Reverse Angle

Trimming the taproot, St Malo Corsairs and the Falklands Islands

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 10:18:00 +0000

For years I have spurned holidays as inefficient, stressful and self-indulgent uses of time. I must now suppose that there really is some good in them after all.

A few days boating around the armpit of the Cherbourg peninsula has had a surprisingly regenerative effect. Usually, I speed through to a more southerly destination, but St Malo is a treasure worth exploring. It is also the eponymous origin of the 'other' name for the Falkland Islands. The Malouines have been largely ignored by an English history still smarting from the tribute squeezed out of British shipping by these swashbuckling brigands. Corsairs who made the Îles Malouines their base of operations for a period of South Atlantic supremacy.

In a St Malo moment of serendipity we met the delightful Kapiten Musiker Erling Matz of the yacht Elisa. He once jammed with ABBA in the early days. Now he lives the dream as a writer and journalist who often works with his photographer wife Corina. They make beautiful books together.

We repaired to the yacht club and consumed Pelforth beer in the heat of the day and long beyond. Whilst quite intoxicated, I made a short film on my iPhone to commemorate the occasion. I should point out that Erling might also have been a trifle less than legally sober at some point during the day. We left him next morning, waiting for his family to rejoin ship before heading off on their sea gypsy odyssey once again.

The next day, Guernsey proved easy to find. In short order we were again ashore and, like gulls, demanding drink and food. Patient natives supplied us with both, it was this which fortified us for the short but carefully navigated haul to Cherbourg. Even in the relaxed state in which very early morning found us, we saw no sea monsters or, sadly, sirens.

If you discover yourself to be hungry and thirsty in Cherbourg then there is no better specific than Le Mistral with its spécialités italiennes, its moules-frites and its incomparably friendly staff (24, Quai Caligny, +332 33 43 17 39).

At an almost unbelievable 05:30 on the last morning we pulled out of Cherbourg in the wake of a seriously fast French Frigate. We wafted across a very calm Channel watching Gannet being very very clever. A long time later, and after a strangely German diet, Weymouth Harbour appeared exactly where the Hydrographic Office suggested it could be found. After some brief and salty housekeeping, a train bore us thirstily away from the sea.

The pens and paper that my guilt forced into my luggage have remained unused. I have ruminated, in good company, on things that otherwise would have festered into some form of prejudice. I also laughed a great deal. And now, apart from aching all over and finding that my energy output has exceeded a prodigious consumption, I am returned a happier and even lighter soul. Repetition is much on my mind.

What seems like ages ago I used to be a sea beastie. The best of it was meeting people, like Erling, who have great stories to tell. It was possible to make a small fortune navigating race yachts and delivery skippering - but you need a large one to start with, so my career was brief. I had forgotten just how much I love that life though.

I should point out that this trip was very different from the one to St Malo the week before. Crossing the Channel in thick fog is not for those with any imagination at all. Our scary story was of a ship encounter in the darkest part of the night.

It started with hearing the increasing thrash of her screw through the thin hull of our boat. Over the starboard quarter, where earlier Joseph had puked into the turbulent night, a dull glow of light appeared in the almost black fog. It grew into a giant and furiously bright cargo ship in thirty seconds.

Whilst those on 'watch below' lay rigidly attentive in their bunks, I spent most of these seemingly ultimate seconds with one hand over the engine start switch, searching the glow for her navigation lights, and thus any clue to her course. The thundering leviathan passed us less than a hundred metres off. Another thirty seconds and she was lost in the murk and presumably back to guard the gates of Hell.

Quite suddenly it was as if she had never been and we breathed again. Everyone can hold their breath for a minute. In these situations it is vital to keep your attention on what is happening outside, rather than inside the yacht. I think that we may choose brown instead of blue sailing trousers in future.

The fog closed in again but slowly burned away after a dawn which changed the pace for the last of the leg to Cherbourg where we topped off the fuel tank. The rest of the trip was splendid, and the sunrise of day two at sea was much like those timelapse shots in films. We watched a jelly-like sun rise in the far distance over the rocky teeth of the Minquieres which we left prudently far to the east.

