Well its dones and before I forget this is where you can access the movie https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/gishc/FlyingCircus.wmv , that is if it works. As I think about this project and the ones I did when I was a kid I really wish I would have had some freer inquiry. This project was actually fun for me. I still am a little hesitant in handing it in as I have never had such a free experience and I can almost see it being all wrong. Then again I am not sure if I would have had the maturity to do free inquiry as a child. Maybe if a teacher was watching me closely.
I must say though this project was unlike any I have ever did. This was the first project where books weren't the main resource tool. I used movies more than anything and gleaned ideas off of them. Even though they didn't come out straight and tell me, they gave me an idea on what music to use, how a word card should look and even how the lettering of the time period looked like. I'm not sure how you would site that stuff but I guess that is how music and movies work. Its the musicians and producers of the past that newer artists imitate which then turns itself into new work. You can't site a musical style, its just kinda there, same way with movies. I guess nothing is new under the sun.
Anyways if you are interested in any of the websites I used, here they are.
How to Make a Silent Movie- http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Silent-Movie - what I started with in my original search. Very basic, almost common sensical listing of how to make a movie.
Prelinger Archives- http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger - This site contains thousands of film clips in it from the olden days, including those old corny educational films (which might be a neat idea to do next). There are so many of them that I'll list a few I watched to give me some ideas
College- http://www.archive.org/details/college - a nice Buster Keaton feature film, had some good laughs
The Electric House- http://www.archive.org/details/TheElectricHouse - a Buster Keaton short film that features him hooking up a house's electrical supply
Between Showers- http://www.archive.org/details/CC_1914_02_28_BetweenShowers - I wanted to see a really early film so I tried this one with Charlie Chaplin. A little tacky and most of it is done through body language.
World War I Aircraft- http://www.theaerodrome.com/ - one of the few sites out there that deals with World War I aircraft. I just used this to spot check if I was as accurate as possible in my movie.
Copyright Question- http://www.cric.or.jp/cric_e/beginners2/beginners2_qa2.html
Copyright Law- http://www.cric.or.jp/cric_e/clj/cl2_1.html#cl2_1+A30 - These two sites dealt with some of my copyright questions though it is still a bit hazy with me.
After doing this film I really want to create a few more. I think I just have to wait a little longer for my main actor to be able to go along a little bit better with the script
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
It's Done
Well the flick is done. I am pretty impressed by it also. I sent it out to the folks and family and they got a huge kick out of it. "Great" "Nice them to go along with his room" and "Liked the scene of him in the plane" all went with their emails.
I've been able to find a few books that have dealt with the aircraft of the time period though it was a little too late. Combat Aircraft of World War I and II and Aviation by Year both helped but it still kind of angers me how little this subject comes to the forefront as for every book on this subject there are fifty more for World War II.
I was reading through the standards and one of them hit me, the fourth one "Students pursue information related to personal interests" as this has been the most interesting project I have ever done. It seems like growing up in school that you always had a list of topics and a format in how your project had to be done. Most of the topics I hated and writing a paper never suited me that well. So this project still doesn't feel like its legit. I keep feeling that I am doing something wrong as I actually enjoyed doing this. It incorporated all the things I like, planes, my son, Move Maker and gave me the opportunity to make something that my family enjoys also.
Now with the movie done I have an idea on how to make future silent films. I think I will keep this "Little Bert" Series thing going. Now I just need to come up with a new film. This time I am going to script it out a little bit more before just jumping into it. It might save me a little more time.
Now comes the final task and no small one. I have to find a way to place the film onto the internet. I have never been all that tech-savvy so we'll see how it goes. I think I'll work it out through OnCourse as I hate setting up another accounts. I am going through a password and account login overload. I have to now type in about six different passwords before I can get into any of my computer accounts. Just too much out there.
I am digressing so I am getting off of this thing and hopefully the next time I come back on I'll have it on the web.
