Wednesday, 11 March 2009

I Sould Be So Lucky

Welling School is getting places, watch out-duck out.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/10/homophobia-pupil-behaviour

Ian Elmslie - My tutor!
All them students - My mates!

Oh I'm hardcore.

PURE - CORE.
On a sadder note however, this year's Art&Design examination question sheets are utterly, brutally, appauling.
In the words of Graphic Desinger-come teacher Tamzin Wildey: "This is just shit."

Sunday, 1 March 2009

Done&Damned

Short Film Narratives: Guesses and Potentials


Holding Hands
This is about a man who struggles to win the losing battle of keeping in time with the world. Just like The Butterfly Effect, this about someone who desperately tries to take hold of what has caused great misfortune - the hands of time. As time constantly jumps backwards, Jake tries to fit himself back into normality. However, no matter how hard he tries to catch up with the world, it is only a matter of time that he can break the chain of eternal drag and finish the chase of horror.


-It’s all about time jumping. The story could change. But it’s all about time jumping.


Double Vision
Set in the realms of a secondary school, this film explores the juxtapositions of reality and fantasy. With an avant garde Outer Space inspired film-layering effect, we follow the lives of half a dozen people who get a form of double vision - a split between two sights, one which is of their existing surroundings, and another which is a veil, where their imagination dictates their sight. With the two (contrasting) perspectives, the layers present viewers with both a surreal and intriguing insight to what the chosen few see - both through their eyes and through their minds.



Draw!
A witty and playful story. In a casual class of the norm, a bored but creative student sets the trend of bringing his illustrations of objects to life. Beginning with a picture of a pound coin, which is then screwed up into a ball and reopened, the doodle becomes reality, creating a whole new way of living for the fortunate. The film progresses through time with the gifted, following his day-to-day routines become an utter play, not too long before we discover the downfall to his trickery, with outsiders joining in turning life into a curse - of both normality and artistry.

--

Well there's 3 out of 5, just like I said not 6 days ago. However, it was not at the Wrong Un, Turnpike or Club Sushi that these ideas were brought to play. Not even Burger King brought the best out of me.
It's those pesty but gorgeous indulgancies you see, take years to conquer their obese ways...

This week? International Pokemon Day. Was nice. Myself and a fellow Gensanist shared my Gameboy, as we roamed through the battles of Misty, Gary, and the Golden Bridge. And don't forget, Charizard made a special appearance at the Turn' (Blastoise has hibernated, he seizes to exist...). All of this accompanied by an iscolated watch of the first ever episode, Volcanic Panic and Mewtwo's debut prescence - All. Damn. Good.

Yesterday - work. I officially want to be made redundant, believe me.
Well isn't it a good thing that the dearest made a beautiful demonstration of alcohol abuse then?
She fought the law.
The law won.
Memo: Animatrix was an amazing buy! £2!? Overly worth it. The visuals are nothing short of astonishing, varying in tones, colours and textures. World Record is a beautiful short, it has such an honest portrayal of the experience and feeling of sprinting.
Me wants to go running.
Me go run out window.
Me go crying for mummy.
Me wants running to hurt less.
A new commitment today... writing. Making a second attempt, the first retry in over a few years. Once there's some managed material, I'll let you nosey buggers know.
Deal? I bloody thought so.

Monday, 23 February 2009

It's All About Logic

Back in the classroom makes your mind clock back into the critical thinking - questioning everything you think, what others say, and back on your own questions.

It has come to the time where the ways of short films are coming back into our lives.
OMGawd. Has it really needed to take that long for some cinematographic action to rule the time table!?

Independant study-task include:
-Bring back 5 ideas/narratives for a short film production.
NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL EDUCATION.
Keeping it Hippie with some lazing around in a coffee store or pub to blabber in some potentially unworthy ideas. Perhaps Thursday evening in The Wrong Un? The place where my uncle managed come half a dozen years ago, to be made unemployed due to drinking - That's ma boy. And all of this to be followed by a celebrative session in Club Sushi with the Beloved to show a soon to be 18 a nice time. Let's make sure it's nice. Well with it being a 1940's swinging special, what could go wrong...
broken backs and sexual exploitation, as these folk oh-so brilliantly demonstrate.

[Video goes heyarh!]

And the second task?



-ESSAY. Boo you.


Kicking it back in the Graphics class has allowed the few of us to get back in mental shape with the tiring, tormenting ways of sketchbook filling. Hardcore, mate.
And here's what Joey showed me, which we have (yet again) collaboratively destroyed, in our home ground of 'PC desk onlooked by teacher'.





IRENAM versus 2012 Olympic Emblem



WTFFF is that!?!


Goes against all logic of visual communication, Graphic Design.
My optomistic thought of it trying to be the construction's site plan was utterly demolished thanks to Mr. Yellow's persistant insult-loaded machine gun. But man has he got a good point.


