Saturday, May 30, 2015

Cast

Detective : Leandra
- always wearing a suit, sunglasses and a detective hat
- always trying to hit on the woman
- has a cigarette behind his ear at all timese

Woman : Sydney
- wears a fur coat
- very emotional and in distress
-oblivious to detective's flirting

Colonel Reginal Young : Kenzie
- a drunk, not actually a colonel
- not important in society

Mr. Grey : Sydney
- knows who the detective is
- highly regarded doctor

Mrs. S : Konner
- sweet, kind school teacher
- really cheery

Extras:
Kid that passes out : Preston
Nurse : Quintin
People in the bar, class and waiting room : Preston, Konner, Sean, Kenzie, Quintin, Sydney

Summative Ideas

- A young detective uses drugs to solve crimes
- Beautiful woman comes to him, there is a murder (her husband???)
- The detective goes on several trips to find the murderer, going through the possible suspects
- At the end, he lines up the possible suspects and after a long period of suspense, he determines it is the butler
- But there is no butler?
- But it's always the butler?????? he says
- Someone asks him if he is even a real detective
- Has a flashback and realizes that on one of his trips, he read a lot of detective books and thought he was a detective

The detective is sitting in his office, smoking, when a woman runs in and starts saying she needs his help because her husband has been murdered. He says, "This sounds like a high profile investigation to me." She tells him who she is and he asks if there are any possible suspects, she says yes and gives him three suspects and a bit of background. The detective takes the case, and sets out to find Colonel Reginald Young. He finds him in a club and takes a tic tac when he sees him. Then, he starts talking to him and they end up dancing while he asks completely unrelated questions. He leaves the club and voiceover says "I gathered a lot of highly important evidence from Colonel Young, but I still needed more. Time to pay a visit to Mr. Grey." Mr. Grey is a doctor, so he sets an appointment with him and goes to the doctor's office. When it comes to the time of his appointment, he takes a TIC TAC (not drugs) and the nurse says, "Mr. Grey will see you now." Then he asks unrelated questions while getting a check up. After visit, voiceover "It was all becoming clear to me, but I still needed to visit Mrs.  to be sure." He finds her at school while pretending to be a student in class. He takes a tic tac and offers one to the kid beside him, who takes one and passes out. He then questions the suspect by raising his hand and asking questions. Voiceover, "I finally figured it out." Detective gathers the 3 suspects and the woman,

