After discussing my idea for the simulated client project, I feel a lot clearer about the idea. However, there are a few small problems, the main one being whether or not the fact that the second guy has copyed the first guy's CD is clear enough. I'll have to find a way to show this that fits neatly into the story, and doesn't disrupt it's flow. I'll also have to think some more about the aesthetics of the film, and exactly how I'm going to make the two stalls. They need to look home made and amatuerish, but not look like I've just kinda rushed them off.
Also, I need to emphasise the point that something wrong is taking place here. At the moment, I'm thinking the first guy should maybe burst into tears eventually or something, or perhaps, going with the idea of 'damage' to recording artists, that the crowd of people rushing to the free download stall damage or destroy the first guy's stall, or trample and damage the environment around it. These are just ideas at the moment, I need to solidify them a little bit.
I had another idea too, based around the idea of intimacy, for instance, when you download a CD, and miss out on the artwork, physical object, even the excitement of something like finding a rare album in a record store, you're losing out on the intimacy between you and the product. For this idea, I was thinking you could have two guys at a fairground, one with his arm round a CD, and clearly having a great time, and the second guy with his arm round a harddrive, who looks really miserable and keeps glancing jealously over at the other guy. I don't think I'll use this idea, but thought it'd be a good idea to have it in writing!
EDIT : I've had an idea for this, if we show the first man’s CD as clearly being a well produced CD, with artwork and packaging etc., when the second man buys it, and after we see the first man glance across at him, the second man puts the CD down on his stall, and points next to it and another identical copy appears in it’s place. He points again and two appear, then four, and so on. Then everyone rushes in and gets them. Still just a possibility at this stage, I'll try and think of some more ideas.
Thursday 22 October 2009
The Mighty Riff VS Terror Torrent
Here's another short animated storyboard for the simulated client project -
This idea doesn't fit as neatly into 20 seconds as the other one does, and would obviously be a lot harder to film. For this reason, I think I'd be more likely to go with the first idea, just because it's a lot simpler. However, I'm glad I finished this storyboard, purely for my own satisfaction!
This idea doesn't fit as neatly into 20 seconds as the other one does, and would obviously be a lot harder to film. For this reason, I think I'd be more likely to go with the first idea, just because it's a lot simpler. However, I'm glad I finished this storyboard, purely for my own satisfaction!
Monday 19 October 2009
Animated Storyboard
Here's an animated storyboard for the first file sharing idea, the one I already drew up a rough storyboard for -
The idea fits quite neatly into 20 seconds (this one clocks in at 24, but 4 seconds won't be too hard to trim off. I doubt the final film will have the 'The End' bit either), and stands as a solid little story. The music in this one is a Boards Of Canada, but this is used only to illustrate the kind of music I want to have in the final one and give a taste of the atmosphere I wanted to create. For the final one, I would create my own piece of (non-copyright!) music.
I'm still considering other ideas at this point, but this one does appeal to me. I'll try doing a storyboard for the second idea, and also keep trying to think of new ideas.
The idea fits quite neatly into 20 seconds (this one clocks in at 24, but 4 seconds won't be too hard to trim off. I doubt the final film will have the 'The End' bit either), and stands as a solid little story. The music in this one is a Boards Of Canada, but this is used only to illustrate the kind of music I want to have in the final one and give a taste of the atmosphere I wanted to create. For the final one, I would create my own piece of (non-copyright!) music.
I'm still considering other ideas at this point, but this one does appeal to me. I'll try doing a storyboard for the second idea, and also keep trying to think of new ideas.