I've been able to find a few books that have dealt with the aircraft of the time period though it was a little too late. Combat Aircraft of World War I and II and Aviation by Year both helped but it still kind of angers me how little this subject comes to the forefront as for every book on this subject there are fifty more for World War II.
I was reading through the standards and one of them hit me, the fourth one "Students pursue information related to personal interests" as this has been the most interesting project I have ever done. It seems like growing up in school that you always had a list of topics and a format in how your project had to be done. Most of the topics I hated and writing a paper never suited me that well. So this project still doesn't feel like its legit. I keep feeling that I am doing something wrong as I actually enjoyed doing this. It incorporated all the things I like, planes, my son, Move Maker and gave me the opportunity to make something that my family enjoys also.
Now with the movie done I have an idea on how to make future silent films. I think I will keep this "Little Bert" Series thing going. Now I just need to come up with a new film. This time I am going to script it out a little bit more before just jumping into it. It might save me a little more time.
Now comes the final task and no small one. I have to find a way to place the film onto the internet. I have never been all that tech-savvy so we'll see how it goes. I think I'll work it out through OnCourse as I hate setting up another accounts. I am going through a password and account login overload. I have to now type in about six different passwords before I can get into any of my computer accounts. Just too much out there.
I am digressing so I am getting off of this thing and hopefully the next time I come back on I'll have it on the web.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Aircraft and Inquiry
Well the air sequence of my film has led to a whole bunch more inquiry. To make the film appear realistic I am doing the only time era open to silent movies about aircraft and that is World War I. The only problem with that is I know very little about World War I. It has always been overshadowed by World War II and recieves little attention. There are a few websites such as The Aerdrome and I even found that there is a magazine (good luck in finding it) but this time period and topic are kept in near obscurity. And its no wonder. I found out a fighter pilots lifespan averaged three weeks on the front and most of the major aces, the Red Baron included, died in combat, often in their early twenties.
Well like I said, my son's ceiling is covered with models that I have created so I looked at the World War I ones (numbering four) and decided to work with them. There is only one German (a Fokker Dr. I, a triplane for those of you who don't know)and this one would be needed for the enemy. I needed to find out when it was used and found out 1917 before it was pulled out of service. I then looked at the good guys and the Sopwith Camel would become the main advesary as it was during the war. Maybe my folks and any modern day audience wouldn't know this but I would and went at it as keeping it as accurate as possible.
So now I had settings and a plane. Using the white cloth technique I got some good shots (an apple corer makes a great gunsight) but could not get everything I wanted. I couldn't get the plane to look like it was taking off or being shot down for that matter and that is where footage from Hell's Angels came in. From what I've read (and understood) in copyright laws, as long as what you are doing is being shown to a small group and not for money, you are OK to use it. In fact many things that were made before 1937 fall into the public domain. The copyright can be renewed but the older the work the less pertinent the copyright is.
So I have filmed a few shots of the movie and placed them in. The movie is very inaccurate from what I researched. The German planes are old British De Havillands with crosses painted on them. But I got some good stuff and used it to good effect.
Now that I had all these shots and had them loaded into my computer, I had no idea of what I really wanted to do with them. I had no script, no direction and learned really quickly you just can't start lumping things together and make a story. There needs to be something to go off of. So I made a script, reshot a few scenes and started piecing the film together.
For the word cards I used my uncle's technique with great success. I have even found some old art deco lettering that really fits the time period. So now I am about halfway done with making the film together. For a three minute film if I keep at the pace I am going, it will take about ten hours to make. You never appreciate the work you see on the screen until you actually have to do it.
I also watched a modern day World War I flying movie, Flyboys which was a neat experience. It seems like nowhere is accuracy strived for. While the aircraft are the right types in this film, all German planes are red, just like the Red Barons. I found this comical as most of these types were either camoflaged or in blue but this film makes them all red.
