Having followed on on Thursday and spoken in more depth with Chris during a tutorial, as to how to go about researching it, and what each of my chapters in the proposal should be about.
The first chapter will be based on the History of South Park and other animated shows that may have sparked controversy, such as Simpsons, Family Guy and King of the Hill, and why such shows can get away with what they do (mainly as they are animated, it is easier to get away with being offensive as it is fictional drawn characters doing the talking) but obviously a lot of research will be going into that.
The second chapter, I am going to talk about regression and the concept of it. And also go into detail in the controversies and even the taboos that the shows creators have broken, and how and why they have done this. Also, why they keep pushing the boundaries further and further. Many people have complained that it warps their children's minds if they watch the show (despite it being rated 15/18 so they shouldn't be watching anyway) and one of my favourite quotes regarding this is from South Park co-creator Matt Stone:
"KIDS ARE NOT nice, innocent, flower-loving little rainbow
children;
Kids are all little bastards: they don't have any kind of social tact or
etiquette, they're just complete little raging bastards."
This was said in response to people complaining about their children and what this new cartoon does to them, which I think is a brilliant response, yet also again, displaying signs of controversy about the show. Is he referring to children in general, or the four 8 year old kids he's created in his show? Or maybe even both?
The third chapter will be a case study, where I focus on a couple of episodes of South Park, and talk about my main subject of controversy and taboo. I have already decided which 2 episodes I will do, being the 2-part 200th episode special, cleverly titled '200' and '201'. In these episodes, Matt and Trey decided they would make fun of every single person they have in the past, mainly celebrities. However they have become known as being the most controversial episodes of all time, having been banned from Public Access and even Cable television in the United States and United Kingdom, only available on either their website, southparkstudios.com or via DVD format. This is because the whole premise of both episodes was about the prophet Mohammed, and how they wanted to show his image, which is obviously not allowed within the Muslim community.
It raised so many questions and controversies, it is by far the best thing to talk about for my case study.
As my research progresses, I shall post up here what I find out.
Sunday, 22 September 2013
Professional Practice - Dissertation Proposal
After our initial lecture last week with Chris Hunt, he taught us how to properly research, and helped us come up with ideas for what we could do our dissertation proposals on, so we can then follow through and transfer our proposals into our actual dissertations for when we start our 3rd year next year.
Having had no idea what I wanted to do, it narrowed it down when it was confirmed it needed to be Broadcast related (obviously!)
Chris told us it is good to write about something you are passionate about, but at the same time where a lot of deeper research could go into it then you have ever done before in a particular subject, which is where I came up with my idea.
It hasn't got a distinct name yet, but I wanted to do the Controversies behind the Animated TV Show - South Park.
The creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, are known as too of the most controversial celebrities in the world, having made fun of in their show and in their films, almost every single group in the world, ranging from other celebrities, muslims, jews, rednecks, christians, scientologists - you name it, they've made fun of them!
Despite this as well, and the amount of abuse, death threat letters and the such that they receive, Matt and Trey continue to push the boundaries more and more, having each series, (and the show has ran for 18 years now) more and more offensive and controversial as time goes on.
I feel there is a lot I could write about in regards to this subject, so the research into it begins. Chris told me I should start watching South Park in a different way, taking notes as I go along, so I am going to start doing so whenever my favourite television show goes on :)
Having had no idea what I wanted to do, it narrowed it down when it was confirmed it needed to be Broadcast related (obviously!)
Chris told us it is good to write about something you are passionate about, but at the same time where a lot of deeper research could go into it then you have ever done before in a particular subject, which is where I came up with my idea.
It hasn't got a distinct name yet, but I wanted to do the Controversies behind the Animated TV Show - South Park.
The creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, are known as too of the most controversial celebrities in the world, having made fun of in their show and in their films, almost every single group in the world, ranging from other celebrities, muslims, jews, rednecks, christians, scientologists - you name it, they've made fun of them!
