quote 7

Street Performers

I visited Covent garden and found street performers.
There were quite a few people who were dressed up and acting as statues. and there were others who were performing.

One of the Performers was struggling to get a clear space, and I took a couple of photos of him as he attempted to "plank" to prevent people from coming into his work space.

This got me thinking about stories about street performers and maybe some of the things one could to to try and get people's attention?

quote6

quote5

quote4

Using models

While visiting Hamleys, I came across this toy train set with a full model village.

After taking a few pictures, I realized that using a model house could be a an excellent way of getting an establishing shot without having to move the camera to an extremely high place to get it.

This way we could also avoid continuity issues and adjust the lighting so that it could be the time of day that we would have liked for our film.

Something like this could also lead to a surreal or strange story and help with making the film look more creative.

Interesting GIF image

quote3

"Reality continues to ruin my life"

Quote2

"Who am I?"

Photo1

Quote 1

"Please just pretend I'm invisible"

Trip to a Turkish Restaurant

During the first weeks of Summer, I went out with my family to a Turkish Restaurant in London.

It was quite an interesting place, with nice decorations, and was situated close to some tall apartment blocks and the river.

There were a fair few restaurants in the area, and one was a Chinese restaurant that was on an enormous docked ship.

This got me thinking of a story taking place in a restaurant, or people either running or visiting a restaurant that's in a very strange place.

Panda Story

From our research into strange news stories, we worked in pairs to form an idea for a short story.

Panda Story on Prezi

We were then given the task to each create a moodboard showing some images relating to the story, to get a feel of the themes and visuals. This is my moodboard:

Panda moodboard on Prezi

Strange news stories 4

12-Year-Old Self: 20th Anniversary Edition."

"Hopefully I can talk about this when I'm on the TODAY show on Sunday." (Updated July 8:Watch his TODAY appearance here). 

This weekend, the 32-year-old professional filmmaker and long-time YouTube contributor will appear on TODAY to discuss how he spliced together a movie he made of himself when he was 12 with footage from here and now, in order to create a conversation with his adult self. The edits are so tight, and the comedic timing is so seamless, many are calling shenanigans, while even more are raving about it.

About five years ago, McDonald made what he calls a "trial run," of the self-interview video, he told TODAY.com, in a pre-show interview. Nobody thought much about it at all. "I remember showing it to people and they'd politely nod and say, 'That's cute. So who was the kid playing you?'" he said. And it didn't even occur to them that the kid might be me. They were taking it in as they would any work of fiction, and on that level the video fell drastically short."

The bland reactions he received from that effort made McDonald realize, "that if I was going to do the video again (which I'd always planned for 2012) I would have to 1) try to demonstrate that the kid was me by including a montage, and 2) try to make the video good enough so that it wouldn't even matter if it was fake or not. Even though the footage is real, the piece is still a surreal work of fiction."

Spend any time combing through McDonald's massive YouTube archive however, and you realize that McDonald has spent every year between 12 and 32 with a camera — and often on one.

"For better or worse, almost everything I've ever made is available on YouTube, including some very embarrassing early videos," McDonald told TODAY.com. "If you look at enough of them you get a better sense of how I grew from that 12-year-old kid to a thin, awkward teenager, etc."

Given its popularity, this "remake" is getting the attention McDonald hoped for, and he doesn't begrudge the doubters. "I realized that, paradoxically, if I made the conversation seem too convincing, it would seem more fake," he said. "I'd like to think I found the right balance what with the response and all. But either way, I'd much rather have people passionately calling it fake than the more ambivalent response I got to the older version. It's a lot more fun." 

Strange news stories 3

Scientist's vision of alien life

• 

A top British space scientist believes aliens exist - and look like giant jellyfish with hanging onion-like sacks.

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock worked with an artist to show what she thought alien life might look like.

She believes the idea that extra-terrestrials will be humanoid is wrong and they are more likely to resemble floating jelly fish.

Dr Aderin-Pocock says our inter-galactic cousins would have metallic surfaces for light absorption, orange bottoms for camouflage and buoyancy sacks to maintain altitude.

They would "scope chemicals from the atmosphere" through a large opening, like a manta ray, and, if they are intelligent, "use pulses of light scintillating up and down their spines" to communicate.

Dr Aderin-Pocock reveals her belief that as many as four intelligent alien civilisations may exist in our galaxy.

But because the galaxy is so huge, she doubts whether humans will ever be able to contact them.

Dr Aderin-Pocock, currently working on the observation instruments for the Aeolus satellite, is one of the first credible scientists to claim that aliens probably do exist.

Her picture of an alien was commissioned to celebrate the launch of TV Channel Eden's Science Month this July.