Well like I said, my son's ceiling is covered with models that I have created so I looked at the World War I ones (numbering four) and decided to work with them. There is only one German (a Fokker Dr. I, a triplane for those of you who don't know)and this one would be needed for the enemy. I needed to find out when it was used and found out 1917 before it was pulled out of service. I then looked at the good guys and the Sopwith Camel would become the main advesary as it was during the war. Maybe my folks and any modern day audience wouldn't know this but I would and went at it as keeping it as accurate as possible.
So now I had settings and a plane. Using the white cloth technique I got some good shots (an apple corer makes a great gunsight) but could not get everything I wanted. I couldn't get the plane to look like it was taking off or being shot down for that matter and that is where footage from Hell's Angels came in. From what I've read (and understood) in copyright laws, as long as what you are doing is being shown to a small group and not for money, you are OK to use it. In fact many things that were made before 1937 fall into the public domain. The copyright can be renewed but the older the work the less pertinent the copyright is.
So I have filmed a few shots of the movie and placed them in. The movie is very inaccurate from what I researched. The German planes are old British De Havillands with crosses painted on them. But I got some good stuff and used it to good effect.
Now that I had all these shots and had them loaded into my computer, I had no idea of what I really wanted to do with them. I had no script, no direction and learned really quickly you just can't start lumping things together and make a story. There needs to be something to go off of. So I made a script, reshot a few scenes and started piecing the film together.
For the word cards I used my uncle's technique with great success. I have even found some old art deco lettering that really fits the time period. So now I am about halfway done with making the film together. For a three minute film if I keep at the pace I am going, it will take about ten hours to make. You never appreciate the work you see on the screen until you actually have to do it.
I also watched a modern day World War I flying movie, Flyboys which was a neat experience. It seems like nowhere is accuracy strived for. While the aircraft are the right types in this film, all German planes are red, just like the Red Barons. I found this comical as most of these types were either camoflaged or in blue but this film makes them all red.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
So Far So Good
Yesterday filming started. It was supposed to be the easy part of the film. I am just shooting the natural scenes. Ones that need no acting. I have placed them into the film, added the old technique and it looks good. The nice thing about the film being silent and all scratchy is that you don't need to worry about saying anything and any mistakes in filming are greatly alleviated due to the old fashioned effect which purposely weakens the quality of the film, hiding things that would otherwise not look right.
I have a song picked out and recorded that last night also. An old polka from the 20s that sounds more Sousa than polka. I have a feeling that copyright will not be a problem with this stuff. Heck I could have the last copy there is.
To shoot the scenes of planes flying I have been working on two things. One is hanging model planes (which I have an abundance of) in front of a white sheet and move the camera to simulate movement. I have done this and it has come out pretty good. The second way is to get images straight from another movie. Howard Hughes's Hell's Angels has perfect sequences for that. I was not able to translate that into a video format that I could work with till my wife suggested filming it off of the screen. I didn't think it would work but surprisingly it did.
So the next thing is to see copyright laws. I doubt that this would infringe upon anybody's copyright as everything I am using is old and I am not doing this to make money. But I'll still check to make sure.
As I was reading about the different literacies for class this week one came out and struck me. The visual one. I have known all my life that I see things better than read things. Hence my love for history. I excelled in the class due to my ability to picture what we were reading. By picking this project and making a movie I guess I am showing my full fledged support of visual literacy. I think at times though it is hard for a visual learner in school where things are often set in the written word. I had a hard time feeling that this project would be acceptable as I am so use to writing a term paper. I guess we all have our different abilities and while my wife is analytical and needs everything explained fully, I have always been able to see things in my head and can't often find the words to convey those ideas to her. The decor of our house is a perfect example. We got to the point where I stopped trying to explain my plans to her and just did it. She can't believe how I can see the things before they are done and I still don't know how to convey these thoughts to things she can understand. So we just go that way and its saves on the fights.