Script

B&W
(The detective is sitting in his office, smoking, when a woman runs in)
Voice over: I remember the day she came in like it was yesterday...
Woman: Detective! I need your help!
Detective: Well, you know I'd do anything to help a fine lady in distress.
W: (crying) My husband was murdered, you need to help me find the killer!
D: Well, this sounds like a high profile investigation to me. (takes off sunglasses and winks)
(Detective comforting woman and talking silently during voice-over)
V: She clearly needed the help of a real man, so of course I would consider her case. She told me her name was June, and she had been with her husband Richard for 3 years, until he was brutally murdered in their home last night. When I asked if there was anyone she suspected, she said:
W: (whispers) Well that's why I'm here, it could have only been 3 people. But I need your help to investigate them secretly. (hands over a list)
V: We discussed the shady characters on the list for a short time, and I told her I would take the case.
W: Oh thank you so much! (hugs detective, then leaves)
D: Time to get to work. (takes cigarette out from behind his ear and gets up)
(him walking to the club)
V: First on the list was Colonel Reginald Young, a self titled Colonel with a reputation for hanging out in bars on the daily. With any luck, I would find him here. (walks into bar)
D: (whispers to self) Just as I suspected... (takes out tic tac box, zoom in on that, takes a tic tac)
COLOUR
(walks up to Young) Would you care for a dance? (pulls him onto dance floor)
D: (whispers into his ear while slow dancing) Have you, by chance, ever used a butter knife before?
Colonel Young: Oh my God, I have. How did you know?
D: Nevermind that, the real question is, what is your favorite way to eat chicken?
CY: I think... chicken wings...
D: I just have one more question for you, and I need you to answer honestly Colonel. Would you ever use the word swag unironically?
CY: Well...yes...I might... (breaks down and cries)
(detective leaves bar)
V: I gathered a lot of highly important evidence from Colonel Young, but I still needed more. It was time to pay a visit to Mr. Grey.
(detective on the phone)
B&W
V: Mr. Grey, suspect number two, is a doctor, so I decided to set an appointment for questioning. Plus, I could also use a check up.
(gets out of car and walks into doctor’s office, sits in chair and takes a tic tac)
COLOUR
Nurse: Mr. Grey will see you now...
(walks into doctor's office)
Mr. Grey: Hello sir, please, take a seat in the chair. How are you feeling today?
D: No, Mr. Grey, how are you feeling today?
G: (lowers voice) Don't think I don't know why you're really here, detective.
D: Is that so? In that case, I'm sure you wouldn't mind answering a few simple questions.
G: Of course not.
D: Good, good. Now, are you a cat person or a dog person?
G: I guess a dog person.
D: I see. Honestly now Mr. Grey, if you were in a room made entirely of twinkies, what would you do? You can take a second to think about this one if you need.
G: Well, I think I'd...make myself a nice caesar salad.
D: I thought so... This is an important one here, so answer carefully. Mr. Grey, if you were a worm, how long would you be?
G: This is ridiculous and a waste of my time detective.
D: But I know you know the answer.
(camera zooms in on his face)
G: Well, some would see it as a measly 3 and a half inches, but I know for a fact I'd be a solid 5.
D: I couldn't agree more.
B&W
(detective leaves doctors office)
V: I was starting to see the big picture here, but I still needed a little more information to be sure. Thankfully, there was one more person on the list, Mrs. S. She was a young high school teacher, and I figured I'd have no problem fitting in in her class.
(enters classroom and sits at a desk, takes a tic tac then offers one to the kid beside him, who takes it and starts acting weird)
COLOUR
Mrs. S: (infront of a chalkboard) Hi guys! We have a new student in our class today! Everyone, this is-
D: That's enough about me.
S: Ok... well... is there anything you guys would like to ask our new friend?
D: I believe I'll be asking the questions around here, Mrs. S.
S: But-
D: No buts. Just think about this, what is a word that rhymes with test?
S: Um chest?
D: Ah yes ok. Tell me, what is the last fuzzy thing you touched?
S: I guess my cat?
D: Just as I suspected. Now I will not bother you for much longer, I just need to know, what is the longest you’ve gone without taking a bath?
S: I can’t tell you that!
(kid that took tic tac passes out)
S: Oh my god!
D: I believe it's time for me to leave.
B&W
(leaves classroom)
V: It was finally clear to me, I had cracked the case. Now I just needed to get them all together and break the news.
(Colonel Reginald Young, Mr. Grey and Mrs. S. standing in creepy basement looking confused)
(detective and woman walking together)
W: (holding detective's arm) Do you know who it was?
D: Don't worry, I've got it all figured out.
(they enter the basement)
D: Hello. I've gathered you all here today because I've figured out who commited the murder of Richard Applegate. After reviewing the evidence I have put together, I can see it clearly...
(silence)
D: It was... the butler.
Mr. Grey: Uh... none of us are butlers...
D: What? I could have sworn it was always the butler!
Mrs. S. : Are you even a real detective?
D: Uh well...
COLOUR
(has flashback to him sitting on the floor with stacks of books, reading one called "Sherlock Holmes : The Butler Strikes Again")
D: (looks up) I should be a detective.
(back to reality)
B&W
D: No, no I don't think I am.
W: Wait, then how did you get that suit and the detective office?
D: You know, that sounds to me like a mystery for a real detective.
(takes TIC TAC and leaves)
(everything fades away in colour)




The Corporation Questions

1 ) What is the principal purpose of this documentary?
The purpose of this documentary is to enlighten people on some of the hidden dangers and evils of our modern day corporation. It was made to reveal some little known secrets and, using facts, to hopefully sway ones opinion of the “good intentions” of large businesses. Instead of helping cover up or push aside issues like these, this documentary is making them clear as day, and forcing viewers to actually think of the consequences and dangers of where the corporations are heading.

2) What does the film critique? How do you know that?
This film critiques not the idea of corporations themselves, but the way that they have evolved to be sources of income for greedy humans with no remorse for their implications in society. It critiques the ways in which corporations do not care for society the way they imply that they do, but rather let nothing stand in the way of their own money making progress. I know this because the film is full of many people who provide facts and evidence to back up this statement, giving real statistics and interviewing people who have lived and worked in the midst of these schemes.

