Saturday, 5 November 2016

Fiction Adaptation: Chosen Essay Question


As part of the Fiction Adaptation unit, we must also complete an essay about adaptation.

CHOSEN ESSAY QUESTION

 We had three essay questions to choose from, I chose question number 1:

"Discuss the view that 'with a successful adaptation, the original work is transformed into something new and different, although retaining many traces of what it was formerly" with reference to at least one text adapted for broadcast on television"


INITIAL IDEAS

I chose this question because when I first read it, I already had an television adaptation in mind that I wanted to write about and this question fit that adaptation well. I want to look at the BBC adaptation of "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie, as well as the Family Guy parody, entitled "And Then There Were Fewer". Whilst exploring the Family Guy parody, I will also look at the other books/tv shows/films that Family Guy have parodied, and use these examples to explore the view that the question proposes.

I will also explore the themes of an adaptation, and look at what qualifies as a successful adaptation. I will also look at how Family Guy has brought this Agatha Christie work to a new audience, and how the endless possibilities that animation offer, have allowed Family Guy to parody many works. I will also look at the political side of both adaptations, as the BBC is often very balanced, and Family Guy is often very Democratic, like it's creator, Seth MacFarlane. And finally I will look at how the current social environment has affected the original story, especially considering the fact that when the book was original published in 1939, it had a racist word in the title, which has been changed over the years.

NEXT STEPS

- Re-read the original text "And Then There Were None"
- Re-watch the BBC adaptation
- Re-watch the Family Guy parody
- Watch the original 1945 film adaptation
- Carry out research into adaptation, specifically, television adaptation
- Research into the history of the original text

Image:

Friday, 4 November 2016

Fiction Adaptation: Brief & Chosen Poem


FICTION ADAPTATION BRIEF

 For our second unit this year, we have been tasked with adapting a poem into a visual production, as well as producing an essay about the subject of adaptation. This unit will help me develop my filmmaking skills by allowing me to adapt somebody elses work, and by allowing me to try new filmmaking techniques.

As part of this unit, we are being encouraged to try new types of filmmaking. I decided over the summer that I wanted to attempt computer animation, to help develop my After Effects skills, and so I kept this in mind whilst choosing my poem.

We were given a list of poems to choose from, and after reading through all of them, I chose a poem called "Wish You Were Here" by Emrys Plant.


I chose this poem because as I was reading it, I found it really easy to visualise it in my head. As I was able to visualise it, it showed that I understood it, and because I can understand it, I should be able to adapt it with ease. Out of all the other poems, I think this one will make sense in an animated form.

I began to brainstorm some ideas:


I am very excited about this project, and I'm looking forward to attempting something new. I need to get started soon, as animation takes a long time.

Images:

Sunday, 30 October 2016

Digital News: Student Yak | Let's Go Viral

Below is the final video produced for the Digital News Unit.


Digital News: Student Yak Promo

Below is the final promo produced for the Digital News Unit.


Thursday, 27 October 2016

Digital News: Project Evaluation



DIGITAL NEWS PROJECT EVALUATION

PRE-PRODUCTION

I started this unit knowing who I wanted to work with. I wanted to work with people I hadn't really worked with before, and so I our group consisted of me, Ida, Nisserin, and Becca. We knew from day 1 that time was tight, so we sat down straight away to discuss ideas. We all wanted to do something for students, and so after much discussion, we came up with Student Yak.

And so work on the news stories began. We decided we wanted to do something about viral videos. Whilst the others began to work on the script, I began to work on the graphic, to help us visualise Student Yak. We also started working on the website and social media pretty early, so we could use it for promotion.

As part of our idea, we had to create a viral video, so we also worked on planning, filming, and sharing this. Whilst all of this was happening, Ida was talking to YouTuber Katie Joslin about being our contributor, and I was talking to George Wing about being our co-presenter. Luckily, both of them agreed to take part. I took on the role as the main presenter.

Over the next few weeks, we continued to work on the pre-production, which included finalising the script for the package, live, and studio segments, making call sheets/schedules, buying props, and finalising all the graphics for the final video. We also began to work on our promo.

