Random images from filming

Character Study Log - 10/12/2008 - 11/12/2008

10/12/2008 – 11/12/2008 – We spent more time editing our documentary, due to the impending deadline, all members of our group are working on different pieces to ensure our documentary all areas of the project criteria are met.

Character Study Log - 9/12/2008

On this date we completed the narration section of the documentary. The only problem was that the film lasts for over 5 minutes. Everything that is said throughout the narration is quite important, so now it will be a tough decision on what to take out.

Character Study Log - 8/12/2008

After working over the past few days we are finally fully caught up and making progress. Roughly half of our film is now complete. We found a song, which suits the atmosphere we hope to invoke, and are very happy with the effect it has.

Character Study Log - 5/12/2008

At the start of the day, we captured the second tape and wrote down the time codes for the rest of the footage from Nathan's studio, the Russell Youth Centre, and at the art shop. We did not, however, write down the time codes for the interview due to time constraints. We then moved onto catching up.

Character Study Log - 4/12/2008

We edited for a few more hours, and got up to a minute and 30 seconds. The same problem kept occurring, but we were managing to build momentum. Unfortunately, the last time the program crashed, it took everything with it. We were no longer able to open our project, and so we began recapturing.

Character Study Log - 3/12/2008

3/12/2008 - We edited for a total of 4 hours. Also, we only managed to finish another 15 seconds of our film. The same error messages kept disrupting and deleting our work. We have tried 3 different things various lecturers advised us to do to sort out the problem and none of them have worked. Although, we didn't make much progress again, we did get some feedback from some peers and a lecturer.

Feedback
- Should be more to look at (not just Nathan painting)
- Good opening shot
- Titles need to come later
- Bad transition from introduction to first image (bad timing)
- First image needs to be brighter
- Colourful
- Bad graphic design (image of flyers)

Character Study Log - 2/11/2008

We got up to the first 30 seconds of our character study within the first hour or so of working today. We tried to put some music to the film and finished the introduction and then we saw, "Write Disc Error".. And then everything was lost. This kept happening every time we got to the 30 second mark. We kept saving after every little thing we did and sometimes it would let us reopen it, but then it would do the same thing again, and leave us back to where we had began.

Character Study Log - 28/11/2008

We spent about 4 hours editing the intro and the start of the documentary. 2 hours of this work was lost when the editing software crashed due to a virus on one of the sound files we had.
We could not use any of the audio that was recorded on the R-09 recorder. This is because the volume was too low and the sound quality wasn't good enough.

Character Study Log - 27/11/2008

We began the first stages of editing. We got some advice from one of our lecturers: to cut up the bits of the interview to make your story before you start with the visual side. So first, we started cutting up the interview, bit by bit, removing the parts we definitely don't want to use. Most of what we cut out was film that was taken in between questions, answers that trailed off, and long "umms" and other sounds. It took about two hours to clean it up and have only the best answers and to put it in a rough order to tell a story.

Character Study Log - 26/11/2008

Capturing the footage is simply taking footage from a tape and putting it on the computer so you can edit it. Just press play then record. Although very simple, you have to wait for it to capture in real time. That’s what we did on this date.

Character Study log - 24/11/2008

We changed our plan over the weekend after we got some feedback during one of our seminars. The one thing we were worried about was indeed the biggest problem. The input was that the audience needed something else to look at if we didn't want it to be boring. Previously, Joe, the director, mentioned that he wanted to record at least part of the interview to show in the film, even if it was only Nathan's mouth, not his entire face; we were told to applaud this decision and to go with it.
Then we filmed the interview section of our documentary.) We needed the same set as the first day of filming plus a boom mic to record sound for the camcorder. Everything went to plan, we set up both the camcorder and the R-09 recorder while we had a chat about some of the questions we would be asking. Nathan was a bit nervous but when we actually started recording he quickly seemed to get comfortable. He gave a great account of his experiences and the progression of his artwork; he also told some great stories.

Character Study Log - 21/11/2008

On this date we filmed at the art shop, the Russell Youth Centre, and also some walls around Nottingham whilst we were driving around. Everything went well and everyone was happy with the result. Overall, it was a fairly uneventful day. We simply went from one location to the next and took footage of just about everything we saw that was relevant, as well as some places we had been told to go to view where Nathans work was on display.