Friday 16 October 2009
More File Sharing Risks
In terms of the risks of file sharing, I had so far only really identified damage to artists, the risk of finding spyware or viruses in the material you download and the possible risk of arrest. But I found this on Wikipedia that has given me a few ideas -
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing
"Recently, there has been a drastic increase of inadvertent P2P file sharing of personal and sensitive information. This became evident in 2009 at the beginning of President Obama's administration. On February 26, 2009 the blueprints to the helicopter Marine One were made available to the public through a breach in security through a P2P file sharing site. Access to this information has the potential of being detrimental to national security.[47]
Two days prior, the Today Show reported that more than 150,000 tax returns, 25,800 student loan applications and 626,000 credit reports were all inadvertently made available though File Sharing.[47]
Over the last six years identity theft has become more prevalent. On July 9, 2008 there was another inadvertent revealing of vast amounts of personal information through careless use of a P2P site. The “names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of about 2,000 of the firms clients, including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer were all exposed.”[47]
In an attempt to avoid these security leaks, current legislation in the United States is being debated, the Informed P2P User Act.[48] According to this act, it would be mandatory for individuals to be aware of the risks associated with peer-to-peer file sharing before purchasing the software. Informed consent of the user prior to use of these programs would be required. In addition, this act would allow users to block and remove P2P file sharing software from their computers at any time.[49] The Federal Trade Commission would enforce these regulations"
An advert illustrating this risk could be a lot more sinister and scary than the current ideas I've been having. For example, my first idea was to have someone downloading material online, and then a shot of over their shoulder where you can see bank details and personal information on their screen as they're downloading. Then cut to another shadier individual downloading these personal files, and then maybe, I don't know, the original man finds all his bank details stolen and becomes bankrupt, or gets kidnapped and bundled into the back of a car whilst the other guy steals his identity. Needs a bit of work this idea, but thematically could work really well and be quite unsettling. I'm not 100% sure if this is the route I want to take with my film at the moment, but it's something to think about.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing
"Recently, there has been a drastic increase of inadvertent P2P file sharing of personal and sensitive information. This became evident in 2009 at the beginning of President Obama's administration. On February 26, 2009 the blueprints to the helicopter Marine One were made available to the public through a breach in security through a P2P file sharing site. Access to this information has the potential of being detrimental to national security.[47]
Two days prior, the Today Show reported that more than 150,000 tax returns, 25,800 student loan applications and 626,000 credit reports were all inadvertently made available though File Sharing.[47]
Over the last six years identity theft has become more prevalent. On July 9, 2008 there was another inadvertent revealing of vast amounts of personal information through careless use of a P2P site. The “names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of about 2,000 of the firms clients, including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer were all exposed.”[47]
In an attempt to avoid these security leaks, current legislation in the United States is being debated, the Informed P2P User Act.[48] According to this act, it would be mandatory for individuals to be aware of the risks associated with peer-to-peer file sharing before purchasing the software. Informed consent of the user prior to use of these programs would be required. In addition, this act would allow users to block and remove P2P file sharing software from their computers at any time.[49] The Federal Trade Commission would enforce these regulations"
An advert illustrating this risk could be a lot more sinister and scary than the current ideas I've been having. For example, my first idea was to have someone downloading material online, and then a shot of over their shoulder where you can see bank details and personal information on their screen as they're downloading. Then cut to another shadier individual downloading these personal files, and then maybe, I don't know, the original man finds all his bank details stolen and becomes bankrupt, or gets kidnapped and bundled into the back of a car whilst the other guy steals his identity. Needs a bit of work this idea, but thematically could work really well and be quite unsettling. I'm not 100% sure if this is the route I want to take with my film at the moment, but it's something to think about.
More Ideas!
I had a few more ideas for the simulated client project, which are -
1. A man stands behind a home made stall, selling some CDs. Another guy comes up to him, and buys one. Both men seem pleased. Then the guy who bought a CD sets up a stall right next door, and starts running off loads of copies. Whenever people walk past the two stalls now, the second guy hands everyone a free CD-R. The first guy looks a little bit uneasy, and gradually more and more people flock to the second guy, whilst the first guy starts to look more and more exhausted. It ends with a tagline along the lines of something like "Don't take the easy way out. Sharing copyrighted files online is harming musicians."