Despite this as well, and the amount of abuse, death threat letters and the such that they receive, Matt and Trey continue to push the boundaries more and more, having each series, (and the show has ran for 18 years now) more and more offensive and controversial as time goes on.
I feel there is a lot I could write about in regards to this subject, so the research into it begins. Chris told me I should start watching South Park in a different way, taking notes as I go along, so I am going to start doing so whenever my favourite television show goes on :)
Professional Practice - Work Commission
While trying to find what to do for my Work Experience or Commission, I had a few leads which could have ended well.
Freemantle Media was a possibility, having been in contact with a lady who works there after working on Take Me Out last year. Sadly this fell through.
However, I was approached by my father's business partner, Arnoud Denooy, who wanted to commission me to come out to Africa, and shoot a promotional video for his Telecommunications company 'Gearholdings'. He also wants me to make a video for a new company his brother and he have set up, 'The Nameless Foundation'. They have gathered together top writers, illustrators, poets and photographers from 12 African Countries, and they wanted a video to get an overall feel of what they are trying to do and achieve as a company.
This works alongside my Professional Practice, and I am now definitely doing it for my work placement/commission project. I am very much looking forward to it, and I shall bring more details as they come, and as I research into each of the companies.
Freemantle Media was a possibility, having been in contact with a lady who works there after working on Take Me Out last year. Sadly this fell through.
However, I was approached by my father's business partner, Arnoud Denooy, who wanted to commission me to come out to Africa, and shoot a promotional video for his Telecommunications company 'Gearholdings'. He also wants me to make a video for a new company his brother and he have set up, 'The Nameless Foundation'. They have gathered together top writers, illustrators, poets and photographers from 12 African Countries, and they wanted a video to get an overall feel of what they are trying to do and achieve as a company.
This works alongside my Professional Practice, and I am now definitely doing it for my work placement/commission project. I am very much looking forward to it, and I shall bring more details as they come, and as I research into each of the companies.
2nd Year - Major Production Ideas
So now we are in the final part of our Foundation degree, in the last semester, we have to start planning and coming up with ideas for our Major Production - a 15 minute long production to be shown online. With this we also have to make a website to go alongside with it, to promote it.
I had 2 ideas: My initial idea was to do a mockumentary on Super Heroes and Villains in the real world, essentially mixing the surreal with the real. However, the idea is that they wouldn't be very well known or good at what they do, and they have atrocious super powers, if not even super powers at all!
The 2nd idea was to create a parody show of reality tv shows, such as Dragons Den, Masterchef etc. One example would be 'Loserchef', in which the contestants have to make the worst meal they possibly can.
After consulting with Helen and my collaborator, James Ogden, who is co-writing and editing for me, we decided to go with the initial idea of the Super Hero mockumentary. One main reason is because it is a lot more original - parody shows have been done all the time, and there is a lot more that I would be able to do with the idea I have now chosen.
I had 2 ideas: My initial idea was to do a mockumentary on Super Heroes and Villains in the real world, essentially mixing the surreal with the real. However, the idea is that they wouldn't be very well known or good at what they do, and they have atrocious super powers, if not even super powers at all!
The 2nd idea was to create a parody show of reality tv shows, such as Dragons Den, Masterchef etc. One example would be 'Loserchef', in which the contestants have to make the worst meal they possibly can.
After consulting with Helen and my collaborator, James Ogden, who is co-writing and editing for me, we decided to go with the initial idea of the Super Hero mockumentary. One main reason is because it is a lot more original - parody shows have been done all the time, and there is a lot more that I would be able to do with the idea I have now chosen.
Sunday, 19 May 2013
Fiction Adaptation - Music Mashup and Location
My music mashup is complete, 6 minutes long. I was very happy with the end result after the first day of doing it. I just squeezed a few more minor edits into it and am pleased with the result. I used the song '1 Winged Angel' from the Advent Children soundtrack, and cut it to a fight in the TV Series Dragonball Z, using 4 different episodes to get the footage together.
