Final Piece

Here's a link to our final piece on youtube. Enjoy :D

'They Are Watching'

Finished! :D

We finished the editing of our film today and it looked great. However, we were very confused when it came to saving our work to disk with other elements of the portfolio and we didn't feel that it was explained clearly enough what had to be included on the disk. In the end we pretty much just put everything on including unused images. better safe than sorry.

Photoshop clone tool

Today I edited some photos on photoshop of my eyes to add to the end of the film.

I used the clone stamp tool to trace the iris' of my eyes and add it to the black and white image. I also used batch to make all the images black and white.

Finished Poem

This could potentially be used as a voice over for the beginning of our film, to give the piece a sense of purpose and to inform the viewer of the meaning.




They Are Watching


A family with the wrong members in control;

That, is as near as one can come to describing England in a phrase,

Perhaps it is most fitting to describe it’s leaders in these current days.

Rather than its people, who work to earn an honest living,

We judge and rule according to those that are sinning.

The faceless spies that gain our trust,

In fact have no judgment over what is just.

And just as we adhere to them,

Their lack of blood flow strikes again.

And in their surveillance the venerable go undetected,

Whilst tapes of mundane commuters are never rejected. 
They are watching.


By Emma Crampton
08.12.10

A Poem For George

George Orwell was one of the primary inspirations for the narrative of our film. I am working on a poem or a piece of text surrounding his quote: 

"A family with the wrong members in control; that, perhaps, is as near as one can come to describing England in a phrase."

I think this is an interesting angle on the government and social setup of our politics. Like a family, all coinciding, all covering for each other to stand as a united front, perhaps leaving little manoeuvre for change and new ideas.  

Presentation Slides

We used our power point presentation as more of a background accompaniment to our script, with the slides providing visual aids with hyperlinks to our blogs and the chosen soundtrack. 

Presentation Highs

Just finished my presentation with Steph, it went really well. Maria even made an example of us. A bit embarrassing but also very pleasing. 


Here's the script for our presentation, just working on uploading the presentation also.

(slide 1)


Steph

The idea that we live in a society that is under constant surveillance and scrutiny is usually a factor in our day-to-day lives that goes unnoticed and forgotten about. It has become the norm for CCTV cameras to capture our every move; in fact, if there were to be a lack of CCTV cameras in any establishment, many of us would feel that our safety would be in jeopardy, and we would question it.

Emma

Since the 1973 Post Office Tower attack and the IRA’s London bombing campaign throughout the early 70s, CCTV has been increasingly used to protect citizens and prevent crime. There are now over 4.2 million CCTV cameras in the UK with 10,000 in London alone, so why does it remain the case that 80% of crime on the streets goes unsolved? If the cameras’ function of protecting the public is ineffective, are they not an unnecessary and excessive invasion of our privacy?

Steph

Under mass surveillance, we are all ‘tarred with the same brush’ when it comes to trying to identify the potential criminals. So are we all suspects?

Emma

The tampering with a CCTV device or obstructing its view is considered to be a crime, but where is the choice for those who live by the law to not be filmed?

Steph

We have been taught to believe that they are there for our safety, to live peacefully under their surveillance and not to question their purpose.

Emma

The purpose of our film is to remind the viewer that Big Brother is watching.

Steph

Our ideas first began when we started to think about types of filming. CCTV seemed an appropriate option and subject, as London much more heavily surveyed than other parts of the country.

Emma

We focused upon the ideas of George Orwell, who’s theories of an ‘Orwellian Society’ suggest that we are ruled and governed by a system of control, which is dependant on surveillance, misinformation, denial of truth and manipulation of the past.

Steph

Our short film will be shot in the style of CCTV camera footage, from the point of view of Big Brother himself. The narrative will reflect the relationship between Big Brother and the citizens he surveys, identifying suspects, targets, and what it is exactly that makes your actions plausible to surveillance.

(slide 2)

Emma

The scenario in our film sees an ordinary man being the victim of heavy surveillance and constant suspicion from the law. When a girl drops her purse on the underground, the camera depicts him potentially stealing the purse. However, what the camera does not display are his good intentions to hand the purse in to the police station. This proves that here, the CCTV captures no crime; simply a man going about his daily life, and that the cameras were only invading his privacy, not showing him as a criminal.

Steph

The film identifies that CCTV cameras do not distinguish between innocent civilians and the criminals they are trying to catch. As members of the public we are never given the opportunity to object to being on camera and having our movements tracked, yet we are expected to obey a faceless security system.

(slide 3)

Emma

CCTV style images are key, as the entire film is shot from the point of view of the CCTV camera or Big Brother himself.  This acts almost as a personification of the cameras as they represent the government and their surveillance.

(slide 4)

Steph

As every member of the public is exposed to excessive CCTV surveillance, our audience can be anyone, but it especially applies to adolescents, as they are often subject to suspicion from security guards, policeman and other members of the public.

(slide 5)

Emma

We have used Adobe Flash to edit our film and shot in stop-motion animation. It is made up of a sequence of photos combined to create different scenes in different settings.

We will incorporate many different cinematic techniques to derive meaning, including high and low angle shots, as well as zooming and attempting to impersonate the style of a CCTV camera.

Steph

We have cross cut between mine and Emma’s cameras to create multiple angles of the same scene to give the film a more professional look. We have also decided to include a soundtrack to add to the mood and atmosphere of the film. (Listen to small sample of track). We chose it because it has an even temp throughout, yet has a sense of enigma.

(slide 6)

Emma

We both made trips to London, together and separately to get the perfect shots for our film. But we have also had our individual roles in terms of developing the project.

Steph

For example, Emma has been focusing on the research and documentation of the project such as writing the project proposal, researching music for the film and preparing the presentation. She has also been developing ideas for the opening sequence and the beginning section where the narrative begins.

Emma

Steph has been particularly good at taking the time to edit all of our pictures and attending PALs classes every week to help her refine her skills and provide us with tips, which proved very helpful whilst filming. She has also been working on the middle and end sections of the film.

And of course we have been keeping track of all of our progress and work on our blogs, with regular updates about inspirations, experimentation and new ideas.

(Show Blogs)

Steph

Thank you for listening to our film presentation. Were there any Questions?