The Idea of the Final Project

07/02/2009

It’s snowing these days, and a little cold. Yesterday I was traveling in Bath, which is a very beautiful and famous city in England. I had been to The Circus, The Royal Crescent, and the Abbey Church. The buildings are antiquities, which were built long time ago, within a feeling is very grandeur and heavenliness. The buildings in Bath almost are all in the color of yellowy, just like the color of the honey. The streets in Bath are not very big, and with a lot of interesting shops on both sides. Some shops which are selling the England artworks were very attractive to me.

Bath is not only a beautiful city, but also a busy city. It’s not mean the people’s work is busy, just mean to the city, the life of people is very interesting and colorful. The squares are always some buskers there, giving the people performance, getting happy and money. I found the people in Bath are very friendly and relax in daily life. When I talking to them, just like when I ask them the way to somewhere, they will be very friendly and responsible.  

I also visited the famous place of Bath, just like the Roman Bath. I felt the spring and the sunshine there with the other people. I even think I had backed to the time which one thousand years ago. Many people will try the spring from Roman Bath there, that’s free. And many people will throw coins into the pool which could make a wish there. That’s very interesting. I find that in UK, almost every pool or fountain in the street or in the building is a wishing well. I think it means all the people have their wishes and hope.

At night I was staying in a hotel which is a little far away from the city centre. It was a house with a big garden which was built long time ago. The chimney place and even the aisle in the sitting room, were all so lovely, and filled with the England style. There were some cars parking outside of the house, I think they were the house keeper’s adornment, because of these cars were looked very old-style. I took some pictures inside and outside of the hotel when I got the permission from the house keeper. The house keeper told me that, the people who have busy work always spend their weekends here, because this hotel is far away the city centre, and the landscape is very beautiful, quite and cozy.

Today, when I wake up in the morning, I found that it’s white outside. There are eight years in England has no such a big snow. I thought about the idea of the final project. I want to do a video about the people’s leisure life. Because of the people living in different country, even different city will have different form of life. And the leisure is a very interesting part of people’s life. My hometown China has a lot of interesting things to show, and the same in UK. I study in UK, I have view some part of UK, so I think make them together maybe will be very interesting and mean to me.

My artefact ‘power’, i did it as 15 pictures with cute dogs which were taken by myself, and i want to express the point is that the animals are people’s good friend, so people should love them and protect them. But, as my totur said that, the 15 pictures just about cute dogs, they haven’t relate to the people. So, i need to do more research about them.

Then I chose 3 pics from google ‘Elliot Erwitt’, and make them together with my 6 pics. I used the photoshop to make their color all white and black, because i want to make the video a little solemn..I don’t want just let people who will see this video just think  ‘oh, cute dogs.’  Instead, I want the people can realise the dogs, and good to them from now on, because of they’re people’s friends.

I think the power of the friendship during the dogs and people, is very powerful. Thousands years ago, the dogs started to working for people, help people, stay with people, give people fun.Till now, the dogs also be the people’s good friend.

I also use photoshop to make 3 pics, and wrote something on them, use them as the opening of the video and the ending of the video. And I wrote something on each photo, because i want to use this video to say something.

Then I use Premiere to make them a video, just like you see.

This is my first time to use Premiere, I think it’s not good. But i think this idea about friendship is good in my mind. I want to make it better on this fordder next time when I learn the Premiere better.

This is my first term study in UK, in Coventry University, I choose the major is Media Production, because of I think it’s very interesting and challenge.

I feel a very different place is studying media here. I think the idea is very important here. We need to show our new idea, different idea. I think it’s very different from studying in China.

In these 3 months, I had learnt the photoshop and some other softwares. I had learnt to Using the studio camera, and the photography. Actually, I had met a lot of problems. Just like I haven’t used these softwares before, they always make me confusing. And, the language, my English is not good, so, when I try to read some books from the library, or read the website, i always need a lot of time.

In This term, I had done three artefacts, power, memory, and spectacle. And I had done some research on the different ideas about Olympic Opening Ceremony, the advertisements, and some Europe films. What pleased me is that I had took some pictures I think is very beautiful and interesting, and when I learnt the photoshop and photoshop them, they looked different.