Character Study Log - 19/11/2008

At 4:00pm we picked up the equipment from the university office. The shoot went really well, however took much longer than we had expected. We were there from 6.00pm to about 9.00pm. The piece he created was indeed representative; it conveys an angry side of him, the paint-roller in the character's hand displays his passion for art, the skull and bones symbolize death, and the buildings emphasize the urban nature of his artwork. In the end, we got about 45 minutes of footage. The lighting was sufficient and everyone worked well together. We didn't have to worry about sound much because the sound will be comprised of the interview voiceover and music. We just recorded some sounds with the R-09 recorder such as the spray paint can being sprayed and general atmospheric sounds.

Character Study Log - 17/11/2008

On this date when we needed to get the forms signed with approval and take out the camera and equipment, we couldn't find any lecturers and when we did there were, of course, problems, and things needed to be added to them. So, all we were able to do is call Nathan to apologise and send an email to the equipment staff to book the cameras out for a different date. We then decided to move the filming of our documentary to the 19th November.

Story Board

Character Study Log - 11/11/2008

Today we met up with Kid30 and went to see the studio where we will be filming the majority of our documentary. Ive included the pictures in one of my previous posts.
Chase and I spent the evening finishing typing up the proposal ready for the presentation the next day:

Warm and Easy Productions Presents:

“Urban Art: Kid33”

Proposal

“Urban Art” is a documentary about Nathan Bainbridge, aka Kid30, from the graffiti group Oxygen Thievez. In this film, we will be trying to find out how he began his role as a graffiti artist and his perception on the culture. The length of this character study will be approximately four minutes.”

We see Nathan as an artist expressing his individuality through a taboo art-form. The story will focus on the progression of his artwork and his views surrounding the area. This documentary will be presented through a voice recorded interview and various shots of Nathan painting a piece of which he sees himself artistically. Pictures of other “tags” and sketches by Kid33 will be shown throughout the film. “Urban Art” will use constant moving imagery from beginning to end to invoke the flowing feeling of an aerosol can painting a piece of graffiti.

Character Study Log - 10/11/2008

Today we had another group meeting and got in contact with the guy we are doing our documentarary (kid30) and planned a meeting with him for the following day, to see the location of where we will be filming and to put our initial ideas across to nathan(kid30) and see what he thinks..
He seemed quite enthusiastic about our idea though which was a good sign, we all looked forward to getting the project underway.
We also drew out the storyboard today and we wrote out some questions we will ask Kid30 in a voice recorded interview which will be in the proposal.

Character Study Log - 11/11/2008

We had another group meeting, and began planning out ideas for how we want our documentry to look. We came up with an initial idea of our storyboard and watched several documentaries to give us some initial ideas. the second documentry we watched, (LA Taggers) gave us the main idea for our documentary. It talks about gang related activity associated with graffiti and how it's damaging the community. we all agreed that was not true, and we see graffiti as more of an art form. We also agreed that it can be used to help the community, and that is what we want to base our documentary on.

Character Study Log - 5/11/2008

Due to our initial character study not pulling through, we decided to begin researching for a new possible character. This was proving more difficult that first expected due to 3 of our group members being from abroad and not having many contacts in the UK. Fortunatly one of our members came across a member of the oxygen theivez, who agreed to be in our documentary.
We immediatly started preperation for it.
We came up with a working title very quickly of "Urban Art" and with the concept of whether or not graffiti is art or a crime. We chose to do it on this for a few reasons, firstly we all find graffiti interesting and also what's behind graffiti in the scence that you dont usually see them being done there is a blank wall one day and the next there can be something on it. So we think it would be interesting to find out the charachter behind this.

we then thought of some aspects we would like to look into such as:
- How he got into it
- How he got recognised
- Why they see it as an art
- Has he ever been caught
- What message he sends from his graffiti

Character study

Our character study is on Nathan Bainbridge, AKA Smallkid, AKA Kid30.
Nathan is 33 years old and from a small town outside of OXford. He runs a small design company called small kid designs. www.smallkid.co.uk
He studied illustration at Portsmouth Uni, but then realised there was limited opportunities in this industry. It was when he moved up to Nottingham, after being involved with the running of a drum 'n' bass night in home town, that he teamed up with a friend starting up a similar night(Detonate). He began designing flyers for Detonate, and this opened new doors as he saw the opportunities within the design industry.
Nathan was always interested in art, his mum used to be an artist and his grandad was an arcitect, which he feels is where he got his creative side. He is now an established commercial artist/painter within Nottingham, and does community work on a regular basis, which helps him finance his hobby. Nathan got involved in graffiti, by being taken out with a local painter in nottingham called Creeks. He has since developed his own style, which is character based. His main influences are Jeremy Fish, Sam Flores and Flying Fortress.