3) What methods did the filmmaker use to increase public awareness about Corporate responsibility and affect people’s beliefs and behavior?
They tried to use companies that we see around us every day and use famous people who are influential to us to make the public realize how much this actually affects each of us. They also talked about child labor and tough work conditions for small amounts of money to make things that many of us own, which is something of a sore spot to us Canadians. Another big issue the movie brings up is that corporations contribute greatly to environmental issues, leaving many horrible consequences for future generations to come. They try to show the future implications of letting the corporations have so much control, and how soon, we will all be under their power.  

4) Which methods of theirs did you think were most effective in supporting their position on corporate responsibility. Why?
I liked the way that rather than having every speaker be completely biased with an opinion against the corporation, they presented more of the facts of both sides, with a little extra for the side against. For me personally, this made it more believable and it made it seem like you really were getting the full story and making your own opinion. I also liked how they talked about the corporation as a person, and made us more aware of how we see corporations as people in our society kind of like us, when in reality, it’s just a bunch of people trying to make money off society’s naivety.

5) Did you have any issues with this documentary? What were some parts that you did not agree with, or question. Why?
I thought this documentary was really well done and there was evidently a lot of research put into this. I don’t feel like this movie was trying to condemn the corporation, just give people some of the inside facts on how the corporations take advantage of us and how most of what they do are for money. I didn’t feel like this film was forcing an opinion down your throat, just explaining how they see corporations and giving good, solid reasons why. It did get a bit boring at some points, but otherwise it was a good, informative movie.

6) Describe another film you have watched that had an impact on your values. How and why did that happen?
I've never really watched a movie that has changed my values, but I guess there are some influential books I have read that have changed my views. The one I can remember most is the book Eat & Run, which was a book about changing your lifestyle to eat and run better. One of the biggest lessons it taught me was that if you believe you can do it, you can. I never realized before that book how much power my mind does have in things like running really long distances. It also changed my views on eating, and the things that I was putting in my body just because it was easier than making something more healthy.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Animation Reflection

Technical: I have never animated anything before, except on the little sticky notes when I was a kid. I can see the similarities, but using Photoshop on the computer is much more complex. I have a new appreciation for animators and the process of animation, since it took me over a week to animate a one second video, so the process of animating a 2 hour movie must be incredibly difficult.

Idea or Concept: I really had no idea what I wanted to do, except that I really wanted the ball to be food. I was hoping to do a more squishy type of ball, but it was cool to explore the way a hard object would bounce differently than a softer one. My idea was the same once I decided on a cookie bouncing into someone's mouth, I just added different things like the background and the mouth closing as I went along.

Influences: I literally had zero influences for this, and I usually never do so probably it's safe to take this question off the reflection because I'm just wasting space here so I'll meet the one page requirement but if you want to leave it then I guess I'll continue pretending I am saying something useful here.

Composition: I tried to make everything look like it all fit together and I tried to choose colors that look nice together and don't clash. It did end up looking a little busy for my taste, but I think I did an alright job.

Motivation: For once, I actually was kind of motivated to do this project because seeing the animation move that I made myself was pretty encouraging and cool. I mostly liked doing the actual animation of the cookie rather than the background and foreground, but I was honestly really happy with how it turned out and I didn't mortally hate this project as much as I did the other ones.

Critical Assessment: I actually really liked how this turned out and how actually cool it looks, considering I made it with zero knowledge of animation whatsoever. I was surprised at how many tiny components come together to make an animation, and like I said already, if it took me that long and that much work for one second, I can't begin to imagine 1 or 2 hours. If there's anything I would do better, it would be to find better and more exciting sound effects for the cookie. I would have also liked to shade more things and make everything look a bit nicer, but by the end I was getting a little impatient and decided not to. Overall, I'm actually pretty happy with how this turned out.

Side note: I definitely had crunching sounds when the cookie hits the counter, however they disappeared when I uploaded the video, but they show up on Photoshop. Not sure what happened here?