Next? I suppose that I must set about cutting the taproot properly. Erling's lifestyle is very appealing.

Naked Bike Ride Southampton - A film

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:24:00 +0000

Friday 11th of June did not enjoy the 'flaming' weather that tradition would have. Instead it was a bit cold. But this did not deter the 200 or so cyclists, environmentalists and naturists who met at the top end of Southampton Common to strip off and cycle into the town centre en masse.

This followed an earlier ride in Portsmouth. Rob Jordan, a local IT specialist, organised the ride as a part of the #WorldNakedBikeRide, a global initiative to publicise cycling safety and dependency on oil.

Some of the riders started at out Southampton's Art House to paint their bodies. At 6:30pm they set off to ride the route into the town centre and back. We recorded the following film:
Here is a film of the event:

Video content from an iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:06:00 +0000

On Sunday I was asked to film at a store in Romsey. As part of their social engagement, Waitrose operate a charitable initiative called 'Community Matters' where customers vote on the distribution of a monthly budget to local charities.

Steve Corbett explains:

The Romsey and District Beekeeping Association were one of the beneficiaries a few months ago. The donation from Waitrose has allowed them to fulfill some of their educational objectives.

John Hanks explains:

Film production on the iPhone must be kept simple if you are going to get full benefit from it. I shot, edited and uploaded both of these films with VeriCorder's 1stVideo app. What delights me is that this can be done in around 15mins per story. The implication is that instead of having one video, you can now have a channel. A single video on a website can be useful. But, a channel is what will regularly bring people back to the site. And that is surely the main objective of a website, to build an interactive community of interest. Without that a site is at the mercy of searching.

iPhone iReports from Broadcast Video Expo 2011 - #BVEXPO

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 10:38:00 +0000

The iPhone forms the core of a mobile reporting solution for news and PR which we are developing. Of course any smart phone like the Android could do the same thing too and probably will have all the accessories available soon. But Apple do seem to have occupied the niche first (again?).

We use the Owle Bubo to improve the picture stability, colour saturation and contrast, and special leads to allow broadcast mics to connect with the phone. In addition We have a twin Rotolight interview kit and a 12v battery for recharging all in a small shoulder bag.

Our tests show that it’s achievable to make a specific type of short, factual news/PR story and upload it to a server or to YouTube every half hour. The storyform has been developed using Dramatica Theory. This synergy will impact both citizen journalism as well as the more traditional form promoting a collaborative approach to news gathering. We will be testing full Social Media integration at #BVExpo (Broadcast Video Expo 2011) next week. Look for the tag on YouTube as well as on Twitter.

In the example below from #LondonBoatShow we were developing story structure and did not shoot cutaways on purpose. The objective was to get an unadulterated and unambiguous material and, in any case, cutaways should be relevant to justify covering a jump cut.

VeriCorder’s 1stVideo app is designed specifically for mobile journalism and works for audio, stills with audio and video projects. It’s also very fast and will upload directly to YouTube. The Network edition can also upload to FTP servers so it will integrate with newsroom systems to produce broadcast ready HD pieces in record time. VeriCorder have set up a site to connect media organisations with stringers – findstringers.com. It will also permit stringers to pitch stories as well. Along with Skype and CNN's iReport facility this represents quite a change to media gathering. Look at what is coming out of Egypt right now.
For the 2011 Broadcast Video Expo we will be trialling a report service using the above technologies with some media students actually filming and editing the reports. This is more of a PR than news activity but the principle will be the same.

The workflow will be:

Find appropriate people to interview
Plan a simple interview with them
Shoot using 1st Video camera
Edit using 1st Video
Transfer to a laptop for editorial approval and upload to YouTube from 1st Video server on the phone.
Reporter goes to next interviewa as agreed with editorial.
A Twitter account is connected to YouTube which announces the film.