My location shoot didn't go amazingly well as originally planned, doing it to 1984, and it is also all in a powerpoint presentation. All i need to do is find some backing music, and put them on Final Cut Pro into a movie, which shouldn't take long, as I know the music I am using, and then I shall be done!
My location shoot didn't go amazingly well as originally planned, doing it to 1984, and it is also all in a powerpoint presentation. All i need to do is find some backing music, and put them on Final Cut Pro into a movie, which shouldn't take long, as I know the music I am using, and then I shall be done!
Fiction Adaptation - Essay
I have managed to finish the essay! The feedback I received after Easter from Helen helped a lot. I went out and got two books: Literature and Film - A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Film Adaptation by Robert Stam and Alessandra Raengo, and, Literature through Film - Realism, Magic and the Art of Adaptation by Robert Stam.
Both have proved useful for quotes, as have, as usual, many websites with could papers on adaptation I have found. All I needed was to up my word count by a few hundred, structure it more soundly, and add in more quotes and there sources. I have managed to do that all over the past weeks and am very happy with the result. In the end I reached 2150 words, out of a 2000 to 2500 word limit. I am pleased with the result and hope it goes down well.
Both have proved useful for quotes, as have, as usual, many websites with could papers on adaptation I have found. All I needed was to up my word count by a few hundred, structure it more soundly, and add in more quotes and there sources. I have managed to do that all over the past weeks and am very happy with the result. In the end I reached 2150 words, out of a 2000 to 2500 word limit. I am pleased with the result and hope it goes down well.
Friday, 17 May 2013
Fiction Adaptation - Editing!
So I have pretty much finished the editing. I stayed behind after filming Urban Review to do some, after also doing some on Thursday.
It went well. I decided to make it black and white, as I felt it added to the horror aspect. It is still quite bright, as I was going for, but it didn't look right in colour to me, I felt this has helped a lot.
I was right, the commentary I chose was fantastic, and helped me out a lot. I edited it first without anything, then added it in, and the whole piece came together. I have some dark, sinister music, and lots of sound effects, and am hoping that i am even able to get a visual effect on it before hand in on Monday, which my friend Sam Creamer is going to be helping me with.
I couldn't be happier. It is over the time limit by about 20 seconds (30 with the Fiction title sequence that is required to go on all of the films) but I have spoken to some third years, after fretting about it, and they assured me it will be fine. I tried so hard to cut it down. It originally came up at 6 minutes 30, but after cutting out over a minute, The extra 20 seconds I have are integral, there is nothing more I can cut out without it not making sense, so I have left them in. If i get penalised for it, then so be it, I would rather have something slightly over the time limit than to have something not making much sense.
All that is left now is to make a cover sleeve for it, and to upload it onto a DVD. All that can be done on Monday, as I do not have the capabilities to do so at halls.
It went well. I decided to make it black and white, as I felt it added to the horror aspect. It is still quite bright, as I was going for, but it didn't look right in colour to me, I felt this has helped a lot.
I was right, the commentary I chose was fantastic, and helped me out a lot. I edited it first without anything, then added it in, and the whole piece came together. I have some dark, sinister music, and lots of sound effects, and am hoping that i am even able to get a visual effect on it before hand in on Monday, which my friend Sam Creamer is going to be helping me with.
I couldn't be happier. It is over the time limit by about 20 seconds (30 with the Fiction title sequence that is required to go on all of the films) but I have spoken to some third years, after fretting about it, and they assured me it will be fine. I tried so hard to cut it down. It originally came up at 6 minutes 30, but after cutting out over a minute, The extra 20 seconds I have are integral, there is nothing more I can cut out without it not making sense, so I have left them in. If i get penalised for it, then so be it, I would rather have something slightly over the time limit than to have something not making much sense.
All that is left now is to make a cover sleeve for it, and to upload it onto a DVD. All that can be done on Monday, as I do not have the capabilities to do so at halls.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)