For our recent 161MC we had to develop a TV show and a website to go alongside it. The website had to both fit the feel of our show and function like any other magazine show website. Things we chose to add to our website include: a mini game, a competition for comic con tickets, articles about all things geeky and bios and pictures of our presenter team. Overall, I’m happy with the way our website presents itself, what do you think of it?
http://abbiegailhewitt.wix.com/geek-week-tv
Mad Max: Fury Road Review
Its been 30 years since George Miller took us by the hand and thrust us into the chaotic wastelands of the end of the world in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) so understandably fans (including myself) were biting at the bit for Millers most recent addition, Mad Max: Fury Road.
Hollywoods hot thing Tom Hardy takes over as the titular character in place of Mel Gibson and stars alongside actors such as Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Keays-Byrne. Max finds himself alongside Charlize Theron’s character Furiosa in her quest to return to her childhood home.
First of all I was skeptical about Tom Hardy being a suitable replacement for Mel Gibson. We had travelled with Gibson through three films and grown attached not only to the character but his appearance as well, however I was pleasantly surprised with just how quickly I found myself accepting Hardy as the silent but deadly Max. In fact all of the characters feel suitably crazy for the apocalyptic setting of the film. This is something that George Miller has continuously nailed throughout all of the Mad Max film series, this sense of sheer madness and chaos, coupled with a unique environment that is instantly recognisable as that of a Mad Max film.
Another thing that really stood out for me, and can be witnessed in all of the Mad Max:Fury Road trailers, is the strength of its soundtrack. The film uniquely blends the music with whats occurring on screen. For example (and this really sums up the madness!) there is a guy strapped to the front of a large truck littered with amps, dressed in a red jump suit with a double headed guitar that also spurts out flames. Right?!
And whats more, this flamethrower is no CGI gimmick, no, George Miller had it custom built for the film, the same goes for all the cars you see in the film. Its this dedication to reality that makes the film so visually interesting as well. Many films these days rely to heavily on what a computer can do for you where as Fury Road flaunts the practical real effects in your face.
Overall, its easy to see why so many people are already screaming that Mad Max: Fury Road is the best film to hit the screens this year. It both appeals to the old school of filmmaking and the new age audience whilst not forgetting the strength of its narrative, and with Hardy reportedly attached to feature in three more Mad Max films its surely a good time to be a geek?
By Grant Snaith
TV studio session – Tuesday 5th May
Our show was named The Geek Week and was designed as a topic a week show that would cover a specific area of Geek culture. This particular show concentrated on cosplay, its history and growing presence in modern western 
society. Our lengthy research into things Geek really paid off during the design and concept of our set which looked really good on camera with various items of Geekyness on display with a colourful couch and posters lining the walls. In hindsight I would have like to have the walls filled with a little more colour but the majority of our shots were tight and prevented the cameras from seeing the wider less populated set. Our VT’s were suitable to our project: one showing a trip our presenters took to MCM Birmingham Comic Con shortly after we had decided what topic to cover in our show and the international VT being of a trip to a large comic book store there and exploring the influences on the cosplay community. I feel these met the required criteria for our project however one of them seemed to be far too lengthy and I worried it would loose the interest of the audience. My role within the television team was Camera 2 operator, a role I hadn’t had the opportunity to prepare for as I had missed a few practice sessions due to 
international trips and the team deciding that my role should b changed, however, I found the process of camera operation simple and easy to pick up on the day. Essentially it relied heavily on floor manager and director working well together. Unfortunately, our director didn’t seem to take the project very seriously and acted rather unprofessional and as such communication between him and the floor manager were strained. I think the project would have benefited from a stronger director who could communicate clearly back and forth with the floor manager. Our director not only demonstrated a lack of professionalism in communication to the studio from the gallery but he also forgot to bring in the VT creating a large problem for us during the shoot even though we were allowed to add the VT after shoot. This meant our timing had to be really tight as we didn’t have the VT in front of us to make sure we could add it easily later. I was largely disappointed with our director in general and felt that we should have had someone else at the helm. Inside the gallery, early on in our shoot it seemed disorganised and argumentative which was a direct issue from lacking a strong central figure present. However, once we had began rolling and resolved our technical issues they co-ordinated themselves well. The auto-que scrolled a little too slowly the first run through but this was rectified for our following shoots. Our major problem on set was the audio, we hadn’t prepared sufficiently for 
recording audio in the two sections of our set which we discovered after our first take. This is something that we should have highlighted during practice but without our demonstration able to make practice we should have pretended that we had to move to a different section of the set. We remedied this by moving our mics so that one was positioned to pick up audio from the makeup tutorial even whilst not on screen and tilted the other slightly to accommodate for the interviewee. Our camera operators were organised and very aware of the schedule and timing of the show, especially camera operator one who also had the added job of operating the on set TV screen after positioning his camera into a suitable shot for the next segment of the show. We had four cameras in total, one unmanned aimed as a close up on the make up demonstration to give a constant view during the show. The Floor Manager also did a successful job of queuing the cameras and the Presenters were aware of which cameras they needed to look at during which part of the show. We had a duo of presenters who both dressed up in costume to fit with the theme of cosplay our show was following. They made for a good group but sometimes felt too scripted and seemed to be a little nervous. During one of our takes we found a gap of six seconds that needed filling and the 
presenters did a good job of filling this section with dialogue between presenter and make up artist. Myself and the floor manager also dressed in costume to add to the theme of the show and create a calming atmosphere which I think helped and showed commitment to the show. Other members of crew chose to wear Geek related items of clothing as well which showed a unison amongst the team. Reflecting upon my own performance, I feel I did so quite successfully considering I missed two rehearsals due to being away in Istanbul and had my job role changed from Presenter, to Floor Manager to Camera Operator in the last week. I would have liked to have been more aware of the blocking of the set beforehand and perhaps should have requested an image the set sent to me whilst I was aware to help prepare. With more time I also would have studied the operation of the cameras a little more in depth and was fortunate to have the assistance of the other camera operators in setting it up. I would have spoken out against the choice of director from the beginning to try and persuade the group to pick someone more capable of the role and also would have spent more time familiarising myself with all the roles in the studio and the equipment as then I would have been better prepared for a switch in set role. My feelings towards working in TV has not changed since this experience and it is still an area of Media that I would prefer to avoid. It feels far too regimented and structured and lacking in creativity and freedom to be a career I would enjoy pursuing.