Still got time on your hands to chuck in the bin and continue glaring at your PC screen?
Still in Awake/Asleep mode?
Hmm?
Have a look at DEXIGNER's post. Thoughts and research on the past and present logo designs snd their effects in both the creative and corporate industries. Rather critical at first thought, but all readable nonetheless (you slothers have no excuse, "HAH."
http://www.dexigner.com/design_news/what_does_the_london_2012_olympic_logo_prove.html

Oh, and I woke up late Today. Arghhhhh.

Sunday, 22 February 2009

It's All About Passion

And dam have I lost that here.
It's been well over a month, bordering two. This is what happens when your love life with the T-mobile web'n'walk drips down the drain. The world of MSN, Facebook, Blogger, Flickr - all of it, has been lost in my household thanks to horrendous horrors of the modern day service.
"Shame" do I hear you say?

And come this comes the lack of personal pickings. The day-to-day activities have almost been lost forever, as there's such little track of it all. But for the sake of mankind, let's try and check out what's gone down.

(So far in no date-dictated order...)

Saatchi Gallery - LOVE IT. I want to go to every exhibition they have, their online site is enough for utter inspiration. Free entry.
NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL KICKASS

Eye Surgery - Figure the 4th Nerve Palsy. Hard work dealing with it, forcing me to pull off the work load (both at school and Wilkins'). I took my Graphics book with me to the hospital, trying to work in it the moment I woke up after the surgery, although the anaesthetic kept pushing me back to the subconcious world time and time again. A long day, a 3 hour waiting session in an iscolate sitting area, passing the time by seeing how long I could hold my breath (record at 01:50, nice). The surgeoun stated "it was successful", but that's not to my own thought. It's an improvement if anything, but never a perfection. It was an additional challenge to the current world of coursework - Film presentations, Fine Art crits, Graphic Design investigations, they all kept me very busy. Very.

ICA - Sean Snyder. Went with teachers and friends. It wasn't the greatest of exhibitions, but it certainly followed the ways of the Cost/Satisfaction ratio (entry was free, thanks to a personal invitation from one of the institute's workers), accompanied by free Budweiser. And man free Budweiser doesn't do the justice. Anywho, the exhibition, it was okay. Snyder focuses on the presentation of information through the media, predominantly on the war&terror aspects. Photographys and documentaries, it's all rather intreaging, with critical but simple deconstruction of Photo Journalism, breaking it down to all the essential "must haves" for a successful portfolio. This was all followed by a fairly cool train journey home with the beloved and the Gensaned.

...

Oh, and Ravensbourne. Have been accepted by the Foundation course, but the degree is still up for grabs. Who knows what'll happen. Either way, it has all been a harsh time with the inconclusive options of Colleges/Universities. But it's confirmed, I want Ravensbourne. Their Greenwich penninsular looks ace. I want to be a part of it. The fact their indipendant also plays extremely well, as the likes of the UAL feels all a bit too "corporate", dare I say it, like a mass organization. Time will tell, but when you have a Graphics tutor interview you on a Wednesday morning, it all feels so cool.

News Update - The Tate Britain is brilliant. Their collection of drawings is enough to knock me clockwise, no doubt. Trying to take it all in within an hour however, makes it a tad strenuous sadly. A revisit will sort that out, no problem.

Bolt 3D and Push are good, in their own ways, but share a knack for making me want to have it all. A dog and superpowers, both things that the beloved pokes me about (and visa-versa of course!).

Future intention: Get back to this. Chuck in photos when willing, and ensure atleast a weekly update.

In the world of blogging, the SKALLYWAGs shall rise again after their fall.

Why not check out our Art&Design based stuff, hmm?

www.flickr.com/jmo-ydargo <-[Myself]

www.flickr.com/lara-dee <-[Herself]

I can't deny it, she's got potential. I love working with her, sharing ideas and blabbering away - regardless of how ineffective it is in getting actual work done. In the words of us, the team, the partnership, the lovers, and the enemies: Bless your little cotton socks/heart/tart/cheeks/ears/beanie... we have alot of time on our hands; don't diss.

Sunday, 11 January 2009

For The Oblivious


This Darren Brown Special aims to prove the efficiency of subliminal persuasion in advertising. The program follows an expriment of Brownds, as his participating subjects (both who are professionals in the advertising industry) are drove through the streets of London to a meeting point, where they are set a brief by the magician to create a brand title, subsidiary title and promotional poster for a “dead animal” shop.
Given just 30 minutes for the task, Darren instructs the subjects to work from their initial ideas


- the very first thing that comes to mind, regardless of what it is, assuring that its intended for the brief. Darren also informs that they must be open minded and to not filter whatever they come up from being included in their work.

What the subjects are oblivious to however, is that Darren has set up the task to be part of a much more valuable investigation: can Darren’s own understanding of subliminal persuasion be used to influence the guys who live by it as a career - Can a member of the audience beat the professionals at their own game?