Dr Aderin-Pocock explains: "Our imaginations are naturally constrained by what we see around us, and the conventional wisdom has been that life needs water and is carbon-based.

"But some researchers are doing exciting work, playing with ideas such as silicon-based life forms."

Strange news stories 2

Meet the twins born in different countries

Twins are normally born minutes – if not hours – apart, but Dylan Joseph and Hannah Rose Fox will be able to say they were born in different countries.

Hey, baby: Twins Dylan Joseph, left, and Hannah Rose, were born hours apart – in England and Scotland (Pictures: NNP)

The youngsters were welcomed to the world in England and Scotland last Sunday as their parents, Donna Keenan and Joe Fox, settled down to watch the Euro 2012 final. 

With no time to get to the hospital, paramedics were forced to deliver Dyland on the living room floor. 

But as the twins were being born four weeks early, medical staff pulled out all the stops to get Ms Keenan to hospital in time for Hannah’s arrival. 

The 28-year-old endured an hour-long trip to Borders General Hospital in Melrose, Scotland, before her daughter made an appearance hours later. 

‘I’m still getting over the shock of what’s happened,’ said Ms Keenan, of Wooler, Northumberland. ‘It’s all such a blur. 

‘Joe and I already have a daughter, Jessica, who’s two, and I was in labour with her for 30 hours so never imagined the twins would come so quickly. 

‘I had already been up to the Borders hospital and come home when I started to feel a bit strange and that’s when my waters went.’ 

Dylan was born at about 8pm, weighing 2.6kg (5lb 13oz), while his sister tipped the scales at 2.2kg (4lb 14oz) when she arrived at 11.40pm. 

Mr Fox, 24, who was at his partner’s side for both births, said: ‘We’re still getting our heads around it. 

‘We knew the babies were going to be born in different countries but there was also a chance they’d be born on different days because it was so late. 

‘I joked to Donna that she should hold on as long as possible but I only mentioned it once and don’t think it went down too well!’

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/904558-meet-the-twins-born-in-different-countries#ixzz208hmtmw3

Strange news strories 1

Blindfolded Chinese acrobat survives dramatic high wire fall 

A Chinese daredevil escaped with just minor injuries after slipping and falling from a high wire suspended 200 metres above the ground. 

High wire walker Aisikaier escaper without any serious injuries (Picture: YouTube/ ThisIsMyNextNews)

Dawa Zi acrobat Aisikaier was just 40m from finishing his 700m death-defying stunt in China's Hunan Province on Sunday, when he suddenly lost his footing.

Blindfolded and walking backwards, the acrobat appeared to be struggling throughout the high-wire walk after appearing to initially lose his footing mid-way through the spectacle.

Cheered on by hundreds of supporters lining the river banks below, Aisikaier continued his stunt without a safety net and with just a pole to support his balance.

However his determination to finish the stunt proved costly when Aisikaier, a sixth generation performer, slipped for a second time, plummeting 200 metres below.

The incident was caught on camera, showing the acrobat instinctively attempt to grab on to the tight rope on his way down. 

Amazingly, he escaped with just minor injuries and was filmed walking back up the side of the ravine just minutes after his spectacular fall.

The performer later told Chinese television a combination of strong winds and feeling faint contributed to him losing his footing. 

VIDEO: Watch the astonishing incident here

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/904635-blindfolded-chinese-acrobat-survives-dramatic-high-wire-fall#ixzz208hd5axU

What are the main rules to storytelling, and why are these important??

A story needs to be interesting and engaging- a story, in any form cannot leave the audience bored at any point if it wants to be successful. Therefore, there are a lot of theories as to how to make a good narrative.

                One of the main theories is the three act structure-the idea that every story is divided into three, distinct parts. The first part is the Set-up, where most of the exposition about the world of the story is given and where we establish the main characters and their motives. The second part is the Confrontation, in which something disrupts the established world of the story or a series of obstacles appear for the protagonists-this is often the bulk of the story. Lastly, there is the Resolution, which resolves the conflicts of the plot, and establishes a new equilibrium in the world. A very simple version of this would be in Disney’s Snow White- in the first act, Snow White is established as a sweet innocent girl, hated by her step-mother. By the second act, she’s been attacked and runs away and begins her life with the Dwarves, while the queen plots away and puts her plan to action, eventually killing Snow White. The resolution is when the prince from the first act returns and breaks the spell, and Snow White and the Prince ride off together. However, more often now in feature length films, there is often a chain of events that happen in the second act, which all eventually lead to the resolutions in the storyline. When the Three act structure is done well, it keeps the audience entertained as well as keeping the narrative to an easily understood and followed structure, making the film easier to watch.