Animator Biography

Matt Groening

Matt Groening, an American cartoonist and animator, was born in 1954 in Portland, Oregon. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell, and the two very famous television series: The Simpsons and Futurama. The Simpsons, created in 1989, was very successful and has become America's longest running animated series and sitcom. But before his immense success, Groening moved to Los Angeles in 1977, where endured a series of lousy jobs, including an extra in a movie, busing tables, washing dishes in an old age home, clerking and chauffeuring a retired director.

His first taste of success was in 1978, when he made his first professional cartoon sale of Life in Hell to Wet magazine, and soon after, his cartoon was being published in 250 weekly newspapers. In 1985, Groening was asked to work in animation for the Fox show The Tracey Ullman Show. It was here where he came up with the Simpsons family, which has now aired 574 episodes to date. In 1999, he and David Cohen developed the animated show Futurama, which ran until September 4th 2013. He is now 61 years old and continues to make new Simpsons episodes weekly.

Cookie Animation


Friday, May 8, 2015

Video Game Reflection

Technical: I used an entirely new program to me, Adobe Flash which was something I had never even touched on before. I had to change the components of the game, like the bird and the pipes of flappy bird, as well as experiment with the background and the texts of my game. I had to figure out everything in this program and nothing made sense to me at the beginning, so it made the project a lot harder.

Idea or Concept: My idea had to do with unequal wealth distribution, mostly in first-world countries, mostly dealing with the concept that the rich keep getting richer, while the poor keep getting poorer. I wanted to show that although there is enough money and food for everyone in Canada to live comfortably, the rich only want to invest and use their money in places that will allow them to get richer, rather than give to the poor. My idea stayed basically the same during the game, except I had to come up with different backgrounds and some of the text ideas changed.

Influences: I didn't have any influences for this game at all, it was purely imagination for me.

Composition: I tried to use colors that went well together, and I tried hard to make the text stand out, while still using only minimal colors to make it look more professional. I tried my best to make everything look similar and pleasing to the eye.

Motivation: I literally had no desire to do anything most of the time, considering I had no clue what I was doing. This made it very hard for me to enjoy, plan how, and want to do this project. But in the end, it was pretty cool to finish this project and see the end product as a full video game that I had made myself. Otherwise, it was very hard to make myself want to do this project at all and I found myself complaining every day.

Critical Assessment: I feel like the game itself turned out pretty cool and it portrays the message I wanted to send quite well. I also really like the look of the home screen, I like the way it works together and how it turned out. I was surprised at first that we made the game using an already made template, because I expected to make one from scratch, but I'm glad we didn't. I was also surprised at how hard it was to format everything, I thought that it would be easier to get rid of backgrounds and things like that. If there is one thing I want to do better, it's pick a more video game font, but that was the last of my concerns as the deadline came up. I also wish I could have put the rich man at the end of the game.

Click here for game <----- this isn't working for me????

Video Game Brainstorming

Theme: People vs. Material Worth
Idea: Match clothes/appearance to a type of vehicle

Theme: Unhealthy diets
Idea: A burger as the flappy bird going through healthy foods like carrots and celery, if you win then the burger goes into a person's mouth.

Theme: Unequal wealth distribution
Idea: Money going through poor people reaching up for it, but if you win then it goes into a man in a business suit

I want to pick my unequal wealth distribution idea, because I think that this is a really big problem in our society. The rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. And although the poor work very hard to get their money, a lot of the time it ends up straight in the rich man's hand.

I will change:

1) The instruction screen background : Money bills covering the background
2) The game background: poverty scenes, sandy ground, unless you make it to the end which turns into a bunch of gold coins stacked beside the rich man
3) The bird: a money bag
4) The pipes: poor people reaching for the money
5) Fonts/ Game messages :
- Instructions: You are the government, give the money to someone who will help you out later
6) The lose screen: Oh no! You've given money to the poor, what's in that for you?

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Facebook Profile Brainstorm

Ideas:
Racing: A picture of me in my car, as the camera screen and the background is a camera taking a picture of me
Cats : Me reaching up while a cat paws at me

Final:


Thursday, April 16, 2015

Toy Hack Reflection

1) My toy represents the many masks and costumes we put on as people to cover up our true selves and fit in. Here, the dog has put on a rabbit costume, with whiskers, duck feet and patches and a pig patch, yet his true self is showing through by the rip in his stomach, his tail and his face. Like us, we sometimes try to patch together different personalities and ideals that aren't our own so we can fit in with others. But when we do that, we start to look ridiculous and we begin to fall apart, like the dog is pretending to be like other animals, but has to keep himself together with messy patches. Instead, we should be working on just being ourselves and taking off our costumes, which would look much better.