As the program concludes with a fairly expectable, yet fascinating moral, yes.





PROGOTOWNED!

Friday, 9 January 2009

For The Inspired

Beautiful quotations that I got off a fellow blogger; an amazing one at that.
You must check out her world.
It takes my soul out of my body and away from the pain.
Please, for her.
And here are the quotes. All chosen for a reason.
They help sum me up as a being,
They help me walk further in this path.
They help push me along the road,
They help me live as me.
"All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible."
-T.E. Lawrence
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall."
-Confucius

"it's the sense of touch. in any real city you walk, you know? you brush past people, people bump into you. in LA, nobody touches you. we're always behind this metal and glass. i think we miss that touch so much that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."
-crash
Have a good weekend, and live like its your last.

Sunday, 4 January 2009

For Brain And The Shock That Follows

Dis. Iz. Fo'. Fiyelm.
Word?


Shocking Cinema - Life of Brian

The representation of religion in film has been an uncertain one, with the most controversial and peculiar messages displayed on screen since the dawn of cinema. Film has been a medium that has defined religion to many, for better and worse. Cultural presentations are often presented with a biased perception, where the audience allow producers to battered their heads with argumentative plots and persuasive morals. Cultural conflict is at the heart of most religious films, with narratives that explain (in most cases) the difficulties and torment that religious commitment brings.

Life of Brian is one to be remembered as the circus show of religious presentation. Made in 1979, by comedy production team Monty Python, audiences around the world have been forever presented with one of the most successful comedy pieces to exist in film history (as stated on numerous occasions by the likes of Total Film magazine, Channel 4, The Guardian and Rotten Tomatoes); winning the “Best comedy movie of all time” award, as voted by the participants in a poll conduction in 2006, by UK’s television network Channel 4.

Life of Brian unravels the tale of young Brian Cohen (performed by Graham Chapman; one of the 6 members of the Monty Python crew), a male Jewish who is brought up in the same age and destination of Jesus Christ’s, who is mistakenly accused by others to be the Messiah. The film follows the journey that he protagonist must take, as religious followers grow in numbers after him, disillusioned to the belief that Brian is the one. Audiences endure his agonising yet unbearably funny life up until his end, as numerous gags from the Monty Python team throw every religious mock they can think of. It is a film that to many has been a monumental laugh, but for the rest has been a disgraceful blow to the Christian society; with members of all religions brought to attention also.

The film’s extreme blasphemy (as perceived by religious protesters) caused great upset since its initial debut. Banned by numerous town councils in the UK, and discriminated by the vast majority of Christian groups, Life of Brian was a movie that shocked the world into tears of laughter and pain. Even in 2008 was it that Toblay council had approved of the film’s screening, which was thanks to a 1st place win in the English Riviera International Comedy Film Festival’s online poll.

What has caused such a colossal up rise in social conflict is the film’s presentation of organized religions and politically revolutionized groups, and their portrayal as ridiculously over rated and exaggerated forms of living with the masses. Its attention to freedom of speech resulted in never ending arguments between Catholic churches and The Pythons, with the government joining not soon after the beginning. One scene shows Brian’s enraged desperation to stop his followers in their tracks and convince them otherwise to live independently and not in the shadows of others. The Python’s presented the world with a light-hearted, but still argumentative depiction on the construction and deliverance of religious awareness:

(As extracted from Wikipedia’s quotation of Life of Brian)

Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't need to follow me, you don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals!

The Crowd (in unison): Yes! We're all individuals!

Brian: You're all different!

The Crowd (in unison): Yes, we are all different!

Man in Crowd: I'm not... The Crowd: Shhh!

Viewers of the film have taken note of its vigorous cheap-shot sketches, with performers (mainly of Monty Python) humorously emphasizing religion’s demands and control of followers, and its seemingly hypnotic charm to making forever growing theories out of the most logical of scenarios.

To me, the film is of fair shock, but with mixed opinions. For some of the time I become very biased against Monty Python and the undeniably childish micky-take of such long existing and highly respected authorities, but I can not help to reassure myself with the words that are “ its just a film”, one which some have unexpectedly and understandably taken great offence to; whether that is unfortunate or not. Many could throw rage at Monty Python, but I am one to say that it is down to the audience whether a film is good or bad, and it is the viewer who has taken that chance- that risk, to go into a dark room for an hour or two and let what ever the screen plays hit them. If it were to have been released at a more modern date, then my thoughts would be fairly neutral and I would have no bother in placing an argument (even if I were to be on neither side), but with knowledge of the historical context and social relations at the time of Life of Brian’s release makes a much more distinctive impression on me. It’s obsessively executed remarks and seemingly witty accusations make it a viewing of mixed emotions, as I laugh at Brian’s innocent rage whilst I turn my back on The Pythons’ arrogance that is at the heart of the political tension that the film expectedly gave attention to. Undoubtedly a fascinating view and experience.

WATCH IT YOU SLAGS.