Civil Liberties

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_Liberties_(film)

need to watch this at some point

Post Exhibition Summary

 

This was the proposed layout for the exhibition.

 This is how it appeared on the walls in it's first reincarnation.

This is what it looked like after alterations.

I guess it was quiet by some standards but given that so many of us stayed until closing time at 11 I think that's a good sign.

Dopplegangers

More for the exhibition tomorrow.

Weebl and Bob

 

 

Two fae yesterday

 

 Dopplegangers or Clones? I can't decide.

Tae a Samosa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odCD09A1F6E

Sanjeev Kohli is brilliant.

hustle with adrian lester but not marc warren, shame

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00xb5sd/Hustle_Series_7_Episode_1/

Still one of the most intelligent programs on the BBC but i wish Adrian Lester hadn't left for the Indiana Jones rip off and fucked with the formula. Layers of thought remain but i think the most well planned episodes are in previous series'. It is a brilliant example of how to round off every little detail though.

conspiracy theories are fun.

http://www.educate-yourself.org/nwo/
this particular example really had me hooked until i read the priory of sion crap. aliens as well, a bit too much to deal with at the same time. 5/10 for plot. i like how they are always selling a book as well, maybe i need to start my own conspiracy theory.

research

http://www.writing.com/main/list_items/item_type/interactives
some ok stuff, too much fanfiction. shame

http://www.writing.com/main/interact/item_id/1645108-Hallway-of-Lives/map/1
I like this idea, reaonably simple with plenty of possibilities, reminds me of the second matrix film where Neo is in the halway with the doors that lead everywhere and his new friend; the keymaker can make a key that basicaly does the same. luckily for the narative the keymaker can't just make a key for any door to take Neo where he has to go. That would mean he could avoid a bomb and fighting loads of Agent Smiths. Impossible.

http://www.interactivestory.net/
I understand that this was probably made by a writer but it does decribe itself as an art piece and as an art piece it looks painfully amateur, at least visualy. Maybe its just vanity but I dont like watching things that are badly drawn.

Interactive Story Beginning

There are plenty of conspiracy theories about. Ideas about how power really works and who holds it behind the curtains. They don’t know so they have to guess. They get so close sometimes and at others they are hilariously wrong. They don’t have the perspective to see the world as it is. They are ants trying to appreciate the world as an eagle above might see it. There too many obstructions, too much just out of sight. They could never appreciate the scale of the truth. I find it hard to fathom it myself, and its my job to keep track of this stuff. Its my job to keep humanity in check.

The year is: 1120 / 2011 / 2320

Inception

Why can't more films be as well thought out as this. Not being one of those films that think they're clever because they hold things back for a twist later.

Ideas inside ideas, hiding ideas in one hand and holding the other hand behind the theoretical back. Possibly another idea hidden in the metaphorical socks. Maybe the socks are patterned with something that hints at their hidden idea.

Beats the mechanic in Lost. For every question where an answer is hinted at ten questions will arrize. Like a hydra of annoying ridiculousness.

Then there are underapreciated layers. Too many people say that Avatar is just Dances with Wolves in space. The outsider fighting for the little guy is just layer one though. Beneath that layer, used not just in Dances with Wolves but The Last Samurai, is the more contemporary issues of not only ecoligy but commication networks. In Avatar is a proposal for environmentaly friendly networks and the sort of balance and respect for nature that is often lost in the pursuit of 'advancement.'

Then theres the type of layers displayed in things like the most recent series of Doctor Who with Matt Smith writing as he did also in Jekyll with James Nesbitt (which is awesome).

I found the new seies of Doctor Who interesting for the inclusion of so many themes. The obvios time travel, then in the first episode the use of an 'imaginary friend' which fits with some of the ideas i have been looking at. I like that there was an episode dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh.

I don't see why they felt the need to include Dalek's in the new series though, it seems so much less thought through compared with the rest. Clearly just a stipulation of the bbc to sell toys. Lame. Seems like asking Christopher Nolan to have a 5 minute coke advert in the middle of Inception.

Now a trailer for Jekyll, why only 6 episodes?