2. We see two characters, one representing, say, an independent band and one representing file sharing, presented as two characters in a fighting game like Street Fighter or Tekken. We cut to clips of people downloading music, and after each one cut back to the fighting game style footage where the file sharing character starts to pummel the band character. A voiceover could say something like "File sharing is harming music. Help it fight back - buy a CD", and then we cut to footage of someone buying a CD. After this the band character begins to start beating the file sharing character.
EDIT: Here's a rough script for this idea -
Flashy intro, showing two names and character’s faces bursting onto the screen. There’s Independent Band, and Download Dan (names not final, haha!). Band is shown to be very heroic looking and noble, Download Dan however resembles a villainous, cackling madman.
VOICEOVER – It’s the rumble of the century! A brave Independent Band with bills to pay takes on the mighty tyrant of internet file sharing software! Who will emerge the victor? Let’s find out.....FIGHT!
Cut to the two characters standing next to each other, with their names and health bars at the top of the screen like Street Fighter. The two size each other up, then Download Dan lunges, and we cut to footage of someone downloading an album online. Cut back to the fight and Download Dan attacks Band.
VOICEOVER – Oh, and that’s a nasty hit!
Cut away again to someone else downloading music, then cut back to Dan attacking Band again.
VOICEOVER – Ouch, and that’s another whack in the gut! Band isn’t taking this very well! Let’s see what our ringside commentator has to say about this!
Cut to a man stood in front of the pair fighting.
COMMENTATOR – Well Larry, file sharing is certainly battering independent music! If this continues, he could be outta the ring all together! So come on music fans, let’s help the big guy out!
VOICEOVER – Wise words there, but is all hope lost for our plucky pugilist?
Cut to someone buying a CD, and then cut back to the fight where Band begins to fight back.
VOICEOVER – I don’t believe it! What a turnaround!
Continue to cut away to people buying music, and after each one cut back to Band unleashing more and more intense attacks on Download Dan. Eventually Band beats him, and the ringside commentator runs in and awards him a medal.
COMMENTATOR – Ohhhhhhh, and it’s a knockout! Well done, music fans, I knew you’d do the right thing! Winks at camera
NEW VOICEOVER – Downloading copyrighted material harms independent artists. Help support art and the people that make it.
1. A man stands behind a home made stall, selling some CDs. Another guy comes up to him, and buys one. Both men seem pleased. Then the guy who bought a CD sets up a stall right next door, and starts running off loads of copies. Whenever people walk past the two stalls now, the second guy hands everyone a free CD-R. The first guy looks a little bit uneasy, and gradually more and more people flock to the second guy, whilst the first guy starts to look more and more exhausted. It ends with a tagline along the lines of something like "Don't take the easy way out. Sharing copyrighted files online is harming musicians."
2. We see two characters, one representing, say, an independent band and one representing file sharing, presented as two characters in a fighting game like Street Fighter or Tekken. We cut to clips of people downloading music, and after each one cut back to the fighting game style footage where the file sharing character starts to pummel the band character. A voiceover could say something like "File sharing is harming music. Help it fight back - buy a CD", and then we cut to footage of someone buying a CD. After this the band character begins to start beating the file sharing character.
EDIT: Here's a rough script for this idea -
Flashy intro, showing two names and character’s faces bursting onto the screen. There’s Independent Band, and Download Dan (names not final, haha!). Band is shown to be very heroic looking and noble, Download Dan however resembles a villainous, cackling madman.
VOICEOVER – It’s the rumble of the century! A brave Independent Band with bills to pay takes on the mighty tyrant of internet file sharing software! Who will emerge the victor? Let’s find out.....FIGHT!
Cut to the two characters standing next to each other, with their names and health bars at the top of the screen like Street Fighter. The two size each other up, then Download Dan lunges, and we cut to footage of someone downloading an album online. Cut back to the fight and Download Dan attacks Band.
