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Project Reflection

I think overall this project went well and have learned how to make storyboards relatively well. I think the hardest thing for me personally was the heterotopia stuff. Not necessary the concept itself but more the six aspects and what they all mean individually. I found looking up the definitions of words and breaking down the meaning until I was staring at something that started to make sense, I do still worry that I misinterpreted bits though.

I am also sad that I got sick halfway through the year as I missed out on a lot of group work regarding the model but I think i picked up the slack when it came to taking the pictures.

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These are the storyboards for the remake intro to The Terminal. I believe I've hit most of the points that I wanted to hit. Its shorter, Victor and the tin he's holden are shone more through framing, and the scene with Dixon and Thurman is kept mostly in tacked. Below is a concept art frame showing how I want the film to look based off of one of the frames above (frame 12).

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Moving on to remaking the beginning of the terminal. I decided to make quick thumbnail sketches of each beat in the original opining to refresh myself. While I like the part with Dixon and Thurman, I do wish Victor was introduced a lot earlier in the intro and some emphasis on him as well to make him stand out as I thought in my first viewing that he was just another wacky person for the intro to establish how the airport runs rather then the main protagonist of the film. I also want to draw attention to the tin he holds throughout the intro in, not in any jarring way but just to show that its there and visible. I do also want to shorten it just a tiny bit. 

With this refresher I now have a good idea about what I am going to do for the storyboards.

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It was now time to take pictures of the model. We had a few ideas for what we were going to do and Craig also brought in his ring light that had different colour settings to help with mood setting. I ended up being the one to take most of the pictures as I have had some experience with a camera, my mum does photography as a hobby and I did film and media for my foundation year. These are the pictures I believe were the best (including the ones above and below).

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We were asked to build a cardboard middle of the main area of our assigned movie. In a group consisting of myself, Leia, Scott, and Craig we decided that our model would be the main shopping area the a large chunk of the movie takes place in. Due to falling ill at the time we were building the model I focused more on cleaning up the imperfections by hiding the glue or foam and things like that.

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This here is a mood board for the movie The Terminal. I wanted to include mor emptier shots rather than busy ones as a fair amount of the movie takes place at night when no one is really in the airport. The empty shots almost feel out of place as airports are normally very busy and all over the place so seeing it nearly empty can feel very weird and off putting funny enough.

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The Terminal and Heterotopias

Heterotopia, a term coined by Michel Foucalt, which are places that are embedded in aspects and stages in our lives and that also mirrors and at the same time distorts and warps other spaces. So how does this relate to ‘The Terminal’? Well, Foucalt had six principles that help determine these spaces and ‘The Terminal’s’ main location, an airport, fit a few of these principles very well.  

The first principle is that it is established in all cultures but in diverse forms and especially if they are sites of crisis or later deviation. As airports are transitional areas that people enter to get to another entirely different place and are seen in pretty much every culture in the world, I think it's safe to say that it fits that principle.

The second principle is that it has had specific operations at different times in history. Airports, while not really changing what they are used for, have changed with the growing wave of technology and security the latter playing somewhat of a role in the film itself.  

The third principle is that it juxtaposes in a single space several incompatible spatial elements. I don’t think this one fits an airport all that much as a lot of the elements that tend to make up an airport tend to make sense and don’t really clash with the space as a whole, even the shops stand as a tourist incentive as well as places for people to have food if they are waiting awhile given airport security measures about food that people bring with them.

The fourth principle is that it encapsulates spatio-temporal discontinuities or intensities.  Airports do fit this as weather, airflow and a lot of data regarding these things and others can be used in predictions of delays and other structural things to do with an airport.

The fifth principle is that it presupposes an ambivalent system of opening or closing, entry. An airport does fit this as getting in or out of an airport for travel reasons requires a lot of systems and hoops to jump through, which has led to many mixed feelings about it. An example would be airport security as while it is a nerve-wracking time and even a bit of an annoyance to get through most if not all people would agree that it’s a necessary stressor to get through for the sake of everyone's safety.

The sixth and final principle is that the space has a specific operation in relation to other spaces. An airport does have a specific operation in relation to their spaces mainly regarding transportation and compensation as airports bring in tourists that will then enter other spaces for a variety of reasons. Airports also transport people that are moving for work or family as well.  

Looking over all the six principles of heterotopias, almost all of them fit airports well which makes it very clear that they are indeed a heterotopia.

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In class we were asked to take a shot from our three little pigs exercise and develop one of the shots in a few different ways I found it a little difficult picking what shot and how to make it different from the other shots the other shots 

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In class we had to take five squares and move them to fit the words listed above. while some words like order and chaos were pretty simple others like congested and playful were harder to get

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In class we were asked to draw a sheep then to frame that sheep as shy then as evil, these were my interpretations of the task. these were to show not only how you can get an idea of what is in front of you from minimal shapes but also a way of moving those shapes to convey emotions or how people are supost to see them

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The Terminal overview

 For my main project I am asked to redesign the opining scene of the movie The Terminal. So I have watched the movie and have made an overview of the film as a whole for me to have a better understanding of it.