3 things to do better:
First, I would have liked to have the batteries for the voice box, especially if it was a dog barking, because it would have represented my theme even more because although you're not sure what this animal is, it's true form still shows through. I would have also liked to do a better sewing job on the head, but it was my first job and I wasn't used to it yet. Finally, I think I should have mixed more styles of toys instead of just stuffed animals

3 things I like:
I like the way it's still cute and attractive to kids even though it's a hybrid of many animals and a lot of others look really creepy. Plus, I like the way the duck feet turned out looking like they could really have been a part of the bunny's body originally, my sewing job wasn't too bad. Finally, I like the way it all kind of fits together in the end, and I think the message could be guessed without me explaining it

3 things to do with more time:
I would have had more animal parts to add, like a horn or different paws. Next, although this would have taken some sewing skills, it would have been cool to make the costume removable so as to teach a lesson to kids that you can take off your costume and you look a lot better just as yourself anyways. Also, I would have liked to find a way to make my project interactive

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Art Movie Reflection

Leandra Urbanek
Title: Beware
Medium: Technology
Date: April 10th 2015

Technical: In this project, I used Adobe Premiere Pro, which was new to me. Although I have used video editing programs before, this one was much more complex, with many more options. I learned how to use this program to put videos together, put effects on them, insert new sounds and music, and how to make it all go together nicely.

Idea or Concept: For my idea, I really stuck with the same thing as my original idea, making the man open the locker and then having disaster strike after, like the temperature going up, the baby going down the stairs, and just any scene of chaos I could get from the clips. I added bits of extra pieces like eye close ups, and static at the end, and I took out the building exploding at the end. Otherwise, everything from my original plan was almost exactly as I planned it in my head in the beginning.

Influences: I did watch some of “The Tree of Life” movie to give me some ideas on how an art movie actually works. I also had the horror movie ‘Sinister’ in mind and the way it uses videos taken by someone of murders being discovered, which was what gave me the idea of using a video camera in the first place.

Composition: I tried to make everything look like they came from the same movie and time, using all black and white and also some noise and grain. I also changed the movement between the videos, sometimes making a smooth transition, while other times it was a choppy one. This helped give it the effect I was looking for at that moment, like nervousness for the choppy parts and a bit more calm in the smooth parts.

Motivation: If I’m being 100% honest, I had to work up a lot of motivation to do this project because art movies are most definitely not my thing. I didn’t really get the idea of watching one, let alone making my own, so I never really got the knack of it. It was kind of cool to see my work go from an idea in my head to a real video, but it really was not a project I enjoyed.

Critical Assessment: I feel like the part with the camera in between each shot turned out looking pretty good, and it really adds to the rest of the video. I also like the music I found, I thought it fit nicely with the video and it gave it a sinister feeling and invokes a sense of anticipation to what will happen next. For me, I was surprised at how easily everything did come together in a whole video, and how, using the endless effects and options, anyone could make a really nice video using this program. If I had more time and knowledge, I think I would have made the ending with the static go a little smoother, and I would have worked on the effects more in detail.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

My Art Movie

My favorite part of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is the way the man looks behind him many times, it would be a good place to insert the idea of something other than another person following him.

My favorite part of Metropolis is the men being thrown out of the exploding building, I think it would be a good clip to work with.

My favorite part of Potemkin is the lady screaming when she has broken glasses and a bloody face.

For my movie, I really want to do something along the lines of horror. I was thinking that it would start with the man in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid when he suspiciously opens the locker in Union Station. Then after he does that, I want to show a scene of people walking. Then, I'll put in some clips like candles in the dark and clouds over the moon, along with thunder sounds to indicate something has happened. Then, the man looking over his newspaper, followed by the chaos scene on the steps from Potemkin and the bloody person screaming. Next, there will be several quick scenes of the man looking behind him in a row. Then, lots of scenes of things going wrong, like the temperature meter going up, the baby going down the stairs, the lady lying on the street, the person in Metropolis freaking out, with shots of a camera in between. I want to end with the building in Metropolis exploding, then black/represent the video stops working.