VOICEOVER – Oh, and that’s a nasty hit!
Cut away again to someone else downloading music, then cut back to Dan attacking Band again.
VOICEOVER – Ouch, and that’s another whack in the gut! Band isn’t taking this very well! Let’s see what our ringside commentator has to say about this!
Cut to a man stood in front of the pair fighting.
COMMENTATOR – Well Larry, file sharing is certainly battering independent music! If this continues, he could be outta the ring all together! So come on music fans, let’s help the big guy out!
VOICEOVER – Wise words there, but is all hope lost for our plucky pugilist?
Cut to someone buying a CD, and then cut back to the fight where Band begins to fight back.
VOICEOVER – I don’t believe it! What a turnaround!
Continue to cut away to people buying music, and after each one cut back to Band unleashing more and more intense attacks on Download Dan. Eventually Band beats him, and the ringside commentator runs in and awards him a medal.
COMMENTATOR – Ohhhhhhh, and it’s a knockout! Well done, music fans, I knew you’d do the right thing! Winks at camera
NEW VOICEOVER – Downloading copyrighted material harms independent artists. Help support art and the people that make it.
Wednesday 14 October 2009
Up
WARNING! SPOILERS!
If you haven't seen this film, go see it! This review is intended as a discussion point after seeing it.
Up has a fair few suprises up it's sleeve, not just the plot which, whilst not totally devoid of predictability, is more than entertaining enough to keep you enthralled throughout, but also because some of it's themes are pretty dark for a Disney film. The opening montage, in which we see Carl and his wife Ellie get married, try for a baby and have a miscarriage, grow old together and then Carl at Ellie's funeral, is moving in a much deeper way than say, the death of Bambi's mother. It feels more real, this is a film that may be more likely to make the parents cry rather than the kids. Beginning our story with a grieving old man who feels lost and alone is heavy stuff for Disney, and it definitely pays off. Call me a cynic, but often with these films I kinda feel they get a little too bogged down in phony sentimentality, it often seems quite tacky, or cheesy, but here the entire film has a genuine warmth to it, and you do actually care about the characters. The severity of the subjects lend the film a weight and emotional depth few Disney films manage to achieve. In the final moments of the film, as the house Carl met his wife and grew old in, and his childhood hero plummet to their doom, it's quite a powerful moment.
However, whilst Carl's character feels wonderfully realised and is suitably fleshed out by a solid back story, Russell's character isn't explored quite as deeply. we know what we need to know about him, and he becomes a likeable character (it would have been perilously easy for him to have come off as annoying, but the film manages to avoid this), but the bits where he talks to Carl and provides a bit of backstory don't quite fill in the whole picture. In a way this is good, as it leaves some things open to the viewer's imagination and tries to get our brains working, but at the same time it means Russel's happy ending isn't quite as satisfying as Carl's. But this is a minor point, Russel is not the main character and certainly works well.
The film looks awesome too, with a whole army of lovingly rendered dogs and some beautiful looking landscapes. All in all, a top film, I'd say, and one of the best Pixar films I've seen in years, both in terms of style and substance.
If you haven't seen this film, go see it! This review is intended as a discussion point after seeing it.
Up has a fair few suprises up it's sleeve, not just the plot which, whilst not totally devoid of predictability, is more than entertaining enough to keep you enthralled throughout, but also because some of it's themes are pretty dark for a Disney film. The opening montage, in which we see Carl and his wife Ellie get married, try for a baby and have a miscarriage, grow old together and then Carl at Ellie's funeral, is moving in a much deeper way than say, the death of Bambi's mother. It feels more real, this is a film that may be more likely to make the parents cry rather than the kids. Beginning our story with a grieving old man who feels lost and alone is heavy stuff for Disney, and it definitely pays off. Call me a cynic, but often with these films I kinda feel they get a little too bogged down in phony sentimentality, it often seems quite tacky, or cheesy, but here the entire film has a genuine warmth to it, and you do actually care about the characters. The severity of the subjects lend the film a weight and emotional depth few Disney films manage to achieve. In the final moments of the film, as the house Carl met his wife and grew old in, and his childhood hero plummet to their doom, it's quite a powerful moment.
