Anime Convention filming: completed

So, we met up at the station around 9 AM and got there at about 10 or 11:40 AM.

(high angle view of a section of the anime expo.)
(Me and Zane, Zane on camera)


(Me with 'Iron Man')(A part of the line to the anime expo. all above pictures by Zane.)

We filmed almost everything that we needed to film i think, missing one or two shots. We accumulated about 21 minutes of film :D This is very good! I just hope that we got all that we needed, we can't film there again (at least not until some time in may...), i haven't been able to review the footage though. (The camera's battery went low and i cant charge it because the charger box, for some reason isn't working. It's... quite old.)

I'll call this a success, there were many other camera crews there too, which was exciting, we interviewed a few people, one of which said they were a writer, that was interesting. It was quite noisy, so i asked them all to shout at the camera, i dont know how that is going to come out though. It was very crowded and very hot inside, there was a sence of having to rush. We also took a lot of pictures that we can use instead of actual footage, e.g. instead of an establishing shot of the excel center, we have picture snap shots.

E.G Cut from this first picture to the second and the last= establishing shot



EDIT: While filming the line, it was quite dark, that might not come out to well, but Zane (on camera) said it was ok.

We asked the people we were interviewing these questions:

1.How much has anime/manga influenced you?
2.Do you think women in comics are portrayed fairly?
3.What do you think about comics and/or manga in general?

We also did the technique we were discussing about showing a comic book and looking at peoples reactions to it. I showed them a page from 'All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder' by Frank Miller and art by Jim lee.

All their answeres are on tape.

I think this is all i can say for now. I'll post the other parts of the storyboards next.

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Prop we used:

--Comic: All*Star: Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder (for some people to flick through and talk about).

Note!

Ok, filming tomorrow!

I'm nervous about being on camera, but hopefully, it will all be good :) It's all planned, and we have the whole day, and Zane told me about the rain, although i checked again and found out it was only light rain, but we'll see.


Thats all!

Wednesday Meeting:

Mirella, Zane, Mohammad and me had our meeting today, and we worked on a storyboard for the anime convention part, a plan of what we were going to do there, here is an extract of our meeting.
(Seen: Mirella, Me/Heard: Zane, Mohammad)



(Mohammad on storyboards)


(Mirella's original storyboard idea/plan)
Here is our storyboard/plan for Anime Con. (click for larger image)I believe i can safely say, none of us can draw.

1. I have contact from 'Forbidden Planet', I'll be communicating through e-mail with Mr Harrison, the Internet&Marketing manager later on after our plans for that part of the documentary are finalised. I'm going to give him details of what we want to do and he's going to help us with that. (They've even let the BBC film there.)

2. I have calamity's number, I'll need to call them and give them some dates we would like to film, they have already agreed to let us. (note to self: make little slips for them to sign)

3. It's decided that i shall be the presenter. I'm not too keen to get infront of the camera, but we have decided that i'm the best candidate. (don't click for larger image... please.)

DATES WE WANT:

4. Zane and Mohammed did the shot lists and some questions for us to ask.

To do list:
-finish the rest of our storyboards.
-make a post about the anciliary tasks.
-find out who to contact about asking permission to use commercial music.

I think this is it for now, might come back to add more.

Insisde out: London

I was watching a documentary, or rather TV show called 'Inside out' with Matthew Wright , and it was like a documentary except it was on a few topics, rather than one.

Monday, 19:30 on BBC One 26/10/2009
-Which wont be there long, but while it is, I'm going to leave it there as reference.

I watched parts on fat discrimination,

Swans on the themes,

And urban music.

A few things i liked, and will take into our group meeting tomorrow for storyboards/scripts.

1.There were full length shots of the presenter talking, but if not that, then the camera was at a slight angle, this was to make it somewhat more interestting to look at.

2.While people were taking, about whatever, a voice over cut in as the sound was muted a little, i like this technique, i think it's really for saving time, but it's something I've seen done quite a bit with my previous experience watching documentaries.

3. They had a lot of sources to show to the audience, lots of difference people on the screen, giving their say, their opinions, this is important to documentaries, it's not just a presenter talking to the audience. Much like in tokyology.

and this,


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So, were meeting on Wednesday to do the storyboarding, the script is going to be a little tricky, because our opening is mainly previews, we have a structure to follow,















(Click for larger view, blogger doesn't seem to be too kind to scans...)

And for my part of the work, here are some names i have for our documentary,

1. Women Con.
2. Women and Comics: A man's world?
3. Women in Comics

...and also for the company (our group name).

1. TrueCorp
2. ComicCorp
3.ViewFinder

We are under a bit of pressure here get everything done by the weekend to film on Saturday for anime con., which is a fantastic opportunity, and a great source to get sources (i.e. comic fans) from, because the comics community isn't so big now, it's mostly online or at comic shops, the former being slightly unreliable, and the later not too common, there are also, the conventions, which are annual e.g. Anime Con., Comic Con, Free Comic Book Day.

Update

I looked at the DC dashboard about Oracle, i thought these might be worth putting up. I think it would be a good idea to base some of my questions on these. (click to see larger)


As for conventions...

'Talking Heads
Talking heads are people interviewed to explain or comment on the text's subject. These people usually are shown in their offices (sometimes with a wall of books behind them) or in their homes. For example, Hearts and Minds includes interviews with both American and Vietnamese people to offer their perspectives on the war. Vernon, Florida also makes use of an interesting selection of talking heads.'