Nightmare

After finally capturing all of our footage onto the computers, we began editing our documentry. After spending several hours editing the footage we have, and trimming it from 2 hours to ten minutes, I decided to try and upload the song we had chosen for it.
Unfortunatly, my friend who sent me the song, also sent with it a virus which has subsequently broken my external harddrive and chris', along with the footage we have. Lucky we still have the tapes with all of the original footage, it just means we have to capture everything again.
what doesn't break you will only make you stronger....apparently

Proposal information

Locations.

1. His studio
2. Locations where Kid33 and the Oxygen Thievez work is on display
3. His house
4. Skatepark

Script.

As a group we have put together a few questions of which we will choose the best edit in post production. The questions will spur him on to tell the story he intends to get across to the viewer. Although we have not got the exact answers from each question, we do have a rough idea of what answers we would like to get out of Kid33. Our questions will not be heard in the final edit, so therefore will ask him to repeat each question in the answer, as if he was telling a story.



1. What was your life like growing up and how has it made who you are?
2. Have you always been artistic?
3. When and why did you first get serious about art?
4. How did you start getting recognised and how did it make you feel?
5. What do your family and friends think about your work?
6. How do you feel about the whole image that graffiti brings? E.g. gangs, being socially unacceptable and it being a criminal activity?
7. Is the graffiti you create illegal?
8. How do you feel about the laws regarding graffiti?
9. How do you use your art to help the community and who are you trying to help?
10. How did you get involved with graffiti and what is your influence?
11. What’s your message in your graffiti and who are you sending it to?
12. What is your role in the Oxygen Thievez?
13. What opportunity’s has being in the Oxygen Thievez given you?
14. What does art mean to you?
15. Is your art an escape for you?
16. If you could tag anything in the world, what would it be and why?

Scene 1: We are going to have shots of Kid33’s work fading from one to another with the title and production name showing. We will use a hip- hop song named “Hell on Earth” for the duration of the introduction as it will set the film off with the urban feel that we intend to portray. The total duration of the introduction will be roughly 15 seconds.

Scene 2: We will ask Kid33 to paint a picture of how he sees himself. It will not necessarily be a the conventional way in which someone might portray themselves, but his own abstract interpretation of what represents him as a person i.e. personality, experiences etc. Through out the film the camera will focus on various areas of the piece of art such as parts of the face or body to help convey the relevant message Kid33 is trying to get across. This scene will contain rough background of Kid33s life and how he began his life as a graffiti artist. We do not intend to show Kid33’s face, however the questions he answers to through out the scene will be used as a voice over. This will give the viewer a sense of ambiguity around Kid33 as a character who seemingly has a hobby of which can have a criminal background. Other shots of his artwork will be edited into the scene. The duration of this scene will be roughly 45 seconds.

Scene 3: The second scene will flow into the third carrying on the theme of graffiti often being known as a criminal offence. We will be focusing on the legal issues regarding graffiti, his opinions on graffiti as a whole and if he has had any previous encounters with the police regarding his artwork. This camera will be focusing on the mouth of the painting that he creates and other images of work he has done that relates to this topic. This scene should last for roughly 45 seconds.

Scene 4: The fourth scene will focus on areas in which he may have helped the community such as work shops etc. Keeping the theme of focusing on a specific part of the painting he created, we will edit in shots of the representation of his hands. Shots of his artwork that he may have produced in projects to help the community will be edited in through out the scene. This scene will last for roughly 45 seconds.

Scene 5: Scene five will be his overview of the subject and what art means to him in which we will show still images of Kid33 and his graffiti group Oxygen Thievez’s artwork in public areas. The camera will also cut to the image of his eyes in his artistic interpretation of himself. This section of the film will last for roughly 20 seconds.

Scene 6: This will be our final shot of his finished art work where his portrait is revealed to the viewer. We will attach a piece of cellophane to the camera lens for Kid33 to sign as the credit roll across the screen. This section will take roughly 15 seconds.

To keep the viewer’s interest we are going to show the images and film with a variety of different effects on some shots we will have video noise and changing the saturation, brightness and contrast to give it a 9mm film look. This is to give it an urban feel. In contrast to show graffiti is still an art form we will intensify the brightness. We also are going to dissolve images of Kid33’s artwork into one another.

As a group, we share a common interest in art, specifically urban and underground art. Much of this style of art is not properly recognised. In particular, we believe that graffiti is looked upon with a negative view. This is due to its criminal associations and a misunderstanding of the culture. Therefore, we wish to present a character which will show the audience the artistic end of the graffiti spectrum and leave them feeling inspired. Through this character study of Nathan Bainbridge, we aim to answer underlying questions surrounding the controversy surrounding urban art and to give a voice to the underground art culture of graffiti.