Certain parts will have a camera recording overlay like this

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Hero Questions



1. One way this movie is an art movie is the way that the storyline  is not told in the order of beginning, middle and end, but it progresses using flashbacks - usually showing things that happened near the end, at the beginning and showing earlier events near the end.  This movie is also quite confusing to watch, especially since the flashbacks switch between the Nameless’ made up story and memories, the emperor’s perception of the story and even Broken Sword’s memories. Finally, the movie takes on a very serious tone, with no humorous parts throughout the film which is another quality of an art movie.


2. One big thing that makes this movie more suitable for a general audience is that while the story may not be told in order, there is in fact a beginning, middle and end, so it is easier to understand than a full art movie. This movie is also not as abstract as an art movie might be, and it does not leave a lot of the storyline up for your interpretation, which is closer to a regular movie. Finally, this movie does not look too low-budget and the special effects are quite well done and pleasing to the eye.


3. This movie really wasn't my kind of movie and I’m not sure I would watch it again. Since movie was set to look like something that could have actually happened, the unrealistic flying and walking on water in the fight scenes really bothered me and I found they looked ridiculous. The storyline was interesting and well done, but personally, I like to watch movies because of the brainless entertainment because if I did want to think and figure things out, I would do homework or read a thought provoking book. Maybe it’s because I’m not used to such movies, but the style of this movie wasn't really appealing to me.

4. The Golden Forest: The yellows of the leaves help to draw the attention of the viewer and almost wake you up. Out of all the scenes, this is the one I can picture most vividly in my mind and it helps to distinguish this scene from the others. Also, the way the leaves turn red helps clarify the death of the assistant, using the color of blood and anger.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Encounters With More Than Just Canada


Encounters With More Than Just Canada
Media Arts Assignment #1

It’s a life-changing experience, they said, you won’t come back the same person. Of course they say that, I thought, but I’m sure it can’t be that incredible. Yet as I handed in that form, I’ll admit I was a lot more than excited. The Law Week of Encounters With Canada didn’t seem like anything enlightening or inspiring, but it did seem like a lot of fun and it offered the extra bonus of a week off school. So of course I took the opportunity, but I never did expect it would be something so important to me, and something that made me grow so much as a person.

It started off with the train ride, the part that Anna - my friend who also went on the trip - and I definitely thought would be the best. On one hand, it was such a liberating experience, boarding a train all on our own to go somewhere so far away from our parents, and stopping in Toronto to visit the CN tower was great. But, we had no clue what other amazing stuff waited ahead of us in the heart of our capital city, Ottawa. When we first got to the building that would be our home for the next week, we were beyond nervous. All these new people, different food and beds, and worst of all, we were in separate dorm rooms. But before the day was even over, we had already made two new friends, Devon from Quebec and Andrew from Newfoundland, who would soon help us form our self-proclaimed squad. By the end of the week, we had met so many people from all over the country that we could hardly keep track, and we even made two more additions to our squad of long-lasting friendships : Will from Newfoundland and Bennett from Alberta.

As if the amazing people weren’t enough, we had so many opportunities during that short week. Instead of just sitting and listening to a lot of presentations like I expected, we went on tons of bus trips to different places like question period at Parliament Hill, Supreme Court, the Ottawa Jail Hostel, museums, malls, and so much more. Every single moment there was fun packed, exciting and eye-opening. We learned so much, not just about law, but about the culture of our country and the differences between each province and territory. I had never realized how much more there was for me outside of small-time Bruce County, and how much I had to look forward to. But of course, after no time at all, this crazy, adventure packed week was over. But before we left, there was a big circle talk with only the students, where each person passed a stick around and talked about their experience, where shy people spoke out and everyone had their final moments of bonding. It was the perfect end to a perfect week. The end was filled with heartfelt goodbyes, and I realized how attached I had become to this place and to these people, in such a short time. And after the tears had passed and I arrived home, staring at the countless pictures I took, I realized that the world had been opened up to me in a completely new way and I had in fact, returned a different person.