However, whilst Carl's character feels wonderfully realised and is suitably fleshed out by a solid back story, Russell's character isn't explored quite as deeply. we know what we need to know about him, and he becomes a likeable character (it would have been perilously easy for him to have come off as annoying, but the film manages to avoid this), but the bits where he talks to Carl and provides a bit of backstory don't quite fill in the whole picture. In a way this is good, as it leaves some things open to the viewer's imagination and tries to get our brains working, but at the same time it means Russel's happy ending isn't quite as satisfying as Carl's. But this is a minor point, Russel is not the main character and certainly works well.
The film looks awesome too, with a whole army of lovingly rendered dogs and some beautiful looking landscapes. All in all, a top film, I'd say, and one of the best Pixar films I've seen in years, both in terms of style and substance.
It's Kyle Cabinet!
A reeeeeeeeeeeeally rough idea for a character -
I'm still not really sure if it's a good idea for the character to be a literal visual representation of a 'file', I toyed with the idea of just making it a file with googley eyes and legs, but I couldn't really make it look very likeable at all. Then again, how likeable is Kyle Cabinet here? I'm not too sure...
I'm still not really sure if it's a good idea for the character to be a literal visual representation of a 'file', I toyed with the idea of just making it a file with googley eyes and legs, but I couldn't really make it look very likeable at all. Then again, how likeable is Kyle Cabinet here? I'm not too sure...
More Simulated Project Ideas
So, after studying the brief and finding out I only have 20 seconds for my short film, I've been thinking about what could fit comfortably into this time. I don't think I should throw my original idea out of the window, as it won't be impossible, but it would have to be incredibly fast paced! This isn't an enormous problem though, or even really a problem at all as it could make for somewhat of a sensory assault, which could be fun!
My other idea was to do it kind of like those Oxfam adverts, the one where it shows slow motion shots of poverty stricken countries and then says "...but for only £1, you can help" except replace the starving children with musicians. The voiceover could say something like "This is Larry, he's a band. He has to walk three miles to get to an amp everyday, etc. etc...but for the price of a CD, you could help!" This only really addresses the problem of downloading music rather than file sharing as a whole, and still needs a bit of work, so I'll keep thinking.
My other idea was to do it kind of like those Oxfam adverts, the one where it shows slow motion shots of poverty stricken countries and then says "...but for only £1, you can help" except replace the starving children with musicians. The voiceover could say something like "This is Larry, he's a band. He has to walk three miles to get to an amp everyday, etc. etc...but for the price of a CD, you could help!" This only really addresses the problem of downloading music rather than file sharing as a whole, and still needs a bit of work, so I'll keep thinking.
Tuesday 13 October 2009
The Third Term Begins!
I've had a few ideas for our first project, to make a piece of multimedia that illustrates when and why file sharing is illegal and it's consequences. I think a short film would be the best way to do this, and was thinking it could be hosted by some kind of animated character, talking us through what file sharing is. I have a few ideas for what this character could look like, and once I've sketched a few out I'll post them up on here.
In terms of the consequences of file sharing, I need to do a bit more research as I could only come up with a few off the top of my head. There's a chance you could be arrested, but it's a slim one, and it probably won't act as much of a deterent. Instead, I think it'd be a good idea to highlight the damage downloading music can do to independent musicians and artists, as this is something some people may not be fully aware of.
In terms of the consequences of file sharing, I need to do a bit more research as I could only come up with a few off the top of my head. There's a chance you could be arrested, but it's a slim one, and it probably won't act as much of a deterent. Instead, I think it'd be a good idea to highlight the damage downloading music can do to independent musicians and artists, as this is something some people may not be fully aware of.
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