Interactive Story Research

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamebook

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_fiction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventureland_(computer_game)

http://www.freearcade.com/Zplet.jav/Advland.html

http://www.freearcade.com/Zplet.jav/Strange.html

http://www.axeuk.com/quest/

http://www.cityofif.com/

Research for Group Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBBHrsfuT3o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1ChmA4EHY0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huBlNu8EcMw

Group Video Poject

The second meeting went well today, it's good to see so much enthusiasm. Good to see some structure forming as well.

Interactive story idea

I could create an interactive story by liking between pages with different options for how the plot moved forward. The same principle was used in early computer role playing games and the game Comix Zone for Sega although in the Sega game movement was free within comic strip panels.

I would live to use handwritten pages that have been scanned to give a more personal feel to it so that it seems almost like you are just turning a page.

Copyright stuff

since i put derelict reserve on here it probably isnt elligable for publication, damn

Lightship Short Story Competition

I submitted my story Real Life Story at a cost of £12. The cost is a bit prohibative, and if the story is even shortlisted then they hold copywright for a year. Better get something from it.

One Weird World Collection

Im trying to finish off and collect together a series of interconnected short stories in a small volume and either have it published or publish it myself on blurb.com i want to do the cover myself either photographically or as a painting. The first stort is about being able to manipulate the speed of or passage through time. I mention being trained by watching snails and hummingbirds. To slow the hummingbirds is impossible but the protagonist can live so quickly that it appears to fly in slow motion and similarly snails can be viewed racing across a surface as time passes slowly about. My idea is to paint a hummingbird frozen still in flight while feeding and in the background a blurred figure through glass, clearly moving faster. Perhaps the back cover could show a still figure as a snail is blurred racing along a tank.

gotta love iplayer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pccvs/Perfect_Creature/
not bad

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rrd83/Human_Planet_Jungles_People_of_the_Trees/
jungle documentary, awesome, angkor wat is incredible and that treehouse at the end has to be one of the coolest ever

Learnt from the Exhibition

After the exhibition my tutors said that mixing the images and text in my photos meant that both of them lost something. The imges perhaps lost the least, just small detail but the text was almost ilegible. Another tutor said I should focus more on learning how they gained from that fact that people drew closer to look for the meaning in the text. He said that being able to sythesize this effect with other work could help when needed. I guess the key is keeping something held back. Seen but not completely, those who this intrigues will follow it closer. How to create this by other means is another issue.

YouTube Short Films

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ePWK0qfisE
awesome short film, bit harsh though

http://www.youtube.com/user/TenSecondFilmFest?blend=15&ob=5#p/u/2/CJ3vXeycHt0
wtf, sightly funny

http://www.youtube.com/user/TenSecondFilmFest?blend=15&ob=5#p/u/20/vQxb7G-6BtM
funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ-0qKqWtQA&feature=related
could have done the same thing in half the time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zImNPg2D7ec&feature=channel
good idea, bad sound editing, like the end

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZYiZ81X-uk&feature=related
really like the idea, the video filters are a bit much but do add to the feel of it, not too overdone apart from the end perhaps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU4ivnqDfj0&feature=related
ultimate fail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy0HNWto0UY&feature=related
soo good. such a simple idea too.