I would like to thank the following for their help:
Matt Robbins : TV Bay
Tim Haskell : Appleworld Distribution
Gary Symons and Rob Braun : VeriCorder Technology
All of the equipment will be available to see and to buy at the show.

iPhone eats Broadcaster eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:55:00 +0000

iPhone is again about to change our world. This time it is about how it can facilitate mobile journalism.

It's not a bad camera but the weight of the thing makes it difficult to get steady shots and with a lens the size of a rat's testicle it does extremely well but not near broadcast quality.

And then along comes some interesting stuff.

First is the Owle Bubo. This is a device that holds an adapter lens in front of the iPhones to increase the amount of light and thus enhance the quality. The Owle is heavier and so reduces the camera shake and it has many fittings to allow accessories to be fitted; lights, microphones, tripods and so on.

On its own the Owle Bubo significantly increases the capabilities of the iPhone but that is not the really clever bit. If you install Vericorder's 1st Video app then something quite special happens. The iPhone becomes a complete edit capable OB truck for audio and video. It allows you to shoot stills, video and audio and to edit them together.

There are a number of other apps you can add. Timelapse, iMovie, Reel Director and a Photoshop cutdown but they aren't optimised for news and upload to a media company's servers or to YouTube.

Then there is Vericorder's FindStringers site for matching mobile journalists with media companies. One of a growing number of monetization opportunities.

There are other sites too; CNN has its iReport facility for citizen journalism and my first experiment is there. Increasing public participation in news is fascinating.

For ease of viewing it's here too:

Not the greatest contribution to News and Current Affairs but shot, edited and uploaded in a very short while from my phone. I found an open WiFi network with another app and uploaded the piece over a coffee.

I think that the implications of this are truly extraordinary. With a fraction of the kit I would have needed only a couple of years ago I can provide very timely reports for events, news, product launches, PR and so much more.

In fact Ustream has a live broadcast capability which I have tested with the iPhone:

It was a slow connection and long before I got the Bubo.

So, eating dinosaur eggs?

Well the speed with which smartphones are able to acquire and disseminate audio, still and video packages means that traditional news operations are going to face some interesting changes.

I fully realise that there's a lot of difference between an untutored observation and the skills of the journalist in finding the truth in a story. And journalism, via the great news gathering and disseminating organisations, has been a great answer to keeping society informed and speaking truth to power. But Wikileaks serves to illustrate that there are good reasons for suspecting the editorial integrity of these organisations and certainly the Internet is a peerless means of distribution.

The shortest story I ever told

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:54:00 +0000

What is a Quantum scale story?

As some might have noticed I am somewhat intrigued by the Dramatica Theory of story. Clearly it has plenty to say about the larger works of film and literature but what happens when stories get small? Really small. Web research threw up the notion of a story engram from a Dr. Renée Fuller. It's the combination of a noun and verb. But this seemed to fall a bit short of a story. It's hard to get the feeling of a story with such a simple statement. I wondered about the shortest story that could be told.

Dramatica defines a 'grand argument' story as an author's argument for the solution to a problem. A story has four throughlines to represent the four possible perspectives of I, You, We and They. The problem space is fourfold, one for each perspective. They are an internal or external situation or activity. Examples of the external are simple; a family meeting and and playing a game of chess. Internal situations manifest as fixed attitude and internal activities as manipulation. This makes for a big story.

But I was interested in how small a story could be and still be Dramatica compliant. So I asked Chris Huntley who is one of the two inventors of Dramatica. It seems that you need a quad. A noun, a verb, an adverb and an adjective and it works very simply.

The noun-verb engram 'dog barks' is no more than a statement. Without context it is not engaging. So it's not a story or anything like one. Adding an adjective to make it into 'dog barks defiantly' raises the level of interest a bit. It's still not really compelling; but if an adverb is added then it becomes the core of a story: 'Dying dog barks defiantly'. Now there is something to pursue.

I find this exercise interesting and even quite helpful. By whittling down to the smallest number of words, a story's essence begins to be revealed. A dramatic premise and/or a hypothesis are tools frequently used as beacons when writing; they can help to keep the story on track as it becomes bigger and more involved. I have come to rather like this new insight.