I have a song picked out and recorded that last night also. An old polka from the 20s that sounds more Sousa than polka. I have a feeling that copyright will not be a problem with this stuff. Heck I could have the last copy there is.
To shoot the scenes of planes flying I have been working on two things. One is hanging model planes (which I have an abundance of) in front of a white sheet and move the camera to simulate movement. I have done this and it has come out pretty good. The second way is to get images straight from another movie. Howard Hughes's Hell's Angels has perfect sequences for that. I was not able to translate that into a video format that I could work with till my wife suggested filming it off of the screen. I didn't think it would work but surprisingly it did.
So the next thing is to see copyright laws. I doubt that this would infringe upon anybody's copyright as everything I am using is old and I am not doing this to make money. But I'll still check to make sure.
As I was reading about the different literacies for class this week one came out and struck me. The visual one. I have known all my life that I see things better than read things. Hence my love for history. I excelled in the class due to my ability to picture what we were reading. By picking this project and making a movie I guess I am showing my full fledged support of visual literacy. I think at times though it is hard for a visual learner in school where things are often set in the written word. I had a hard time feeling that this project would be acceptable as I am so use to writing a term paper. I guess we all have our different abilities and while my wife is analytical and needs everything explained fully, I have always been able to see things in my head and can't often find the words to convey those ideas to her. The decor of our house is a perfect example. We got to the point where I stopped trying to explain my plans to her and just did it. She can't believe how I can see the things before they are done and I still don't know how to convey these thoughts to things she can understand. So we just go that way and its saves on the fights.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wrapping
I now have it, a script. I am in the phase Dr. Lamb would call wrapping and while my script is not failsafe, I do have a general idea in where I want to go. I am going back and forth between creation and processing information. While before I was going between webbing, wiggling and wrapping, I now feel taht I am more in the wrapping part of the project.
First off the cards. I talked with my uncle and he suggested using paintbrush to create placards to write words on. I messed around with this a little yesterday and it works. I just take an old picture, paint it all black and waa laa, I have a backdrop for written words. I plugged it into Movie Maker and it works. Now just to make the frame and text and I think that is easy enough as I have done both with paintbrush before.
The script is simple. It has to include my son and be close to three minutes. So to make something that would incorporate warplanes but keep it a little less than serious, I took a cue from Charles Schultz and thought of an idea of a duel with the Red Baron. Now just to get him in the sky with the Red Baron. I have been toying with a dream sequence. I will start shooting that this weekend as I will be home and it will be more natural as I am not sure how he is going to work with the camera.
The other bit is the music. I listened to some old scratchy 78s and have a few choices. Most come to three minutes giving me the time limit I need for my script. I also think the scrathcy sounds of the music replicates what I have heard on some of the films I have watched.
Now the question of how to incorporate other pieces of film into mine. I feel that since I am not making any money off of this and the films I am dealing with nicking scenes from are over 70 years old, I will be alright but I can't seem to find a way to transpose those onto another media. I will work with that once I get the initial scenes with my son shot.
As Kuhlthau says around this time a person feels relief and I can say I am truly feeling that way. Whiel i still have a lot to create at least now I have a ballpark idea of what it is I am creating and knowing that pulls a load off of my shoulders.
First off the cards. I talked with my uncle and he suggested using paintbrush to create placards to write words on. I messed around with this a little yesterday and it works. I just take an old picture, paint it all black and waa laa, I have a backdrop for written words. I plugged it into Movie Maker and it works. Now just to make the frame and text and I think that is easy enough as I have done both with paintbrush before.
The script is simple. It has to include my son and be close to three minutes. So to make something that would incorporate warplanes but keep it a little less than serious, I took a cue from Charles Schultz and thought of an idea of a duel with the Red Baron. Now just to get him in the sky with the Red Baron. I have been toying with a dream sequence. I will start shooting that this weekend as I will be home and it will be more natural as I am not sure how he is going to work with the camera.