I think my strength during the pre-production stage was my graphic design skills, which helped the group visualise Student Yak, and therefore aided the pre-production for everything we needed to film, and produce for the unit. I also think my odd sense of humour helped when making edits to the script. And finally, I think my organisation skills helped me say organised, even when the deadlines were tight.

PRODUCTION

See more about the filming days: Day 1 & Day 2.

When it came to filming and producing the required content for Student Yak, we knew there was going to be a lot, and we didn't want to spend too many days filming so we chose to bundle shoots together. On the first shooting day we filmed the interview, and the news package, and on the second day of filming, we filmed the studio segments, and the live.

The first day of filming went very well. We set up our location a day in advance so we had as much time as possible to film the interview and the package. Katie was a great interviewee, and interviewing her was a fun, and educational experience. When filming the package, we thought carefully about how each location, aided the script, and I think in the end, we picked the perfect locations.

The second day of filming went even better. Again we set up in advance to save time. The location for the live had to be changed due to bad weather, but we didn't let this hinder us, as we had already prepared a backup location. Filming the live ended up going great, and we managed to hit exactly two minutes with no issues. Filming the studio segments and the promo went well, and it became clear in the edit, that we had lit the green screen just right. At the start of the day we had some sound issues, but these were fixed very quickly with some help from Ferg.

Overall, the production process went very well. I'd say my strength during this part of the unit was my presenting skills. The way I come across on camera, and the speed at which I work, I think aided us in ensuring we could fit a lot of filming into such a small amount of time. I think the entire group worked together brilliantly during the filming process, and each person played their part well.

POST-PRODUCTION

To see more about the editing process: Editing Package, Editing Live, & Editing Full Video & Promo

During the post-production process I was the main editor, and the group acted as secondary editors, watching back each rough cut and making the relevant changes. Nisserin also acted a the main colourist, doing all the colour correction.

To begin this process I first put the rough cut together. We then sat down as a group and made some changes, as well as sitting down with Helen for some feedback. Next we made changes to form the fine cut. After a feedback session with Helen, we made a few more changes and the final production was finished.

There isn't much to say about the post production process that I haven't already said in other posts. I think my main strength during this stage was my editing skills, in particular my After Effects skills, which I think were really tested. I've never created so many graphics for one project. I had to use processes I'm not used to, so I did learn a few new things. I really enjoyed working in After Effects, and creating original graphics, we didn't use any templates.

OVERALL EVALUATION: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS

Strengths-
  • My organisation skills made every stage of this process very easy and quick, which was important considering we had such a small amount of time to complete this unit. We were able to work as a group to sort everything out on time, and we were prepared for every situation. This also aided me during the editing process, and made editing a lot easier because I was able to stay organised.
  • I think my editing skills were also another strength. I no point was I every worried, or stressed out about the edit, because we had planned it all out in advance, and I knew what I was doing. I have now really honed in my editing skills, especially on After Effects.
  • Communication was key on this unit as it was a group project. I think unlike previous projects, I was able to work really well in a group. I think this shows I have developed since the last project. Our group was constantly in communication with one another, and this meant we always all knew what was going on.
  • Overall I think my production skills were a strength. I carried out every task in a professional manner. I was able to keep organised and on top of everything. I did not get stressed, or worried at all throughout this project, and that made it a more enjoyable experience.
Weaknesses-
  • As a presenter, I need to work on not being so reliant on an autocue. I didn't really have time to remember any of the studio script, and so whilst we were filming, I completely relied on the autocue.
  • During the interview, I only stuck to the questions, and we realised in the edit that this slowed the pace down a bit. In future, if I interview anyone again, I should try and be a bit more relaxed and conversational in my interview style.
Possible Development- What did I learn?
  • If I were to do this again, I would:
    • Make time to remember the script.
    • Think more about, and do more research into my interviewee to aid the conversational interview style.
    • I would look at working with professionals, instead of just students as presenters. However saying that, we had reasons behind using students as our presenters.
CONCLUSION

Overall, I am extremely happy, and proud of the final product. As a group, we have decided that if we have time, we will continue Student Yak, as we believe we have come up with a brand that has real potential, which can be seen by the interest we have already received from others. We're very happy with the news package, interview, live, and studio segments. I can't say I was ever stressed or worried about anything, which actually made the project easier and more enjoyable. To summarise, I think we should all be very proud of what we have achieved, and we should look forward to the future of Student Yak!