                The story always needs to have a good set up, as a strong back story makes the narrative more believable to the audience. The resolution also has to be fulfilling, as otherwise the audience will find the film pointless. However, arguably the most important part of the story is the second act, the confrontation. A good second act keeps the audience engaged throughout, doesn’t drag on and instead only keeps building in entertainment and thrills. The actions and conflicts need to be logical- they can’t come out of nowhere- but still be surprising and exciting enough to keep the audience enthralled. A good example of a plot that keeps getting better as it goes along would be J.R.R.Tolkein’s The Hobbit. The “second arc” of The Hobbit- which technically takes up the majority of the book- is literally a series of disasters, one after another. The protagonists are constantly faced with monsters of every shape and size, incomprehensible enchantments and near death experiences. By the resolution of the book, they’ve been captured, starved, captured again and hunted after escaping, nearly burnt alive, starved to near madness, poisoned, imprisoned, trapped and outcast. Only to have to face a dragon and then a war.  This keeps the reader constantly entertained and on edge as every chapter we’re faced with another obstacle for the party to overcome. Furthermore, all these obstacles are interconnected. The party angers one group, and then another and another, and eventually this comes to bite them in the behind as they face these adversaries again and again.

                This leads to another key element in a good film, which is a good character. People need to be able to care about characters- they need to be cheering on for the lead, and actually feeling contempt or pure hatred for the villain. A good character makes a person feel something. Thus can be done witch a good actor, but also with creating a good backstory and sensible motivation for the character. The character needs to be like a real person- this way, real people can relate to them. A good example of this is most incarnation of Spiderman(in the comics, animated series and films), but mostly in the most recent film, The Amazing Spiderman. In this film, Peter Parker is consumed with revenge, and always has guilt of people passing away or leaving him hanging over him throughout the story. However, by the and of the film he learns to let go and instead use his powers for other people, and not selfishly. Throughout the film, we actually care aboyt Peter and also the people he loses, because we are able to see the relationships between the characters for long enough for us to be abke to relate to these relationships. Then we are also selfishly rooting for him to get revenge throughout the narrative but we also experience his learning curve and understand what he feels to make him change his mind about his motives. This is what makes the film good(among other things) and thus it’s a great example of character and character development.

                Altogether, these things create a narrative that people want to pay attention to, and makes a successful story.

Set Up and Plot Point: Spirited Away

Spirited Away is a Japanese animated film, directed by Hiyao Miyazaki, and produced by Studio Ghibli.

The Set-up

• Chihiro is a young girl, and her family is moving away to a new town in the counrtyside.
• She's not very enthusiastic about the move, and childishly clings to the going away presents her friends gave her
• Her parents are much more enthusiastic and are very easy going, stopping by the side of the road to investigate the mysterious train station/theme park entrance.
• The film is set in Japan, but the local myths and legends are heavily referenced, even in the real world Chihiro lives in.
• There is also a spirit world, where she later gets trapped.

Plot points

• Chihiro's parents explore the theme park after taking a "shortcut" and Chihiro is made to follow. 
• Her parents find food and greedily begin consuming all of it, while Chihiro, venturing further, meets a boy who tells her to leave. She goes back to find her parents, but they have been turned into pigs.
• Chihiro is helped by a young boy, who takes her to a bath house in secret so he can help her. However they are soon discovered.
• Chihiro gets away and is told to go to the boiler man. The boiler man won't help her until she does some work, and after she has helped him, he directs her to the witch, Yubaba, who owns the bath house.
• Chihiro goes to the witch, and the witch takes her name and allows Chihiro to work until she gets a chnace to take her parents back.
• Chihiro begins to forget her name after working in the bathhouse, but the boy helps her to remember by taking her to visit her parents.
• While working, she invites in a strange masked creature into the bathhouse one evening. There is also a spirit who comes to the bath house, and after Chihiro helps it, it gives her a magic dumpling.
• Chihiro also sees the boy, who has changed ionto a dragon, being attacked, She realises he has stolen a cursed item from Yubaba's sister, and is now ill. She goes to the boiler man to see how she can help the boy, and he gives her tickets to get a train to Yubaba's sister's home. Before she leaves, she feeds him part of the dumpling.
• The masked creature causes a big unrest in the bath house and begins eating the other workers, demanding to see Chihiro, Chihiro calms it down with the rest of the dumpling, and then leaves. The masked creature follows her.
• Chihiro finds Yubaba's sister, who helps her out, but cannot give her a proper cure, as it turns out Chihiro already broke the curse herself.
• She returns to see the boy has healed, but she still has to pick out her parents from a group of pigs so that they can all be let go.
• Chihiro does this right, and leaves, saying goodbye to the boy and all the spirits and workers in the bathhouse.