The other bit is the music. I listened to some old scratchy 78s and have a few choices. Most come to three minutes giving me the time limit I need for my script. I also think the scrathcy sounds of the music replicates what I have heard on some of the films I have watched.
Now the question of how to incorporate other pieces of film into mine. I feel that since I am not making any money off of this and the films I am dealing with nicking scenes from are over 70 years old, I will be alright but I can't seem to find a way to transpose those onto another media. I will work with that once I get the initial scenes with my son shot.
As Kuhlthau says around this time a person feels relief and I can say I am truly feeling that way. Whiel i still have a lot to create at least now I have a ballpark idea of what it is I am creating and knowing that pulls a load off of my shoulders.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Confidence
Through some emails and some revelations I am feeling a tad bit more confident in my project. First off to start, I have been very hesitant in what I have been doing. The thought has entered my head at times that has really questioned what I was doing. Was I doing the right thing. It seemed like the farther I went along in my project, the farther from my goal I was getting. My searches spiraled farther away from an ending and the frustration grew.
At first I took a pretty generic thing, film, thought about it and figured I liked silent film and wouldn't it be neat to make a silent film. All of this part of the inquiry came quite quick. I knew of Windows Movie Maker and its potential (though I didn't know all the techniques and am still learning) knew of some films from the time period and had a great amount of motivation behind me making me want to do it.
But then came the rehash. What should I film? Can I make a movie? Do I have the resources available? Is this project even acceptable, after all its for entertainment, not anything academic. Through searching and emails I am now feeling that I may be onto something. I have reached the point in Kulhthau's process where I have formed my focus and am now collecting information. It is in this point that confidence starts gaining and I can truly feel that way.
To start off first I have an idea of what kind of film I want. I want something that serves more of a purpose than just to complete this project, I want something that my family can enjoy. My parents don't get to see their grandchild all that much so I was figuring he could be the major star in it.
Next I tried thinking of what genre I wanted. Prelinger archives have a series of shorts in their repertoire and watching them gave me some ideas. I like the slapstick features of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin but don't really feel like I can fit my two year old son into this style of acting. I watched Hell's Angels, a flying movie that was originally shot as a silent and see that I may be able to do this. My son's room is loaded with model airplanes and I may be able to use these to make flying scenes. I was also thinking I may be able to use some snippets of aircraft shots to make other parts. I am still wondering on copyright on this but I think if I am not making it to make money it might be alright. At least that is what I heard.
I was wondering about how to make the word stills and called up my uncle who has been working with Movie Maker since it came out. He told me about the caption function but I have been a little disappointed with that. Most of the old movies had a frame around the captions and I can't really find a way to do that with the caption model. I think I'll look to see if there is a website that messes with this or even if I could make it myself.
As for music, I have a stash of old records from the 20s and 30s and now that I have a record player that can convert them to MP3s, I think I have a soundtrack. These discs never go past three minutes so I now have a time limit also. It's like everything is falling into place.
Now to make a script or at least think up a direction I want to go. Now that I have some confidence that I know where I am going, this project is becoming fun again. Now to see if I can get a two year old to work with me.
At first I took a pretty generic thing, film, thought about it and figured I liked silent film and wouldn't it be neat to make a silent film. All of this part of the inquiry came quite quick. I knew of Windows Movie Maker and its potential (though I didn't know all the techniques and am still learning) knew of some films from the time period and had a great amount of motivation behind me making me want to do it.
But then came the rehash. What should I film? Can I make a movie? Do I have the resources available? Is this project even acceptable, after all its for entertainment, not anything academic. Through searching and emails I am now feeling that I may be onto something. I have reached the point in Kulhthau's process where I have formed my focus and am now collecting information. It is in this point that confidence starts gaining and I can truly feel that way.
To start off first I have an idea of what kind of film I want. I want something that serves more of a purpose than just to complete this project, I want something that my family can enjoy. My parents don't get to see their grandchild all that much so I was figuring he could be the major star in it.