But I also made some mistakes on my artifacts, just like my artefact 2 about ‘power’, I just put 15 pictures about cute dogs on, and I want to express the point is that the animals make the people’s life happy, and everyone should protect the animals. Then tutor told me that they can’t express this point well, so I need to make more research on this fodder. So these days I’m trying to use the Premiere and find some other interesting photos that can relate this point well. And make some interesting things in it, I think it will looks better, I hope.

Of course some works had influence me, just like the Sony paint advert..and some good films. I like color, and I think using the color in the film well, that’s very important and interesting. I always use the internet, go to Youtube and watch some interesting films. In some music video, I had learnt that how to make the sound and the photograph be together and be perfect.

Actually, my experiment is that if I want to learnt media production well, I should pay more and more time on it, and I should do more and more research on the film. I should know a lot of things, then I can do work better.

What I will try is I think I should make more videos. I want to do some videos about some interesting fantasy. So I need to learn the vidicone, and the software well. I’m planing to pay a lot of time this winter holiday to develop my premiere and AE, and researching on the film. While I just know a little about them, but I think I just need more time to do it well. From this winter holiday, I will be better.

This movie takes the blue as the main key.

Blue, sea and dreams are profound and broad.

Lu gram Benison is a French director who I like very much.

This movie has gathered many elements. The dear ones, love, the friendship, dreams, as well as other are unable with the language performance humanity’s complex mood.

In this movie, Lu gram Benison unifies the color, the scene, the character, the story perfectly ingeniously together.

This movie’s lens, fine arts, music is very splendid. The Master of Dubs Eric Sierra used the muse very fitting sea subject.

The sea is broad, beautiful, profound, vital, is similar each corner to have the life. Sea, frightening, also lets the human yearn.

Lead Jack is summoned deeply by the sea. When he was a child, he deeply loves the sea. Although his father got killed in the sea, but Jack could not resist the sea the enticement. Even, he thought that the sea is own final ownership. Jack inborn has the ultra strong diving ability, whenever he dives submarine, he wants to keep in the deep sea, found the feeling which in there him one kind went home.

The direction will use the tone to serve as contrast character’s mood, in piece initial childhood fragment, has been the black and white tone, perhaps, Jack will be an escape life child since childhood, will be different with other arrogant children. And, he has lost the mother since childhood, childhood life not joyful color.

Afterward, Jack has run into Joanna, he has obtained love. This causes him to be contradictories, in love with own dream, how he should choose. Perhaps love and the dream do not conflict, says regarding many people, different may through diligently and pays obtains. But, Jack love in after death, his dream in front of him, after death ownership finally does not have enemy him born that way to the sea attachment.

Finally, Jack gave up own life, gave up love, gave up the child who has not been born. He rigid goes into the sea.

At the end of the movie, the director arranges Jack and the porpoise plays in the sea, the audience knew Jack is living or death, whether he will continue to keep the sea, will return to own life. Perhaps this is director leaves our own imagination space.

Jake calls the woman who loves to him. That woman is widely separated by the great distance, wants him to treat the long-distance electricity microphone to tell the story to her. Jake said that you knew how will meet the mermaid? Must tour the seabed, in there water are more blue. The sky turned the recollection. Lies down in the silence, you decided that keeps there. Will hold the determination which must die, the mermaid will be only then appearing. They send regards you, tests your love. If your love suffices sincerely, suffices chastely, they will accept you. Then forever the region you walk…….

He finally left the woman who has loved him deeply and the baby which is not yet born. And he submerged alone to the deep seabed. Why does nobody know? Ending time, the man is suitable is controlling the rope, silent slides, until dark seabed. He alone pauses in the oxygen deficit cold place, bunch of light project in his face. The beautiful porpoise is screaming in a soft voice, stares in his side. He puts out a hand, goes along with it. Is the dark screen. Music resounds, in the piece curtain splits out line of characters, gives to my daughter. He gives the entire lonely sea to his daughter.

I like travelling, I had been to many places in China. And I like the buildings, different buildings will give you the different feeling. Actually I like any kind of the view, because I think i can make them a photo, and each of them will has a story.

This is my second time in UK, in Coventry, I like the church and the buildings in Coventry, I think they are different from China Hangzhou(my hometown), I think Coventry is so lovely. So I had took a lot of pictures of Coventry.

And i had been to London, Birmingham and Stratford and so on. I think there are some differences bettween these cites.