The overall storyline of the terminal is that a man called Victor Navorski is unexpectedly stuck in an airport terminal due to his hometown Krakozhia being in the middle of a war that started while he was on the plane to New York, as a result the US can’t accept him in as his country for the moment doesn't exist. So, he takes up residence in the airport terminal for the months it takes for the situation to work itself out.

The opening scene of the film starts off with the everyday busyness of a typical airport as well as the main villain of the movie, Frank Dixon, the head of the airport monitoring the place and telling the security Gard with him how good he is at their job establishing his want’s without even being formally introduced to him. We also see with Victor's introduction certain elements of his character that are later developed, such as his lack of English that he will over time get better at and the can he carries around that we later find out contains a bunch of signatures of famous Jazz musicians. We then have these two characters talk together where Frank gets more and more frustrated with Victor’s inability to understand him before telling him that he can't l leave the airport and shoving him out of the office without getting a proper translator to explain what is happening. This opening helps explain some of the main conflicts between the protagonist and the antagonist that is going to steadily grow over the run time of the film.  We see Victor with a massive tin in his hand and despite this tin being important to the story later not much focus or attention is brought to it to make it clear from the get-go, while being something I did end up noting at some point, I completely forgot that it existed leaving me confused when it was brought up. I do think more attention to it would have made it stick in the back of my mind.

There aren't many locations in the terminal as 99% of the movie takes place in the airport itself and gate 67 where Victor lives. There are other main locations in the airport as well like the Burger King in the main walk shopping area, different office rooms that the characters talk in, and Dixon’s main office. The ending however is in the Ramada Inn rather than the airport, mainly in the lounge as Victor waits for jazz star Benny Golson to finish up a number so he can give Victor his signature.

The scene right after the first two scenes where Victor finds out that his home of Krakozhia is in a massive political conflict is probably one of my favourite scenes of the movie. This scene has him grinning around in distress at the tv screens in the airport that are reporting on the situation in Krakozhia. There are also plenty of shots far away from him running around while everyone else is calm and ignores him, helping show how alone he is. The shot ends with it zooming out from him as he stands in the middle of the airport alone while everyone else continues about their day, him unable to communicate with any of them about the distress that he is in.  

Another great scene that also helps elicit a great emotional response is the goat scene where Victor, now knowing a lot more English, is asked to help interpret what another person is saying so that they can tell him that he can't take medicine oversees without the right paperwork. There is a great shot where the man and victor surrounded by Dixon and other airport security are standing behind an open glass door with the two being the only two in direct view behind it, this and Dixon’s distance from them helps frame Victor and the man as visibly apart from the airport staff. What helps make this scene heart-breaking is that we find out that this medicine is to try to save this man's dad and we can see how he’s boxed in, backed into a corner and desperate, he even gets on his knees and begs only for Dixon to say he can't take the medicine with him, and the airport security physically drags him away kicking and screaming. It isn't until Victor tells them to stop and lies telling them that they are actually for a goat. Dixon argues but eventually gives the pills back when the man catches on and says they are for a goat as well, the camera on the man's face showing his red tired eyes from all the stress he's in and a desperate sound in his voice. this scene hits a little harder when you find out later that Victor is in the United States to get Benny Golson for his father as he passed away before he could get it.

Already I can see some things that I would like to change mainly making the tin a more important part in the beginning or at the very leas drawing people attention to it. 

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In a group of me, Leia Scott, Craig Are, and Scott Darragh we were tasked with making a storyboard based around ‘The three little pigs.’ We decided to tell it from the perspective of the wolf. Using these basic shapes helps block all the frames out without being too complicated and still gets the point across.

Leia ended up being the one drawing the most in this exercise. while we all came up with ideas for the story board I do wish I had the confidence to contribute drawing wise to the storyboards. I think the version of the three little pigs is fun and unique and I cant wait to watch the film ‘The Terminal’, that was assigned to our group with them.   

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These are storyboard sketches going over a scene from the movie ‘Now you see me 2’ more accurately 30 seconds of the card scene from that movie. Above are annotations of these quick sketches also explaining more about what's going on with the cinematography and why certain shots were done.

I really like the card scene from this movie due to a lot of technical things going on. we have a bit of CGI in the card going through the coat in particular with the 30 seconds of the scene I decided to look at. The moments before that particular shot where you see one of the two men reaching out only for the camera to pan down to a point where behind them is more darker then thee white walls around them and then you see the string attached to the card. its a little think that lets you know why the guards searching them might not have scene but also a worry that if the continue looking closely that they will, like they do at the end of my 30 second clip.