There is another interesting use for this fundamental model of story. Dramatica says that a grand argument story is like a mind's argument for the solution to a problem. I find it noteworthy that a business is also an argument for the solution to a problem. I have probably mentioned this link between business and story before.

For our own business we thought it would be interesting to frame its fundamental story and we came up with 'Engaging stories told economically". I think that's a pretty good reality within which to work and even if only aspiration, it still works for me.

Dramatica Theory and the real world of documentary film

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Fri, 14 May 2010 11:15:00 +0000

I have been slowly and painfully studying and learning Dramatica Theory on and off for years now and, although I've not used it for fiction - yet, Dramatica has had a profound effect on how I approach documentary film.

In order to bring benefit to fiction, Dramatica must help the author to keep a story coherent with its own rules or the audience will reject it out of hand. And, given the cognitive and perceptual make-up of human beings then it must have a foundation of relevant and valid human psychology. Clearly, this is why it can work well with non-fiction too.

Some years ago I was working in an environment made hostile by a very political management. While a friend of mine was still working there we worked up a story structure in Dramatica featuring him as the Main Character.

We were both impressed extremely by the questions that the query system began asking about the relationships between the various characters. Dramatica seemed to have captured something about the essential structure of the situation.

I now use the model as much as I can in order to get to grips with a type of work in which it is very easy to get lost. Dramatica helps provide a compass. And I am particularly impressed by the matrix of genres and modes of expression in Ch19 of the book.

Horizontally the matrix has 4 domains wherein a storyteller's hands get dirty. These are internal and external situations and activities. Examples of each are:

External Situation -Wrongful accusation
External Activity - Trial at Court
Internal Situation - Fear of imprisonment
Internal Activity - Imagining being victimised by other prisoners

You can imagine a story made from the above and told using a mix of information, drama, comedy and entertainment as appropriate modes of expression. These are represented vertically in the matrix. And where the intersections occur you will find more familiar terms ie where an external activity meets drama you get the realm of Indiana Jones and so on.

	Situation	Activity	Fixed AttitudeInternal Situation	ManipulationInternal Activity
Information (documentary)	What/Where is it?	How does it work?	What does it mean?	Why is it important?
Drama	How are things (un)balanced?	What activities cause what problems?	What attitudes cause what conflicts?	How best to deal with changes or manipulations?
Comedy	Situation Comedy	Physical Comedy. Slapstick	Comedy of manners. Farce.	Comedy of errors. Twelfth Night.
Entertainment	Horror, disaster, fantasy, musical, sci-fi etc	Action, adventure, suspense	Entertaining concept	Entertainment through twists

adapted from Ch 19 of the Dramatica Theory Book

It is this that gave rise to the notion that there are only really four questions about any subject of a documentary: what/where is it?; how does it work?; what does it mean?; why is it important? But as you can see, it's possible to move between modes of expression in order to address the areas that gave rise to the questions. Documentary often uses dramatic storytelling in reconstructions that provide an argument where the evidence is dry and hard to digest. And it can use comedy as is so well done in 'The Yes Men Fix The World'.

Clearly all this is a work in progress and I would be grateful for a head slapping from anyone who spots omissions, glaring mistakes and bits of arrant stupidity etc.

Bye bye Flash - Hello HTML 5

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Thu, 13 May 2010 10:34:00 +0000

Philip Hodgetts has a blog worth following. In this post he signposts something that will rear up in all our faces very soon. HTML 5 will establish an open, web native video standard and everything will have to support it. The world will finally be in colour!

Fact: Philip Hodgetts has a big brain.

I really must keep this secret

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Thu, 13 May 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Note to self: don't tell anybody about this interview or this guy's site. It's all far too helpful. Why would we want our competition knowing Dov Simens' processes anyhow? They probably paid to go to film school and anyway, nobody follows my blog.

Lusty Glaze

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Mon, 10 May 2010 09:16:00 +0000

We spent two days in Cornwall. Lusty Glaze is a well resourced beach and we stayed with the Best of British South Pole Expedition as they had a rigorous day of training. As well as shooting coverage for the documentary we made a short film about the place to thank Howard Wilkinson for looking after us.

