AWOL

I have been a little bit AWOL for the last few months, this is mostly due to my Final Major Project which is now complete. I do however have 3 months of movie reviews to write and some work to post (my previously mentioned FMP). In the meantime I shall post some lovely photos I took on my last trip to Bute Park.

Outcasts - We Want It Back

Ok, so the scripting was a little rough, as was some of the acting, but as British Science Fiction goes, it was incredible. I won't deny this show had a few teething problems. The first few episodes had pace issues, and it took a while to explain what was going on, but these issues were resolved as each episode progressed, and as we got to know and like the characters it became compulsive viewing. I've mentioned before how visually stunning the whole thing was, everything from the location planning to added visual effects was near enough perfection. But what was important about this show, was that it reached out to a new audience, one that has been paying their TV license, but had been generally ignored for years. Science Fiction fans. We are here, and we don't like to fork out for Sky. Finally we were being provided with an intelligent science fiction drama, which had not been produced for children, and it gets torn down simply because it was not an easy no brainer singing talent show. News flash, some adults don't like that sort of thing, and we don't like being ignored.

So last Sunday, the final episode of the first series aired on BBC1, and this week we are informed that there will be no second series. A series that ended on a cliffhanger, with a story arc incomplete. With only 8 episodes in this series, I'm asking myself if this show was in fact cut down prematurely. It struck me as peculiar that there was little to no advertising for this show, and that the time slot was shifted from Monday, to Tuesday, back to Monday and then to the Sunday grave yard slot. It was as if the show was set up to fail from the very beginning. They manage to fit a lot into the each hour long episode, enough that if you missed one episode it was difficult to keep up. No wonder ratings dropped dramatically. I imagine all those people who tuned in on the second Monday to find they'd missed the episode the previous Tuesday, had no idea what was going on, got frustrated and switched off. Worse still they then had two episodes to catch up on before the following evening when the time slot shifted back to Tuesday again!

Personally I think this is a crying shame. I doubt that I will tune into the BBC again until Doctor Who returns to our screens, which makes me wonder if it's worth buying a TV license at all. With every show with any potential being cut if it is not an instant hit, what's the point in watching a new show as it will invariably never reach any conclusion? Why pay £145, when I can simply buy the dvd boxset for £30 on Amazon a few weeks later? So I can tune in to the mindless drone of soap operas and game shows at my pleasure? Thanks but no thanks.

Shows such as Firefly, Primevil and Torchwood were able to make a comeback thanks to the amount of noise made by the fans in protest, so maybe there is hope, though I am doubtful. Perhaps in the democracy that we live in, this program may be allowed a second airing, or at least a one off special to tie up the loose ends. In the mean time I will return to my X Files and Stargate dvd box sets. I have 9 years worth of TV right there to enjoy over and over again and at no extra yearly cost.

British television is a quickly growing industry, one that will produce jobs for the increasing number of graduates with digital media degrees. Why not give shows like this a chance to shine? Not every one will top the ratings charts, but as long as there is a story to be told, money to be made and a team willing to produce it, why give up so easily?

Destroyed City

Lately we have been working on a matte painting for a university project. The assignment title was "Futuristic City" and so I opted to do a post apocalyptic city, inspired by various science fiction movies, such as 28 Days Later and War of the Worlds. The painting started off as a sketch in my sketchbook and transformed into a 4 second image projection with digital camera move. This is the first time I have tried anything like this, and so I was rather happy with the results.

All the photographs were taken by myself on a Canon 1000D dSLR or downloaded as free stock images. Fire footage came from Action Essentials. The images were put together in Photoshop CS5 and developed into a moving sequence in After Effects CS5.

Original Sketch

Photoshop rough drawing

 

Final Matte Painting

Added Camera Shake and Fire Footage


Added Camera Move and Atmospherics

Movies of February

• Sanctum 3D

As a person with a fear of both small spaces and drowning, this was perhaps not the cleverest of movies to have gone to see. I found this truly terrifying. The movie follows a team of explorers, who are trying to find the source of a river deep in some underground caves. Everything goes horribly wrong however, and without giving too much away, they end up trapped under water inside these caves. The tension in this movie does not let up from start to finish, and you'll find yourself hiding behind your own hand at multiple points.

• Megamind 3D

So funny I saw this a second time!

• Black Swan

 I did an entire write up on this movie when I originally went to see it. Incredibly moving and disturbing, and well deserving of the awards it was nominated for. Even the CGI and VFX in this movie out shines most movies out at the moment.

• Gnomeo and Juliet

 One of the many 3D animated movies out at the moment. An incredibly funny and oddly accurate take on the Romeo and Juliet story. Cute touches, such as the chips of paint and the ceramic sound the gnomes make when they touch make this movie. Much in the same vein as Toy Story, if you liked that you'll love this.

• Yogi Bear 3D

Probably more for the youngsters amongst us, but I have yet to grow up. A very typical feel good movie, with a green moral message dressed up with lots of gags and razzle dazzle. The animation is brilliant, both managing to capture the characters from the original cartoon, whilst making them look real and fully integrated into the live action footage. One for the family, particularly with young children in tow.

