The Reluctant Blogger

It's been nearly 50 years since the Planet of the Apes franchise first started, and although making sequels and prequels appears to be the norm nowadays, the prequel trilogy starring Andy Serkis in the role of Caesar may prove to be one of the most popular and successful reboots to date. Despite finally coming to the end of a brilliant new trilogy that tells the story of how the Planet of the Apes came to be, the third installment did in no way disappoint. War for the Planet of the Apes delivers an emotionally driven story that is accompanied by stunning cinematography, incredibly technical visual effects and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack composed by the amazing Michael Giacchino. Directed and co-written by Matt Reeves, the film delivers what everyone has been waiting for: the final battle between Apes and Humans. Having survived a disease that wiped out the majority of humankind in Rise of the Planet of the Apes , the remaining survivors are faced with a choice: to sp...

Desirably jam-packed with delightful intrigue and unnerving suspense, Apple Tree Yard combines the best of a psychological thriller, a heartfelt romance and the worst of human nature. MILD SPOILERS AHEAD! Although many viewers may find steamy encounters in secret closets a little much for their Sunday night viewing, Apple Tree Yard does deliver much more of a plot-line than a couple of raunchy scenes that one would generally expect to hold little narrative. However, this is not the case. Thankfully the series, based on the novel of the same name by Louise Doughty,  provides its viewers with a multi-layered plot which digs deeper and deeper until it seems practically impossible to uncover any more dark and troubling secrets. This is no ordinary love affair; b it by bit the plot twists and turns as a one-off encounter in the heat of the moment evolves into a nerve-wrecking scramble to hide the truth, therefore  unraveling  consequences of a horrifying nature. ...

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 ...

'When ships were made of wood, men were made of steel' In 1789, Captain William Bligh was cast adrift with 18 crew members on the Pacific Sea, having lost his ship to his mutinous crew. What happened afterwards is a legendary maritime feat of endurance and adventure. Now, 228 years later, Channel 4 has helped recreate that voyage with a crew of 9 men who intend to retrace and recreate the epic tale of the Mutiny on the Bounty . MILD SPOILERS AHEAD What is not mentioned, at least in the first episode, is why Bligh and his loyal crew were cast adrift in the first place. Captain Bligh was notorious for being a hard man, often too demanding and abusive towards his crew, and dealing out harsh punishments. It was this that led Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian and other crew members to act and take control of the ship. This documentary however, provides a more sympathetic view of Bligh's character and the hardships he faced after being forced off his ship and left for ...

To conclude: The style of stop-motion animation is extremely flexible. If the objects are being moved instead of being animated or manipulated it means that they can go anywhere within 2D space. The simple 2D drawings themselves are childlike in appearance but also in essence as they represent the most basic form of animation. Because of the physical involvement of having to use ones hands and fingertips to move every item bit by bit, frame by frame, it is like child's play. The animators hands set the tone of the film. Everything was done in a way that let the children steer the direction of the film by giving them open questions they were free to interpret as well as letting them express their ideas about the subject through art. The film depended entirely on their responses and the activities were carried out in a way that ensured they were comfortable and happy during the process. The initial audience for this film was children and the different animations, style and co...

For the main body of animation, extra drawings were created using both pen and paper and then digitally drawn in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet. After the drawings were made, the images were scanned into a computer and drawn over and coloured. The fill tool was used for the main bulk of colour, and then shading added. The drawings on the left were for the 'What Do Aliens Eat?" part of the film. The original idea was that the food drawings would appear as a tally chart every time the item was mentioned in the interviews. A 'ping' sound would then accompany it. However after second thoughts, another idea was had: 'A trolley in a supermarket moving along and the items falling off the shelf into the basket - perhaps with an alien pushing it down the aisle?' So, a supermarket aisle was drawn on half an A3 piece of paper. A single food item was drawn on each shelf.  Once the image was scanned in and opened in Photoshop, each item was coloured in and the...

The title sequence for the film 'What Kid's Think about UFO's' will consist of paper stop-motion animation, in which objects will be drawn onto paper, cut out and photographed frame by frame. Here are a few of the influences that inspired this: 1. Paper cut-outs - The drawings in this video are childlike and drawn with pencil. This is the effect the film title sequence should achieve but by adding a little extra colour and vibrancy, it should appeal more to children as well as make it more fun and engaging to watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbSbZDnsA-8 2. This film uses coloured paper cut-outs in the form of animated origami. The paper unfolds and refolds to create different shapes and sequences. Added fast paced music also helps to engage the audience and moves with the piece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJEBbs9X6s4 3. This animation uses tiny objects to create a short narrative such as pennys, pins and different fabrics. The use of sma...

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 imaginati...

Advanced Negotiated Pitch: What kids think of: UFO’s Intro: ‘What kids think of: UFO’s’ is a short documentary-style film asking a range of children what they think about aliens, using different styles of animation to illustrate and accentuate the narrative. The storyline will depend entirely on the children’s response as will the animation. Aims & Objectives: The main objective of this film is to give insight into a child’s mind through a fun subject, by working with a diverse range of young people using interviews and art activities; to research stop-motion animation methods via books and the internet; to test the results before applying them to the finished product. Research and Discussion: The title sequence will be created using paper stop-motion animation – also known as ‘cut-out animation’. This technique consists of making flat paper characters, props and backgrounds that are manoeuvred and simulated to create a simple animation by photographing each frame...

Production The reality sequences were filmed over two days in West Bromwich Central Public Library and The Pavilion Café in Stoke-on-Trent. These scenes made up the beginning and end of the film. THE LIBRARY In the library the character (Kim) introduces the audience to her world. Scenes of books and pages are shown, and a ghost-like  time-lapse  was created.   Extra sounds were recorded for the library scene in which Kim hears whispers coming from the books like the moment in Inkheart. We had to create a sign for the cafe as there isn't yet one at the library, which then cut to the location in Stoke. The library was really helpful when it came to filming, and the whole scene was shot in about 2 hours. THE CAFE The cafe scene was filmed on a different day to the library. In the cafe Kim meets the Barista, or Atsirab, and orders a cup of tea and a muffin. The timing for the shoot was limited and as we worked on the lighting outside les...

How it all started... Last year my sister wrote a 1000 word short story for the BBC Young Writer's competition. Meanwhile in university the current assignment was to create a short narrative film. At the time I was thinking of creating a half stop-motion animated short, and when I read my sister's story I found great potential. We then collaborated and created a script based on her original piece. In the interview below she talks about her inspirations and how she came up with the idea: Q1: How did you come up with the idea for Writer's Block? A1: Coming up with Writer’s Block was a funny process really. I was trying to come up with a story for a writing contest and nothing I came up with was good enough. I said to my mom I had writer’s block and being the sarcastic lady that she is she said to me "I've never been there, what's it like?" And I thought: ‘What if the Writer’s Block was a place!’ Q2: Were there any other novels, artworks ...