before that is established, there is little we can do about booking equipments and a confirm date that we will be filming.

(Adam if you're reading this, find out now...!!!)

Meanwhile, we have established the list of equipments that we shall be taking with us on the trip and the long day of doing storyboard. We have booked a room at the Boots library on the 4th Nov to start the storyboard and build the basics.

I realize a storyboard cannot be done in a day and will require adaptations constantly - so we will be building the fundamental idea first, the basic rules that we will all abide by, which will take the longest, then add to it accordingly - hopefully there wont be a lot we need to change afterwards.

Me and Kez will be deciding on the list of shots as the storyboard is built - so we know exactly what we get and this will save us time on both filming useless shots and ingesting the aftermaths.

So before the next meeting, each of us will be writing 10-15 questions we would like use in the interview - these will all then be handed to me and I will then condense and organise the list of questions and make them into doubles. I think this will help us stay focus and not easily be side-tracked as we will have a clear aim and direction.

documentary group meeting # 1

this happened back on the 20th Oct 2008 but I forgot to type it up.
(so i'm doing it now before i forget again)

In this meeting the 5 of us established the roles we would like to participate in the making of this documentary.

initially, we listed the following roles -

• director of photograhy
• producer
• director
• sound and editing(post production)
• script writing and storyboard

after some 20 mintues of discussions we found out that actually everybody on the team is up for doing anything and everything, so we each took a title - I shared mine with Kez, being the sound and editing post production team.

"4 minute wonder - daddy in a rock band"

For our second year, the first project we have to do is to make a documentary -
our documentary titled "Daddy in a rock band"

Behind the glamourous life of being a rock star whose career is starting to take off, 25 year old Tom Robin is more than the average joe who happens to be successful - he holds another identity - a single parent to a 4 year old boy.

The documentary will attempt to identify the struggle between the two contrasting aspects of his life and how he manges to juggle with the two extremes.

After initial discussions, the theme and the general feel of the outcome has been decided(and so will be steered towards that direction)

• It will fall in the categories of an observational biography
• the two persona will be emphasized (the caring parent and the rock star within)
  
• so to enable the amplification of the 'struggle'/how he manages - the conflict that exist and ways to have them co-exist
  
• it will be narrative based with mostly open questions (so to save the crucial few seconds spent when questions asked have to be put into the final outcome)
• slow beat, mellow background tunes to bring out the more emotive side - the "awww" factor
• both fly-on-wall and upfront technique will be used to show normal day-in-day-out and the attachment between father and son
• will be shot at 3 - 4 locations, with them being the park(for a bit of football perhaps), the gig venue(where the kid will also be present), the kitchen and the living room of Toms' house.

editing

A new academic year, and my internet is down again.
Good start that, but then over the summer holiday I've saved up and bought myself a little treat - a camcorder.
although it's a Mini DV with the old fashion tapes etc, I like it - in fact I do prefer tapes, it's easier!

Anyhow, I taped my cat for an hour or so, and then something hit me.
Out of so much recording, when you start editing most of the clip becomes 'throwaways' simply because when viewed by a second person they don't need the whole clip to understand what is being said.

That's why I love editing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDa_fJxz-yQ

here's the link to the cat video.


I've been asked by a friend to video a student night party in town, including the aftermath editing - so now I'm working on ideas and concepts, hopefully it'll be good fun.
(though it means no alcohol for me, and walking round a club risking being splashed at by pukes or more alcohol)

coldcut / ninja tune

after some heavy clicking on the net, I found somebody else

Coldcut

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=730284

English DJ Matt Black and Jonathan More - the founders one of the most popular mixing program VJamm, also owes a second record label called Ninja Tune.

Ninja Tunes leans strongly towards electronic, abstract hip hop, instumental hip hop, nu jazz, drum and bass and chillout music (sourced http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Tune)
After looking into the companies' style I think it's good - I'm a person who begs to differ and has a strong liking for unique 'things' in general, be it music, interest or even just food.
I do have a strong preference in music leaning towards drum and bass / metal, personally I think it allows for much more interpretation visual-wise. Often with the help of no lyrical element involved therefore the music sets the mood and is open for endless interpretation.

More and more I've been looking into the matter of audio-visualization which to me now literally means translating the sound into something people can see and understand.
(if you're at all interested it used to just mean 'combining sound with videos')

I look forward to winning my MIDI keyboard on ebay, hopefully!

it's all about VJs

BOPA / Ne1co / Eclectic Method Bopa is a she... began her career as vj in 2001 - pretty much developed a growing interest in the combination of club culture and the art of the moving image

Her style is subtle, often packed with colour and like work done by most other vjs it flows with the beat of the music.
Her work includes adverts for Vodafone and Bacardi -

http://www.bopa.tv/samples3.html
http://www.bopa.tv/samples2.html

She now works in connection with Ne1co

Ne1co, agency opened by VJ Anyone, is a hybrid startup fulfilling both duties of label and agency for selected audiovisual artists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM64qxBtdn4




















Associates inclueds Ecletic Method -





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xarca1AFAHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwWsbNL9xXE

i know I'll lose important notes like these so I thought I'd make a reference point like above.

what next?

I know I have no interest in animation and virtual enviroments so I thought audiovisual would suit me best

As I've looked further and further into the topic audiovisual I found myself shocked.
There are jobs out there associated with audiovisual yet it's never hit me that they are

for example, a VJ

"VJ -video performance artist" someone who creates moving visual art (namely video) on large displays or screens, often at events such as concerts, nightclubs and music festival, usually in conjunction with other performance art. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VJ_%28video_performance_artist%29)

it interests me that audiovisual is so different from each other yet they coordinates with each other so well that we're even allowed to blend audio and visual into one word.

I like it when you go clubbing and you see the massive screen, usually behind the dj booth, flashing with visual elements that flows with the music, giving so much more vibe and brings the house alive.
If you haven't tried it already, go to gatecrasher down town.
In conclusion though, I think drum and bass music makes great bases for sucessful vj-ing