The background text for the images below: Derelict Reserve

When my father bought this house he knew it had too much potential to waste on renovation. He saw the beauty of the broken shell. The magic of nature taking back the world surrounds me. Nature has a patient power, it waits and bides its time and fills the gaps humanity no longer wants. In the wake of mankind the flora and fauna will fill the void we leave and mend the wounds we have created. My father died years ago but not before seeing the way that each new rising sun brings a new light to the magnum opus he would leave behind. He saw the light fall between the remains of the roof, through the fragile leaves of gentle plants below that paints all below a wonderful green. He saw the shy vixen who came for the warmth of our fire and the cubs who returned themselves the following years. He saw the orange glow of the fire dancing in their eyes across the room we slept in. My father saw the seeds he’d sown as a young man grow into the trees of a great forest that cushioned the house from the rest of the world. Within the house plants take shelter that world not survive outside. Down more than one hall the carpets of wild grass grow tall. In the main hall there is no space for regal men to stride. From floor to ceiling the room glows with the jewels of the floral world. The walls echo birdsong from dawn ‘til dusk and off the hall the swimming pool draws nature from all across the estate. Patience will often be rewarded with the sight of a deer come to drink. These I photograph when I have my fathers camera. Most of the money I make comes from the photos I take which look nothing like the dull and dreary world outside. I spend that money on keeping that world out. Ever higher rise the walls but still the rubbish spills in through the gate. Not long ago I filled in most of the main gate, the last entrance to my sanctum of peace. I’ve thought of bricking it up completely but never do despite knowing other ways out. I can climb the ledges I’ve left myself over walls I’ve built as high as trees. None but I have seen the house in years other than in my photos. None will, even at the gate I dug deep trenches to deter visitors. My Eden is not a tourist resort to be trampled beneath the feet of those who cannot comprehend the value of my reserve. None could survive my fury should they disturb it. This walled world is my sanctum, all I need to live. I hunt the woods with my crossbow and feed from the animals who’ve made their home here. In the walls are gaps and spaces big enough to let them in but nothing more. All I need is here from the apple trees to the rabbits that chew their bark. In winter I am less than self sufficient but happy to forage for the scraps left by wasteful neighbours. The house is warm enough in the cold, kept so by the furnace which I keep fuelled at all times with the deadwood I collect year round. The heat is piped round the house by pluming my father added. My life is simple and can be harsh at times but I’d have it no other way. There are half finished buildings in the woods I climb daily. I run the wall tops I built double width and build them higher for another challenge. From their height I see the animals that have made their home in the shelter of mine and as I do despise the broken world outside. The cat descended from my fathers pet hunts the mice that scurry about the hollow spaces I’d long abandoned. There are a few lingering descendants for the beautiful predator that roamed the land in its earlier days. Some visit me but less and less. I am not required for their survival, just occasional comfort. Photos of these predators are my pride, about to strike with muscles tensed. The glow of excitement shows in the curve of their mouth that seems to smile as they pounce.
If it was possible I would never leave my gorgeous home. When I do I can’t help wondering if some hateful destroyer is desecrating my domain. My only port of call outside the estate is the small village a few miles to the south. I take my latest film to the dark room there and spend some time developing the film and making prints from the last film. The owner of the dark room, Lisa, is always very helpful and quite possibly the only human, other than my father, that I have ever liked. She sells the prints in her gallery and gives me a share of the money. From her I buy my film and sometimes food. She aspires to be a famous photographer and has expressed an interest in seeing the estate more than once. I always crush these hopes quickly though for the thought of another, even her, in my home makes my blood boil. When we talk about the estate she asks so many questions with so much enthusiasm and I wonder how long it will be before she ignores my warnings and crosses the threshold of my domain. Lisa is the only person I can have a conversation with though and I cherish that. She seems to share my love of nature, her work is not unlike mine although taken with a far more professional style. Maybe some day I will trust her enough to show her the estate and it’s wonders. I’m not the trusting type it has to be said. I leave others alone when I’m in the village and spend the money Lisa gives me in the local shop on food and seeds. Other times I save my money away in a biscuit tin under my bed and keep it for use in winter. My cash is my currency as I have no accounts and no paperwork of any other kind either. I don’t think my birth was certified either so I guess within the system of law I don’t exist.
When it’s cold and I’m hungry sometimes I wonder if I’d be better with a more normal existence but it only takes the shades of emerald green projected through the lights of the canopy by the gold light of the sun to change my mind. Maybe I’ll see out the rest of my days in this beautiful, barren existence or maybe I’ll find a way to leave this home that owns me. Maybe Lisa interest will lead to disobedience and draw her here to see what she was told she could not. Maybe I’ll spend my last breath cursing this lonely existence. Maybe I’ll become another relic of this forgotten Eden. The last trace of humanity swept away. Maybe my bones will feed and shelter the nature as the skeleton of the old house does. Will nature take the earth back and paint the world green after mankind has gone? Maybe.

The images I showed at the exhibition at The Pier.