Which i found from this site: The Documentary Site

I also like the idea of 'Re-enactments', which i have seen in a few documentaries, but mostly in stuff like 'Crime Watch', which gives the audience a better understanding of the serious situation, like a film but the audience knows that it's real, this is quite effective, but not appropriate for my documentary.

Watching a documentary about easy jet, i was that for their cuts, or rather, transitions, there was a little easy jet plane that ran across the screen, which was amusing, and original to the documentary. i would like to have something like this for mine, i would like to use a transition that looks like a page is being turned over, i think this suits the theme of my documentary.

Report!

So, we went to Forbidden planet, and asked a few people open questions to get statements we could possibly use, took a few pictures and got a phone number to call and talk to about filming :D Quite happy about that. Here is what we found:

We asked...
Q. Do you think women in comics are portrayed unfairly? What about in manga?

People answered:
1. It depends on which comics... some treated like slaves... some a bit annoying.

2.They suck, the main characters... really busty, long hair, it's over emphasised.

3.It's a mixture, for example Storm- powerful, a good leader. In Marvel they are mostly Masculine, if not more so. In DC, there are characters like Raven, dangerous and dark. In terms of archetype probably seen differently, males would probably tend to read more comics with females in them, and females may tend to read more comics with males in them.

4.Slightly unequal.

5. Yes, not really.

6. Depends on the comics/manga, there are major characters and also weak characters.

7. In manga, like 'Vampire Knight' women seem to be dominated, always 'hot'.

(Top picture by Zane)

(Zane, Mohammed pictured at Forbidden Planet.)

We also asked a more specific question, it was surprisingly hard to find batman readers...
Q. What do you think about what happened to Batgirl?

1. No really fair, batman got crippled but he still came back to life. (Also used the example of Jason Todd, another 'bat' who 'came back'.) And women are still sexualised, but then so are the men, however it's not that fair.

2. She was a bit rubbish, but when she got crippled she got better as a character, she is remembered to be cooler than she really was. (He kind of described her as fangirl character, a 'wannabe'- I want to use it as one of the questions in my documentary.)

3. Not really a fan... she was the only woman in the 'batclan' and she got crippled, that sucks... even Jason Todd killed off by public voting, but came back (I asked what she thought about DC killing off Batman)... hope he comes back.

------

Now I have to talk to my group about filming dates, then call up John Harrison at the head office of Forbidden Planet and see what their terms are. We really need to get ready with a shot list and some questions to ask people at anime con. I really want to film there because it's a great opportunity, instead of just filming at comic shops.

--Regarding these answers, I think it would be more appropriate to have our documentary be about, whether there is an issue for women in comics, exploring that idea, I think it will turn out that way anyway.

Statues update.

1. I am working on a storyboard + shot list. (which i will scan in and put up)

(Top picture by Zane)

2.Going to visit Forbidden Planet on Saturday 17Th Oct with group.(check)
3. Wrote an e-mail asking for permission to film in advance.(check)
4. Some research into more documentary conventions + audience feedback.(check)
5. Come up with a voice-over skript + questions.

So, i've done n.o. 2, here is a print screen shot. (click for larger image)



And tomorrow i will update with some pictures from the actual place. I think i might have to pay some sort of charge maybe, I'm not too sure. Here is a virtual tour;





I already have permission from 'Calamity' my other comic book shop, and an interviewee.



And i also found this, which i really like, and might use in the beginning of my documentary.

Targets to Improve:

A list of things i think i need to improve on:

1. I need to do some deeper research: Go to the places i want to film, get some audience feed back etc.

2. Make my blog more visual and interactive: e.g. put up diagrams instead of lists.

3. Schedule my time efficiently, plan when to film, and how long it's going to take.

4. Analyse things, and extract what i want from them efficiently, e.g. research info, conventions from other documentaries i have looked at.

5. Draw a variety of angels in my storyboards, make them visually detailed and understandable.

6. Look at more documentaries, take aspects from them that i like and could possibly use, look at how they portray their desired mood e.g. from light hearted to serious simply by the change in music.

7. Get permission from 1. Forbidden planet 2. Comic and Book exchange shop in Notting hill gate 3. from the people i will be talking too. (Make permission slips)


This is what i need to do. At the moment i am getting on with my story boards, then coming up with a dialogue for my voice overs, and also coming up with a few specific questions to ask the people i'll be talking to.

Hello

-Notes from teacher.

• Blogs need to be made more interesting/interactive. (Note to self, less wordy, more visual and engaging.)
• Storyboards, more anamatic. (Note to self, learn to draw.)
• Show evidence of process. (Note to self, record conversations w/group on cam or something such.)
• Ummm... it would be interesting to do a commentary to put up, to *reflect* on our process.

Right, so we have been warned that it will be harder to get level 3/4 in A level, in AS only 13% of students got an A grade. I've been told i write essays, a lot, so this i mustn't do here. I just really also wanted to post this.




Yes, Batman does pay them.

This is a possitive side of comics, even though it's the old Batman TV show in the 50's. I however, am talking about the negative side. Barbara Gordon, as i have mentioned, was the original Batgirl (as seen in the vid) but was crippled and became Oracle, a stong character, but why did they cripple her? Even though they killed Jason Todd, they still brought him back stonger, despite being a bad guy, but i dont think what side they are on is the real matter.

My final individual presentation

EDIT:

So, this was my actual presentation, the link below is a sort of video of it, and there are print screens below that if the video can't be accessed.

(Should be viewable, i advise you to watch it on windows media player, wont work on quick time. If your on a mac however, then i'm not too sure. Google documents wouldn't let me upload this, and windows live took an infinity to upload, this was the only way i could get this up. )

MEDIA PRES MOVIE 1.wmv