Digital News: TV/Film Yak Article For Website

For our website, I was asked to write an article for TV/Film Yak.

ARTICLE FOR WEBSITE

 I decided to write about the recent premiere of 'The Walking Dead' Season 7. I chose to write about this because it was a popular topic on the internet at the time, due to the deaths of two beloved characters. I am also a big fan of 'The Walking Dead', and the episode left me with a lot to say.

I did a bit of research into the episode and found out that in the US, over 17 million people had tuned in to see it. I felt I wanted to include this in the article, to show why we were writing about it.

I basically used the article as a way for me to express how I felt about the episode, as it upset, and angered me, much like it did to everyone that watched it. I really enjoyed working on this article, as it helped me let out some of the anger the episode gave me.

To see the article go to:

http://studentyak.wixsite.com/studentyak/single-post/2016/10/25/SPOILERS-The-Walking-Dead-Returned-And-I-Cried

Digital News: The Jokes

Our final production has a lot of jokes in it, some of which are not immediately obvious, below are all of the jokes:

STUDENT YAK JOKES

 Viral Video sound bites- During the introduction, we've added sound bites from some popular viral videos, which are 'Charlie Bit My Finger', 'David Went To The Dentist', 'Pen, Pineapple, Apple, Pen', 'Keyboard Cat', 'Damn Daniel', and 'The Harlem Shake'. We reference all of these videos, because we are talking about the history of viral videos on YouTube, and these are some of the most popular/most famous ones.

Katie's Intro- Katie has a very dramatic introduction, which is a reference to the introductions they create for musicians on The X Factor. We felt this was the quickest, funniest, and best way to tell our audience a bit about Katie before her interview began.

Katie's Interview- During Katie's interview, a number of graphics appear on screen. These graphics reference things she is saying. We chose to do this, to help keep the audience interested, as the interview slows down the pace of our episode.

Shia LaBeouf "DO IT"- During step 3 of the news package, we used a clip of Shia LaBeouf saying "Do It!". We chose to include this there because it correlates with what I'm saying on screen, and it references a stack of viral videos from a few years back when people used this clip alot.

"About A Week Ago"- During the reveal of our viral video view count, we cut to a clip from a song where the lyric is "about a week ago". We do this as I'm talking about how long ago we uploaded our viral video, and we thought it'd be funny if we referenced that song, instead of just having me say it.

Bottle Flip Joke: After the live segment, George throws a bottle of water over to me in the studio. I then drink from it, and throw it off screen. It then cuts to the bottle landing on a table upright. This is a reference to a number of viral videos, which show people 'faking' the bottle flip challenge by cutting two shots together so it looks like they flip the bottle.

FRED joke- During the final moments of the show, I speak about the live bottle flip challenge. As I do this, it cuts to a replay from the live, and some of the audience members have had their faces replaced with that of the YouTuber FRED. I also say "she can't even flip a bottle for Fred's sake". We added this reference to FRED as another nod to the history of YouTube, as FRED was very popular back in the day.

MEME OF THE WEEK- Memes are a very popular internet phenomenon, and something we would like to include on the show every week. For this weeks meme of the week, we scrolled through the most recents memes on Reddit, which is the front page of the internet. We eventually settled on on about North Korea and we thought it was pretty funny.

Bye Felicia & Don't Make Me Snap- To close the show, we reference two more viral phenomenon. Firstly, 'Bye Felicia' is a reference to a popular internet meme with Ice Cube taken from one of his movies. Secondly, 'Don't Make Me Snap' is a music video that went viral a few years back. We thought this was a funny way to close the episode.

And that's it, all the jokes in Student Yak that relate to the world of the internet.