Today we met as a group to discuss what direction we wanted to take our project in, luckily we all agreed relatively quickly that exploring the world of cosplay was a unique and interesting concept that offered many realistic channels to pursue for VT’s and demonstrations. However, during our seminar with our lecturer a
few cracks in this appeared in that if we were supposedly making a series, could cosplay really have enough content to be a weekly episode. So we began to explore the concept of covering all things geek with aims at keeping it centred around fandoms. I began to research into the possibilities for our show:
– Video Gaming: Largely accepted in modern day society on a variety of platforms: playstation, xbox, pc, mobile phones and so on. Because of this there is no end of options for interviewees, even opening up the possibility of interviews in the streets. In addition, the game industry is forever growing and there is new news related to it all the time meaning our story can be relevant to the present day. Luckily, there is the UK’s biggest gaming festival taking place in Coventry itself named Insomnia 54. http://insomniagamingfestival.com
I think also began thinking about the set and what it should be made up of as this was a major concern of our group. I think what will really sell this set will be the small details as opposed to the overall look. Some bright colours coupled with dotted geeky memorabilia like posters, game consolers, films, board games etc. Here is a small example of what I think a good set would look like for this project.
I am a self confessed geek and proud to be see. I love Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Warcraft, Marvel and many more. One of my earliest interests of the geekdom is my interest in table top games and roleplaying games. I’ve played so many different varieties of games within these genres but my love first started with a UK based company known as Games Workshop
and their Warhammer 40k miniatures set. Its an amazing game of tactics between alien species and the last of mankind and although it focuses on the miniatures on the board, the lore and background of this universe are rich with details that have created so many interesting novels. One long standing series of novels from this universe is known as the Horus Heresy that really captured my imagination.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Horus_Heresy_(novels)
Its been a series of books that I have always wanted to see adapted into a movie or series of movies following the opening three books of the series: Horus Rising, False Gods and Galaxy in Flames. Its got some great characters and an impactful twist of brother fighting brother amidst the feelings of abandonment, pride and revenge. If I ever ‘made it big’ then I would jump at the chance to direct this series in live action because I really think its got promise. The visuals with this story are dark and gritty, offering up a brutal vision of a future that has been missing from cinema. Whilst I’m not going to pretend i’ve thought it through in intricate details, here are a few key things I think that are required for this to be a success:
Garviel Locken and the Luna Wolves
Much of the novels focus on Garviel Locken, Captain of the Luna Wolves’ 10th Company. He is initiated to the Mournival, a group of personal advisors to Horus the Warmaster of the Crusade campaigns against anti-Imperials and aliens. It is imperative that despite these hulking space marines being killing machines that we feel a real intense bond between the brothers of the chapter, especially between the members of the Mournival. This will make the turning point of the series, the betrayal, all that more emotional. The actors would also have to be chosen with keen insight into each character.
The Power of the Space Marines
The Space Marines are one of the most elite and feared fighting forces in the Imperium of Man. They are physically and mentally tempered for war against the horrors of the universe. Its important that from the very beginning of the series they are portrayed as ruthless warriors of tactical genius capable of crushing a mans head with their hand.
The Primarchs and The Emperor
Both the Primarchs and the Emperor are impressive warrior even amongst the space marines, the Primarchs lead the chapters and the Emperor is like a god above the Imperium of Man. They should each be unique and powerful but the relationship between Primarch and Emperor should also be stressed for they are essentially his children, none more so than Horus.
The 41st Millennium is a Grim Place
People shouldn’t come to this film expecting to see heroes saving the day with valiant heroism and giving the baddie a slap on the wrist. Its the 41st Millennium and there is only war. Blood will be spilt, limbs will be chopped, heads will roll. This will have to have an 18 rating to really capture that brutality of the setting however this could be problematic for a film based in the universe of a merchandise that sells to all ages.
The Journey Begins 