Next I tried thinking of what genre I wanted. Prelinger archives have a series of shorts in their repertoire and watching them gave me some ideas. I like the slapstick features of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin but don't really feel like I can fit my two year old son into this style of acting. I watched Hell's Angels, a flying movie that was originally shot as a silent and see that I may be able to do this. My son's room is loaded with model airplanes and I may be able to use these to make flying scenes. I was also thinking I may be able to use some snippets of aircraft shots to make other parts. I am still wondering on copyright on this but I think if I am not making it to make money it might be alright. At least that is what I heard.
I was wondering about how to make the word stills and called up my uncle who has been working with Movie Maker since it came out. He told me about the caption function but I have been a little disappointed with that. Most of the old movies had a frame around the captions and I can't really find a way to do that with the caption model. I think I'll look to see if there is a website that messes with this or even if I could make it myself.
As for music, I have a stash of old records from the 20s and 30s and now that I have a record player that can convert them to MP3s, I think I have a soundtrack. These discs never go past three minutes so I now have a time limit also. It's like everything is falling into place.
Now to make a script or at least think up a direction I want to go. Now that I have some confidence that I know where I am going, this project is becoming fun again. Now to see if I can get a two year old to work with me.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Eureka
Finally I have found something. Prelinger Archives, a website, has a host of films from all different time periods and after typing in Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin I found some silent film. These are short films, usually twenty minutes long and they do a good deal to show me how the word slides and film techniques of the time were. Most of what I watched were comedy films, many involving slapstick and over the top chase scenes. I need to think of something to make with the limited tools I have, but what?
I would love to do a war movie but lack the technology to do so. A comedy would be nice too but I don't feel like my wife, my son, or myself have much to offer in that category. It seems the farther I get down the pathway of inquiry the more muddled things have become.
I watched a modern day silent movie and while the main actor did a great job at being comedic through his actions, I found the movie a tad bit dull and stupid. The music was jazz from the fifties, not even fitting the time period. That is another aspect I need to find, how to add music to the final project. I have some records and have the tools for converting them over, now I just need to find the proper music. Movie Maker is still new to me and while I am learning a lot by just putzing around with it, I may need to look up some website tutorials dealing with it.
With all this going on right now I have to say that I am in the 4th stage of Lamb's 8Ws. I am wiggling all over the place. But then again it feels as if I keep repeating the process. I find information through webbing, wiggle around with it try to weave it into my project, only to find that my project has changed again to something else. I seem to be repeating these three areas. First it was for what project I was going to do. When I figured out it would be film I then repeated my process to narrow it down to silent films. After determining to make a silent film I once again went through the process to determine what film I want to make. If I continue this process I will never finish the project. Well off to do more research and thinking.
I would love to do a war movie but lack the technology to do so. A comedy would be nice too but I don't feel like my wife, my son, or myself have much to offer in that category. It seems the farther I get down the pathway of inquiry the more muddled things have become.
I watched a modern day silent movie and while the main actor did a great job at being comedic through his actions, I found the movie a tad bit dull and stupid. The music was jazz from the fifties, not even fitting the time period. That is another aspect I need to find, how to add music to the final project. I have some records and have the tools for converting them over, now I just need to find the proper music. Movie Maker is still new to me and while I am learning a lot by just putzing around with it, I may need to look up some website tutorials dealing with it.
With all this going on right now I have to say that I am in the 4th stage of Lamb's 8Ws. I am wiggling all over the place. But then again it feels as if I keep repeating the process. I find information through webbing, wiggle around with it try to weave it into my project, only to find that my project has changed again to something else. I seem to be repeating these three areas. First it was for what project I was going to do. When I figured out it would be film I then repeated my process to narrow it down to silent films. After determining to make a silent film I once again went through the process to determine what film I want to make. If I continue this process I will never finish the project. Well off to do more research and thinking.
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