Place: Coventry, London, Birmingham, Stratford

Camera: Nikon D80

Tool: Photoshop CS2

Generally speaking, ascendence and money is most powerful in the society. Of course there are so many other things are powerful. Just like love, lilies and roses, purpose, and charity.

If the ascendence and money make the world cold, the love and charity can make the world warm and peace.

Our love and charity incarnating on many side of the life. You love your parents and lover, you love your pets, you love your job, and so on.

Not only people have power, the animal have their power too, they’re lovely and cute, and very devout.

So, there more and more people keep pets, more and more people protect animal.

My artefact this time are the pictures of cute dogs. Just feel their strong power. If everyone love them, take care of them, everyone is a charity people. The world will filled with love.

This the best part of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony in my opinion. When i first saw this, i was consumingly convulsed. The idea was sooooo cool. This part was showing the stationery and the landscape in China from ancientry. It use a huge picture as the stage, and showed the crockery, bronze, and the other age-old’s things in China thousands years ago.

Then the dancer walked in to the picture, use their body as the brush, dancing and drawing. on the other stage there was a executant playing the Gu zheng, a kind of chinese musical instrument. The chinese music with the picture and the dance make up the final picture, a contracted landscape. So great.

This is a advertisement of Honda car, I think it is so perfect for it’s idea, although it takes 2 minutes, but i will pay attention to watch it. In my research, this AD has no stunt in it, every shot is ture. The producer took hundreds times of examinations, then the AD came out.

It uses the accessorys of a car to show the car’s capability, after the 2 minutes, the Honda was showing on the TV, bring forward the theme.

Director: Jan Svankmajer

Cast: Veronika Zilkova　Jan　Hartl

Footage: 125min

Year: 2000
 
Based on an old Czech folk tale.

Karel and Bozena are a married couple, and they desperately want a child. But it have been unable to conceive. One day, Karel is digging up an old tree stump when it occurs to him that the roots look a bit like a baby; He brings the stump home and carves it into the image of a child. They name their new child Otik. Bozena’s maternal longings transform the stump into a living creature with a monstrous appetite that can’t be met with baby formula. Otik begins eating stray animals and even people……

Jan Svankmajer was born in Prague, 4th September, 1934. He loved surrealist film from he was studing in the school. Then he studied the Europe puppet show, the living theatre, poem writing, and the film production, and so on. His artefacts always using any kinds of element: bread, wood, crockery and so on..

‘Little Otik’ is one of his famous films, it is not only a surrealist film, but also a animadvertion film, very bitingly and profundity. It reflect the human’s desire and the other relism issues. Everyone do everything in order to get what himself or herself want. Just like Karel in the film,  she always protect Otik, she knows Otik eating people clearly. And the girl in the film, she just care about the sex. And the father in the film, he hadn’t kill Otik, because he think Otik is his son, although Otik has no kin with him.

We can find the love and the seamy side of people in this film.

And Jan Svankmajer hadn’t use the high-tech of cartoon produce in this film, he just want to show the actual side and compact menu. He took a lot of close shot and close-up, just want to give the viewer to see the Otik clearly. Not just see Otik, but see the love and seamy side of people.

I think this film make me unhappy, but indubitability it’s a good film, for the way of production and the conceive of Jan Svankmajer.

I think the idea is from the life, every day living on the world, you must have so many things can make you happy, make you sad, and make you hard to forget. And there also have something is very normal in your life, they’re so normal so you always lose sight of them. But I think if I put them on the pictures, most people will like them, because they’re just beside you.

Just like when I came from China, I get on the flight in Shanghai airport, then 13 hours in the plane, i feel so difficult in my inner space, not sad, not happy, hard to say by word. Then I took the pictures of the sky, just think the world is so big or so small.

And my first Halloween day in UK, my friend told me it’s very interesting, everyone will make up, and they will go on street. And the children will knock your door and ask for candy. Then I make up myself and took my camera to the city centre, but there were almost no one there, I don’t know why, so the pictures of my halloween day is very longly, lonely taxi, longly street, so i change the street’s color to pink, just in order to make it warmer and more lovely. Afterward my friend told me that the reason why the street was so longly is the people were going to the club. Then my friend took me to the club.. I took some pictures there, it was hot and interesting there.

I think if you look at them from another side, they may become more interesting.

The below 15 pictures are the embodiment of my idea..

Place: Coventry, UK

Camera: Nikon D80

Tool: Photoshop CS2