Skip to main content

What are UFO's: The Boy's Interview Process

The team decided to interview a range of children between the ages of 7 and 18 upon realising that a diverse choice would provide various answers and give more insight into a child's mind and imagination.

The team went in expecting the younger children to be more imaginative and flamboyant than the older kids. But what happened in the interviews turned out to be something quite different.

Each section was approached in a specific way:
Boys Brigade
   The Boys Brigade is a uniformed organisation that is made up of 4 sections:

  • Anchor boys (5-8 years old)
  • Junior (8-11 yrs)
  • Company (11-15 yrs)
  • Senior (15-18 yrs)
To cover a more diverse range of children, the team decided to interview boys from the junior and company sections, along with two senior members. The boys seemed quite happy to be interviewed, though some were shyer than others.

Since aliens and space is seen as a 'boys subject' it was thought that these kids would have much wilder and more imaginative ideas than the girls that had been interviewed. However, this wasn't quite the case.


 The boys were interviewed in pairs in the hope that this would allow them to bounce ideas off each other and draw the audience in further, as sometimes putting a kind of relationship on screen (such as friendship) can captivate the viewer more than one individual would be able to.

 The interviews took place with an adult volunteer present. The process was simple:

  1. Ask the boys if they knew why they were being interviewed and what the interview was about.
  2. Explain the film to them; what's included, how it will be put together etc.
  3. Have a small chat whilst the camera's being set up.
  4. Start the interview.
If an interviewer stands up and is above the interviewee's eyesight, then a sense of intimidation is instilled. So for the younger boys (ages 8-14), the interviewer sat on the floor at the side of the camera so that they were level to, or below, the boy's eyesight. 

The questions were asked one by one and the boys were given time to think before giving their answers. Some talked to each other and the team to explore their ideas further.

The most common ideas from the boys were that:
  • Aliens came from really, really far away
  • They eat metal or planets
  • The boys would take them to play laser tag, or to Nando's
There was a large age gap between the youngest boys (8) and the eldest (aged 18). In this case, the younger boys were more imaginative whereas the older ones seemed to reply more on logic and scientific facts and conspiracy theories.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hobbit - Defining the Look

A look into the use of lighting and colour to create emotion. Originally published in 1937, The Hobbit was written by J. R. R. Tolkien. It has since been made into a Trilogy by the film director Peter Jackson consisting of: The Unexpected Journey The Desolation of Smaug The Battle of the Five Armies What is most notable about these films is that they are very different to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Although set in the same universe of Middle Earth, there is a tangible contrast between them.  The Hobbit, some might say, is lighter, funnier and more suitable for children when compared with The Lord of the Rings. This being said, J. R. R. Tolkien did write the book for children and it was aimed at young readers around the ages of 9 and 10. One difference, for example, is the use of lighting and colour - which is used as a n extension of a particular character -  to provoke an emotional response from the audience. In general, the film is brightly lit,...
Post a Comment
Read more

STORYBOARDING: The Chess Player

A few months ago I was presented with the opportunity to create the storyboards for a student project at the University I had graduated from. Having always storyboarded my own projects, and used to drawing what I could see inside my own mind, I jumped at the chance to help visualise someone else's film. Everybody sees things differently. We imagine, we visualise in different ways. Maybe because our brains are wired differently, maybe because we all rely on different experiences or the things we've read. A wide shot to one person might be a close to another; or someone might prefer a high-angled birds eye view, whilst another a fish-eye lens effect. There are endless ways to visualise a story and we are all unique when it comes to this. So being tasked with aiding in the visualisation of someone else's film is by no means an easy feat. One must be able to see inside the director's mind, understand their vision and translate that into something that will reach and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kid's & UFO's: Title Sequence

Testing and creating the title sequence: To achieve a childlike style many different drawing styles were looked at to see which would appeal most to children and young adults. The detailed ones were fascinating to look at, however placing too much detail into a stop motion animation would clutter the screen. Simpler drawings with black outlines - similar to the style of Rachel Ryle - were more suited. Sketches were made and the colouring was tested. Felt-tip pens created too harsh a tone, whilst colouring crayons provided a softer layout that was pleasing to the eye. The title sequence for 'Kids and UFO's was made up of 147 different photographs. The basic idea was this: A girl in a rocket is launched into space from her back garden, flying past stars, planets, aliens and ufo's. The rocket then flies away to reveal the title of the film: 'Kids and UFOs'. Drawings were created on paper, coloured in using crayons and cut out. These were then placed on a col...
Post a Comment
Read more