BVA703 Research - Week 1

12/02/2020

Parasite is a surprise to be a best picture winner because it's an international film that won in the Oscars, a film awards that usually 'local' as described by Bong Joon-ho, the director of the Oscar-winning film, Parasite and critically acclaimed film, Snowpiercer.


Newton, S., Reed, C., Steward II, D., Toliver, K. R., & Young, M.A (Producers), Cherry, M. A., Downing Jr, E., & Smith, B.W. (Directors). (2019). Hair love [Motion picture]. Sony Pictures Animation; Matthew A. Cherry Entertainment.

Hair Love is a good feel-good animated short that proves that animation tends to express human emotion much more clearly than live-action. Like how the 1994 Lion King was better at that than the 2019 motion capture reboot.


Blanco, N.G. (Producers), & Bagnall, L. (Director). (2017). Late afternoon [Motion picture]. The Irish Film Board; Cartoon Saloon.

Late Afternoon is a stylistic, sentimental, and abstract expression of being at a very mature age and reminiscing innocence and the good old days. It could be a depiction of dementia or Alzheimer's from the perspective of the protagonist and the animation is sometimes like the protagonist has a floating head. It almost like a vibrant and optimistic exploration of the human condition, spirit, and mind.

Themes - love, the human condition, innocence



Mr Yellow. (2019, March 16). Animal behaviour 2018 1080p web nfb [Video file]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97vyLRr5Kgs

Animal Behavior is a funny short with mature and dark content and humor (mental health, discussions of sexual stuff, attempted murder, and cannibalism). I would not expect an adult short film would get nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animation Short Film because it's commonly child-friendly, G-rated short films. This short film has elements that reminds me of Creature Comforts, in the way it anthropomorphize animals into human society and situations and this in this case, it's in the form of a group therapy session.

It's dark and mature humour reminds me of Bojack Horseman.


Rim, G. (Producers), & Keane, G. (Director). (2017). Dear basketball [Motion picture]. Go90; Beileve Entertainment Group.

Dear Basketball is a touching love letter to the sport he loved and what it has meant to him from his childhood right then. A moving auto-biography in the form of a film by a man that will be sorely missed by the world and a story that will see itself as the stuff of legend for years to come. The pencil animation give this short great value, respect, and faithfulness to how Kobe expressed his love for the sport.

14/02/2020

Research class

We had our first class at the SIT Library, which i only found out at the last minute because I didn't get the message by email or text message like everyone else in my class. Possibly because I'm a graduate diploma student and there have been technical issues with graduate diploma students lately.


We were given a recap on the academic resources and databases available to us by a librarian at the SIT Library.

Open Access Books - not applicable to our course

ACM database (under the science research databases in MySIT - Library) could be useful to us

Film and Literature Index - database useful to us

We can borrow books from other SIT campuses (Auckland, Christchurch, MAINZ)

Inter-loaning books or articles (maximum of 4 to 5)

• Email SIT Library with your details and of the book and/or the article you request
• Fill out a form

Interloaning is free to SIT students and can be from public libraries, other polytechnic, and universities

Make sure your sources are up-to-date as possible.

You can take up to 20 books from the SIT Library

You can book a study room at the SIT Library for two hours to brainstorm on a whiteboard or practice for a presentation

- You can ask for a clicker when practicing for a presentation 

Research 'aspect ratio' or aspect ratio* on the Film and Television Literature Index 

Try using a thesaurus for a more specific or different word to your subject in searching on a online database

In EBSCO, select 'Limit to' options to limit the number of search results and to the type of source you are specifically looking for or is more useful to you.

Note the validity of your source in our blog

Limiting 'Publisher' and/or 'Publication is not recommended to use on EBSCO

Full Text is not reliable to cite because you cannot cite a page number like you can with a scanned PDF document. You have to instead cite the paragraph number in the Full Text version.

There will be EndNote tutorials at the SIT Library during lunchtimes in March

Afterwards, Kathryn tasked us with getting at least two books related to our research. Because of the big number of film and animation students, the aisle with books on film and animation was all packed and cramped. I couldn't find any books related to my research subject and so I searched the library catalogue. I ended up finding two books on documentary filmmaking and two books on climate change.

At the end of class, we met back at the downtown campus and Kathryn went over the course outline with us, especially concerning what is required for the first assessment.

A thesis is a stand-alone document, whereas a diathesis is a document that supports a body of work

Our dissertation will likely be uploaded to databases and will taken into industry. It demonstrates to the industry that you have knowledge in your field.

Practice-based research is a general process

Keywords to your research subject will help form your arguments

Keywords

• documentary
• climate change
• aspect ratio
• test audience
• cinematic

We will likely be editing at the end of the year, than writing and should have written 6,000 words words by then. Each assessment builds up to this.

We could do a whole paragraph on a practitioner, but it must be to support your project.

Internship

The image of Santa Claus is owned by Coca Cola. You can't trademark names or logos. Although, you can trademark a specific colour and font in logos.

If you're a freelance filmmaker or photographer, it's best to have public liability insurance. You can get it from insurance companies. We will explore copyright and IP in the future, plus other legalities and ethics.

