Preliminary task final video

Below is the final outcome for our preliminary task! I love the final video and think that it worked really well. Nathaniel was very good at lip syncing the lyrics, and the cats performed perfectly as well.

Preliminary task filming day!

Today we filmed our preliminary task video! We went to Garden Cattery at about 4pm to film. As soon as we saw the location, we knew that it would be perfect for our video. The enclosed square shape of the cattery made it a very nice looking setting and it is obvious what the cages are containing. With the filming, I do not think that it could have gone much better. Nathaniel's performance was very enthusiastic, the cats were friendly and liked being on camera, and we managed to get it all filmed in just under an hour. The next step will be to edit our video together, and then it will be posted on here.

Idea creating exercise

In order to begin to think of ideas for our coursework, we did an exercise that involved creating an idea from an image. First we were all given images. Our task was to write three questions on the back about the image, such as 'why are they there?'. We then swapped our questions and images with another person and our task was to use imagination and creativity to answer their questions. Finally, we swapped the images, questions and answers with a third person, who then had to create the basis of a story from the material that they had. The material I had was...


Why is the Gorilla swearing at the child?
The Gorilla is always grumpy, his bananas were taken from him.

What Zoo is this Gorilla at?
London Zoo.

How are the Gorillas looked after?
They are well looked after but this one is just never satisfied, he is incredibly grumpy.

The idea that I created from this was an emotional short film called 'Gary the Grumpy Gorilla'. The basis of the story is that he was born different to the other apes, they bullied him, tormented him, and took his food. This made him very grumpy all the time and he learnt to swear at the other animals and the public. Then one day, this girl came along and at first he was not bothered, but after she kept coming back he slowly got used to her and at the age of 18 she got a job as their keeper, and she made him a happy gorilla again.

This exercise has really helped to show me that there are many different ways of creating ideas, and I might just use this one again.

Researching existing blogs

Today, I have been looking at a few blogs by other A2 students. I have done this to gain inspiration from their videos, posts, and blog layout. The best blog that I have seen is that of Gaby Smith (http://blogs.grammar.sch.gg/gabriellesmith/page/3/). This blog is full of research and planning posts which have been completed to a very good level of detail. She got 20/20 for research and planning. Some ways that I will make sure my blog is as good as this example are:

• keep the layout simple
• make sure that posts are lengthy and full of detail
• ensure that my research is thorough

The other blogs that I looked at were the following:
http://blogs.grammar.sch.gg/00laner01/ 17/20
http://blogs.grammar.sch.gg/danieldegaris 15/20

Preliminary task casting

For our video, we are looking for someone quite tall, male, and confident. We chose our friend Nathaniel Jones and we hope that he will put as much effort into it as we would like him to. We also chose him because of the fact him and Tom have the same Surname.

Preliminary task storyboard

Existing children's tv shows - professional

Fresh Prince

Being probably one of the highest grossing children's TV shows of all time, Will Smith's 'The Fresh Prince' was a 90s show telling the story of a boy who had to move to a new town, and the series told about the stories that he got up to.

 

Balamory

This kids show (probably for a younger audience) is not as popular, but still a good example of what a children's TV show is like. One thing that stands out with this TV show is that the buildings and characters are themed. This allows a younger audience to associate the different characters with colours, which I think is a great feature of the show.

 

Suite Life

This kids TV show is for any audience from young ages to young teens. It features two main characters, who are brothers, who live on a large cruise ship. They often get up to trouble and the comedy is great for the audience.

Existing children's tv shows - student made

AlakaZack (2013)

This kids TV opening is not great, however it is one of the few student made kids TV openings on the internet. It appears that for whatever reason, many of these are not made, so this is the only one that I will write about. The idea of the show is good, a teenager called Zack, stuck in a school, being bullied, but has magic powers. The quality of the video and the confidence of the actors is where the video lacks impressiveness. I do not think that I will create a kids TV show because I do not feel like there are any good enough original ideas to do so.