• Paul

What a brilliant movie and really made my inner geek squeal with delight. I have been fans of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost since they appeared in the TV series Spaced, and they do not disappoint. Though the story is littered with plot holes in order to force a sneaky twist at the end, it still does not fail to entertain and amuse. Seth Rogen voices the alien Paul, and animators somehow managed to incorporate his mannerisms into the character. It really a genius piece of art work. I recommend this to any self proclaimed geek, the Star Wars references alone will be well worth the cost of the ticket.

• Just Go With It

Why tell the truth when you can lie and manipulate people? This film goes to great lengths to show you exactly why you should just be honest whilst managing to be hilariously funny. I laughed out loud from start to finish, though find some moments oddly tense when it seems certain that the web of lies is about to unwind. Enjoyable no brainer fun. Just go with it.

• True Grit

This movie really is a revitalization of the Western genre. I can't say I am a massive fan of this genre of movie, having only ever seen the Fistful of Dollars/A Few Dollars More/ The Good The Bad the Ugly trilogy and Seven Samurai, I am probably not the most qualified to write a detailed comparison. What I will say is that I really enjoyed this movie, particularly the role played by Matt Damon, he really is a chameleon! The characters somehow manage to be both the stereotype and three dimensional.

• Big Momma's House: Like Father Like Son 

Big Mamma movies are a guilty pleasure of mine. I am no Mark Kermode, I will not rip apart a movie for being unintelligent. If you enjoyed the previous films, you will enjoy this. I would probably go as far as to say this is the funniest yet. Manly men dressed as fat women, what more could you want from a comedy?

• I Am Number Four

Honestly the story confused me. It fell into the trap that most fantasy movies do, of trying to explain things with fake science that doesn't quite work. However, that aside, it is a great action and romantic flick and it is a shame it ends when it does. To me it seems they are making way for a sequel. The VFX are brilliant, with lots of balls of light being blasted around, laser guns firing and alien magic. Meanwhile the aliens makeup are somewhat terrifying though the voice of the 'big bad' sounded oddly like Yogi Bear.

• The Rite 

I would be interested to know exactly how much of this movie is based on a true story. Some fantastic acting, backed up with some scary demon possession. It gave me chills. It is also worth noting the cinematography, there were some brilliant camera work going on, which made this movie even better.

Movie of the Month

Quite a bit of brainless fun this month, not a lot of substance. Black Swan is an incredible movie, and would be well deserving of my movie of the month title. However, Paul has a special place in my heart, and is my favourite movie this month.

St Fagans 2011

On Saturday 26th February, it was decided that St Fagans was the perfect location for this amateur photographer to break in her new dSLR. Blessed with good company and great weather, (or should that be great company and good weather?) off we jolly trot.

The scenic beauty that awaited us was like nothing one would expect in the modern world, let alone ten minutes from the city of Cardiff. It was like stepping back in time. We were greeted by little wooden houses, complete with smoky chimneys and thatched roofs, a friendly farmyard cat and the history of the Welsh people at our fingertips. An authentic old fashioned sweet shop, seemed to be at the center of a bizarre village, with houses that stepped through time. You could travel from the Victorian period, through the wars and up to modern day in the space of one street.

My favourite place of all was the castle, or more particularly the perfectly kept castle gardens. This provided many photo opportunities, especially around the duck pond.

My task for the day was to take all my photos on manual settings, or at least using the macros, staying away from the automatic switch. Armed with nothing but my Canon 550D, a friends telescopic lens, and just wits about me, I set about completing my task. I thought I'd share a few of my photos here. These are my favourites.

The Castles across the river

This little fellow followed us around

The duck pond

experimenting with shutter speeds

slow shutter speed

 

Otto the dog

All in all it was a fabulous day. The walk is long but well worth it. Certainly a great day out in the fresh air, something the whole family can enjoy.

If you would like to see more of my photos from the day, check out my Facebook photo album.

Robert Miles - Dreamland

My final piece for my Music Video project was finished in time for the deadline despite various technical difficulties. I feel quite proud of it, though as usual it didn't come out quite as I had hoped. I used various techniques, such as motion tracking, green screen keying and a few digital camera moves. This was filed on a Sony Z7 and a Canon 550D dSLR, edited in Final Cut Pro, After Effects and Photoshop CS5.

Robert Miles - Dreamland, Final Cut from Amy Carpenter on Vimeo.

Robert Miles animated posters

I'm producing a series of animated posters to advertise Dreamland by Robert Miles for a university assignment based on creating a music video.

The idea was to link all posters musically as well as physically. Because of this they are all cuttings from different parts of the same song, and I intend to track them into the environment so you can see how they would connect physically.

So far I have created the bulk of the posters, though I am still having issues with colour grading. I was opting for lots of greens and blues to contrast the reds and yellow of the border colour. They're still works in progress and feedback would be great. The final product will see the posters placed in an environment outlining someones journey through the advertisements. Currently you simply see the posters in the order and sound synced as they would be.