There are at least ten practitioners or small businesses I could work as an intern in Invercargill
e.g. Ryan Campbell (weddings, funerals, social media), a drone guy, small businesses into content creation, SIT Productions

There are videographers that glorifies and sparkles up funerals with their work, which can seem bizarre and morbid.

The proposals to be well-designed and have images of the companies.
Tailor the web design of your portfolio website to how you would visually make work for potential employers.

Like in life, troubleshooting is part of working in the industry. However, if you are you passion about the industry, aspects you don't like in your job is very small in the bigger picture. It's an exciting time to be part of the creative industries.

It's a safe bet to send a copy of the presentation to your intern employer for approval

You have a breakdown in a showreel to show people which specific aspect you did. Showing the finished product will not work for you if more than just you completed specific shots. Maybe for cinematographers and colourists, you show the ungraded shot and then the final shot.

17/02/2020

Fitzgerald, J. (2012). Filmmaking for change: making films that transform the world. Michael Wiese Productions.

I spent time at the SIT Library in the afternoon and read Filmmaking for Change.

An Inconvenient Truth has been credited as being a milestone in climate change awareness and documentary filmmaking. Apparently it's up to the next generation of filmmaker to make films that influence change and still be profitable. The current economic model is broken and is in need to be re-defined for the sake of filmmaking.

Characters
Protagonists - Climate change movement
Antagonists - Climate deniers
The bridge between the protagonists and antagonists - Students and Government

Documentaries encouraging for change have influenced debates in the United States

• Supersize Me - public nutrition and affected McDonald's in some form.
• An Inconvenient Truth - debate subject in political campaigns

Wanting to spread information or a message you are passion about can be the beginning of developing a documentary.

Supersize Me was made with a budget of under $64,000, but it still managed to gross over $20 million worldwide

Films with a social change subject as of 2012 were in demand because audiences wanted answers to issues society and the world are facing and want to see people making a difference

For the first half of the 20th century, the documentary genre struggled to captivate audiences because it had very little screen time or limited opportunities for theatrical releases. All that changed through the introduction of television.

Hoop Dreams was originally meant to be a personal exploration of the protagonists, but the filmmakers discovered new hooks as they were filming them and focused more on the protagonist's journey. It took 10 years to film as a result.


Potential Logline:
A millennial's journey to make an effort in making a difference through spreading awareness on climate change in the community.

Standout documentaries premiered in film festivals

• Food, Inc
• An Inconvient Truth
• Enron:The Smartest Guys in the Room
• God Grew Tired of Us
• Super Size Me
• Born into Brothels
• Murderball
• Bowling for Columbine
• The Fog of War
• Iraq in Fragments

There is a hunger for truth and integrity about the world we live in, that's why audiences look to the documentary genre, it's all about trust.

Social documentary topics

• Education
• Environment (Ocean, Pollution, Nature Preservation)
• Human Rights
• Animal Rights
• War
• Health (Cancer, AIDS, Autism, TB, Depression, Obesity)
• Arts
• Politics
• International issues
• Children
• Homelessness 
• Water crisis
• Inspiration

Other key factors for a documentary

• Goals for the movie
• Audience
• Time commitment

You must ask yourself - Is the goal for a film festival (Show Me Shorts, Think and Create) or social media release (Vimeo).

As of 2012, HBO purchases 38 documentary feature films each year.

Make your distribution goal big, but still realistic.

18/02/2020

Batzias, N., Kaplan, A., & Whitwell, V. (Producers), & Gameau, D. (Director). (2019). 2040 [Motion picture]. Screen Australia; Good Thing Productions.

It starts with a comment on the film production's contribution to carbon emissions

Its use of VFX can explain the cause and effects of climate change better than I could envision a new documentary could be capable of.

The documentary is in 2.39:1 aspect ratio (anamorphic widescreen)

Tripod close up in X-Pro II mood lighting for interviewing primary school-aged students on the future of the world.

Microgrid of solar and renewable energy that can power an entire community. Individuals can trade the energy and profit from it, while at the same time powering the economy.

Each home would have a power box that connects to the microgrid, which needs batteries that would be cheap and recyclable.

The microgrid has proven successful in a village in Bangadesh. it enforces equality (housing, income, education).

The money governments spend on subsiding fossil fuels, could instead be invested in support and re-training for people who worked in the fossil fuels sector into new careers.

Driverless cars as a potential solution?

Mitsubishi prototype in 2019.

Artificial intelligence and on-demand transportation

It's estimated that there will be 1 billion cars by 2040, which will further contribute to carbon emissions.

Driverless cars are meant to dramatically decrease congestion and parking in cities, but the documentary doesn't explain on how that would work.

The resulting vacant car parks could make room for organic food production (the same goes for rooftops on high-rises) or low-cost sustainable housing.

This will be something that will take time (or even years) for society to adjust to. It would direct a more positive environment, rather than a negative one from carbon emissions.

The VFX in the film makes sense to its aesthetic because we're being given a glimpse into a potentially positive future

Less people driving cars that require petrol will mean little to no oil demand

We may see birds returning to high-populated cities with eco-friendly environments and public transport that would cost little to nothing.

