A2, Resarch into similar products

Having finally figured out a way to upload multi-media files onto the blog, here is an example of the kind or product I am hoping to produce.

Trailer for 'Life', produced by BBC and Discovery:

In addtion to this, once 'Scribd' starts behaving, I will upload another Powerpoint presentaion outlining current progress and plans.

Doc 1: Nature's great events; The great tide.

Another new installment, seeing as I am creating a documentary trailer for my A2 project, I thought it would make sense to review some documentaries in order to appreciate how they are put together.

The first documentary I will review is an episode from the recent series; Nature's great events (BBC 2). Specifically, the final episode; The great tide.

Nature's great events is a wildlife documentary centered upon some of nature's greatest spectacles such as the Salmon run in North America or the great migrations of Africa.

To me, the most inspiring and influential episode was 'The Great Tide'. This hour long production features the migration of over 1 billion sardines along the coast of Africa and their struggles as they face the largest gathering of predators on Earth.

Narrated by the great Sir David Attenborough, this is a timeless piece that I have watched over and over again with a never diminishing enthusiasm.

The program centers around the plight of a shoal of sardines as it travels along the East coast of Africa, gradually, they join up with other shoals and become a vast school of over 1 billion fish. All this food is bound to attract attention... so much attention that it becomes arguably the largest gathering of predators in any one place.

The fish face an army of innumerable Sharks, Dolphins, Gannets and Seals. These predators all come together for a beautiful yet macabre under water massacre, Sharks and Dolphins attack from below, Gannets from the air and Seals from the shore prevent any chance of escape. The final few scenes almost resemble a sci-fi movie with the Gannets plunging into the sea at break neck speeds and Sharks writhing in and out of Dolphin squadrons. Filmed from planes, boats and divers, the action can be exquisitely viewed from all angles.

This program features some of the greatest filming and editing of any production on television.



It is this program that is the main reason for me choosing my A2 project, the dramatic sound tracks combined with the amazing camera work make a visually stunning masterpiece that is a true testament to the abilities of the BBC.

I highly recommend this program and the entire series to all and will continue to review documentaries of this genre in the future.

A2, Summary of project and progress

OK, well...over half of the allotted time has elapsed and now we are on the 'home straight' as far as the project is concerned. To mark this and to give a re-cap as to what is going on I am preparing a Powerpoint presentation detailing exactly how the project is going and evaluating current progress.

It is still in the making but should be uploaded to this blog by Thursday, closely followed by this months edition of 'The Pipeline'.

The presentaion will include:

• A summary of my chosen brief;
• Current filming progress;
• Current locations;
• Research into similar products;
• What I am aiming to achieve;
• Half way point evaluation;

I am hoping I wil be able to include the trailers from which I have taken my inspiration but that all depends upon the school computers at the time.

Thats all for now...up next (Within 30 mins), another film review.

A2, Post 12, Filming update

Hello and welcome back, hope you had a good Chrimbo etc... anyway...back to the good stuff:

In my last post I explained that my camera was not holding it's power after extensive charging, this problem has now been fixed and filming has resumed!

Since fixing the camera (A simple change of battery was all that was required), I have managed to film in a variety of locations including Blenhiem Palace, Foxfield Country Park and Oxford Aquatics Pet Outlet.

In addition, I have discovered that the camera on my new phone is capable of HD footage, once I have figured out a way to re-format the files for mac I will be able to raise the standard of all previous filming.

A2, Post 11, Filming update

Just a quick one this time,

The first major technical issue has been encountered;
>Basically, my camera no longer retains it's power after being put on charge, I'm hoping that the problem lies within the battery and not in the camera (Although the equipment is very old).
>As a temporary measure I'm using one of the school's cameras but hope to continue filming on the old cam ASAP.

In other news, posts will be few and far between for the next 2 weeks or so due to me going home for Christmas and having limited interent access. I will try to schedule some posts to keep you entertained (hopefully including a Christmas film quiz) but until then, Merry Christmas and see you next year!

The Pipeline: Vol 1, part b.

This is the second part of this week's pipeline where I will post the promotional posters for the releases mentioned in the previous post... Enjoy!

Cowboys and Aliens  

The Green Lantern

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Thor

Captain America: The first avenger

Cars 2

The Muppets

(As there is no promotional poster as of yet, I thought I would just publish a slab of nostalgia...ahhh, good times)

The Pipeline; Vol.1

This is the first of a new series of posts that will give short summaries of movies that are currently in production or scheduled for release, Some may also include my 'Cover judging' in which I make a judgment of the film based on the concept not a good way to review films, but it is a good excuse to exercise a few puns, the following is a list of new releases and I will go into detail on a few:

• Cowboys and Aliens (Rustling the former concepts of invasion);
• The Green Lantern (Should light the way for future action hero movies);
• The Chronicles of Narnia; Voyage of the Dawn Treader (another chapter to come out of the closet...well, wardrobe);
• Transformers; Dark of the moon (forever transforming the face of action movies);
• Thor (Buy a ticket and marvel at this action hero);
• Captain America (Should bring worldwide audiences to a united state of entertainment);
• Cars 2 (Racing to our cinemas within the nest 6 months);
• The Muppet's (Giving Statler and Waldorf more to complain about).

1. The near future (The next few months):
Pirates of the Caribbean 4

The 4th installment of the franchise and possibly the start of a second trilogy. The film is set after the first 3 and features Jack and the crew questing after the fountain of youth, however, little do they know that the feared and mighty Blackbeard has also joined the hunt! Jack and the crew must battle their way through fierce pirates, privateers, strange hostile waters and the full might of the British Empire!

Personally I think this film is a good idea as I love the PotC series. However, it also has to be done PERFECTLY as the franchise is in danger of overdoing it, especially as this is set to be the start of another trilogy.

Pirates of the Caribbean; On stranger tides is set for release on May 20th 2011.
The Pipeline; Vol 1, part b will be posted in the near future featuring promotional posters for most/all films mentioned.