The fossil fuel industry has spent $1 billion a year in preventing lowering our emissions and applying scaremongering tactics on social media and to the general public by spreading fake news and creating memes full of misinformation.

Oil giants pay organisations to spread fake news and misinformation on social media and create fake profiles ('bots') on social media to make it look like there is more climate change deniers than there really are. They use tactics like tobacco companies did.

Even if we went zero carbon, we would have to find a way to store the excess carbon dixoide in the atmosphere

This film has a similar structure that I have been considering for my documentary and could be a contribution to my project as an influence

A roll - Filmmaker exploring sustainable options / 2040 scenarios

B roll - Children on their thoughts (providing a consensus on their generation)

Colin Seis, a farmer in Victoria, Australia has been regenerative farming land since he lost his sheep farm in a wildfire in the 1970's. 

Seis produces plants that pulls carbon dioxide effectively out of the atmosphere and into the soil.

Pasturing land for agriculture has proven to be a bigger cause of climate change than burning fossil fuels, according to climate change researcher, Eric Toensmeier

The Pogue family in a quest to find worms in the soil on their farm (to use for fishing), found none and discovered that chemicals used on the land has harden the soil and brought the soil to poor quality.

Healthy soil is meant to have worms.

Poor soil also blocks the flow of water to allow crops to grow. 

To bring it back to scratch, they had to plant a variety of different plants in the same place because it draws more carbon back into the soil.

They also let cattle run amok into the crops because it worked for thousands of years, plus the cattle naturally get fed.

Cattle are not fed to consume grain and are meant to be fed on natural crops.

Meat should be produced from such regenerative practices on farmland and 'plant-life diets' should be enforced, which involves halving our daily intake of meat

"We can't mitigate climate change without agriculture, so we have to find ways, better ways for agriculture to become part of the solution, instead of part of the problem."

- Eric Toensmeier, climate change researcher


Personal dramatized future scene brings humour to the documentary.

Regenerative farming would more likely to become a thing if there is declining meat consumption.

Crops residue, grass, and food waste are healthier alternatives for animals to consume than soy or grain and may lead to better meat being produced.

Biog industry in agriculture only produces 20 percent of global crops, but still scares people off from regenerative farming.

Regenerative farming would decrease inequality by improving our health.

The film has the filmmaker comment how the journey or the subject has affected him.

Under the circumstances of the antagonists, it would understandably be difficult to have direct, tangible antagonists and have two sides in this documentary. 
It's not like a CEO of Big Oil is going to talk on a documentary like this.

The testimonials of children seem to be some sort of bridge transition into another angle or element of the documentary's subject.

I have 40 minutes left to watch of this 90 minute documentary

19/02/2020

Sitting in Screen Arts

In the first half of the 20th century, short films were for carnival folk and poor people, and feature films were for wealthy and high society.

La
It feels like moving image, but it uses stills with sound to give that illusion.

Vincent
Very dark and definitely a love letter to horror film star, Vincent Price. 
Vincent fantasizing dumping his aunt into wax for his wax museum was clearly referencing Vincent Price's film, House of Wax.

Short films are almost business cards for marketing a budding filmmaker' auteur style.

Sky Captain
I'm amazed it was created on a home computer and it definitely has elements of German Expressionism and the war film genre post-WWII, fashioned into a homage.
The city-space is clearly reminiscent of Metropolis.
The combination of live-action and CGI are definitely dated in this short film.

Alive in Joburg
The VFX are dated and looks like video game graphics from Half-Life 2, but it does seem to set up District 9 in some way.

One way the exhibitions can work

1st exhibition: pre production (test footage, treatment, concept sketches)
2nd exhibition: production (BTS?)
3rd exhibition: post-production (trailer)

2040 - cont.

The ocean temperatures are getting so warm that they are becoming a threat to life forms underwater

Wood Holes' solution is to grow seaweed on a recycled platform just under the ocean surface. The more the seaweed grows and gets heavier, the deeper the seaweed goes into the ocean. The platform is also connected to a pump that takes cold water from the deep parts of the ocean and directs it to the surface, which effectively helps the seaweed grow.
This is meant to cool down ocean temperatures and restore life beneath the ocean

It's amazing that this solution came from the same organisation that found the Titanic.

Seaweed can be used for many things like as food for humans and animals, fertilizer, fibre, and biofuel.

Wood Holes have trialed their seaweed method in the South Pacific with success. It has proven to improve the water quality and undersea life forms, and reductions in carbon dioxide on the ocean surface.

The seaweed could prove as an alternative if climate change affects food production and crops.

The seaweed solution could potentially create many jobs and support reducing meat consumption. Those employed could also be accommodated on decommissioned oil rigs.

The seaweed solution could also prove very helpful in oceans that are vulnerable to the worst effects of climate change like the Bay of Bengal and the eastern coast of Africa, which would also contribute potential economic benefits along with it.

In the Swedish city of Stockholm, methane form compost and rubbish is extracted to power public transport and agriculture.

www.whatsyour2040.com

The film comments in the ending credits on how they made up for this film contributing to carbon emissions.