Here is the review edit:

Dumb Questions & Interviews

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:32:00 +0000

Just as in any other environment, a documentary interview is essentially a contrived performance. And this leaves film makers with a couple of problems:

What questions will deliver the evidence that I want?
How can I be sure of the integrity of the interviewee?

Well, there are tools we can use. Documentary interviews provide the answer to only four questions. That's because, as with any story, the evidence comes from situations or activities in either the 'real' world or the one in our heads. The real world situation is revealed through the question "What and where is it?"; the real world activity by "How does it work?". Internal situations are formed from our prejudices and lead us to ask "What does it mean?". Finally, internal activities are about manipulation and thus provoke the question "Why is it important?".

Any question intended to produce information will be a special case of one of these four generic questions. To get a complete view of something the documentary must answer all four but depending upon style one or more will have greater significance. Masses more on this at the dramatica.com website.

And that leaves us with the problem that we must either accept the integrity of the interviewee or find a tool to test their answers for coherence. To do this we can use a technique that was developed thousands of years ago. With each of the four questions we want to ascertain whether the answers are the product of a reasonable or skewed world view and whether there is a reasonable agenda at work. Each assertion should be explored in order that the thesis of the film can be shown to form a good argument rather than just opinion. Incontrovertible evidence in which we can have high confidence is rare. This means that we must make our case with a solid argument.

Poor old Socrates' method of questioning was completely misunderstood as a socially destructive process. However, it was actually a simple, almost Vulcan process for finding weakness in an argument. What survived was as close to the truth as it's possible to get. Socratic questions fall broadly into six main categories:

To clarify the concept requires that it can be stated in a variety of ways, that it relates to the subject at hand, and that its nature and implications are well described.
As Descartes argued, everything apart from our own existence is subject to assumptions. But are they well chosen and not just a limited subset that will fulfil a wish? Which would need to be false in order to bring down the deck of cards?
Then we must explore the presented rationale, reasons and the evidence in order to discover provenance. How do we know, how can it be shown and what causality justifies the conclusion?
Sun Tzu placed much importance on the art of positioning. How do we know that the perspective or position is as strong as it appears? What other ways of looking at the issue are there? Who might gain special benefit from looking at the world this way?
Penultimate are the consequences and implications of the argument. This is an exploration of causality and prediction.
Finally, the question itself can be explored reflexively. Why was it asked and what is its point?

There is plenty published on this subject and a review of criticalthinking.org will be well rewarded.

Preparing for interviews is often neglected and this is a big mistake. Nobody can hope to become a specialist in a subject within the time generally afforded to research; but without good questions we risk looking dumb and getting useless material. By preparing the four question areas and listening carefully to the answers it is possible to spot some assumptions and questioning them always wakes people up and generates respect. Unless, of course, stealth mode is required for setting Ali G traps.

If the objective is to transcend glossy eye-candy with substantial material then it's worth spending a lot of time on the best approach to questions and the interviews that frame them. It provides much more convincing material that works naturally as narration or voice over and will just snuggle in perfectly with parallel storytelling.

Rupert Baddeley

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:29:00 +0000

Click to Play

http://www.bestofbritishsouthpole.com Rupert is part of the six man ice team in the Best of British South Pole Expedition 2010 to set a record for Britain for fastest crossing to the South Pole from the continental edge.

Inukshuk Introduction

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:28:00 +0000

Click to Play

Charlie Hunter and Dave Thom launch the first training kayak in the Solent. They introduce the Inukshuk 2010 expedition to kayak the Northwest Passage. Follow the Extraordinary Adventure at http://www.inukshukexpedition.com

Rob Douthwaite

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:47:00 +0000

Click to Play

Rob is one of a six man team aiming to set a new record for an unsupported transit from teh edge of the Antartctic continent to the South Pole

Charlie Hunter Biog

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:15:00 +0000

Click to Play

Charlie Hunter is first reserve ice team member. He talks about himself and the expedition.

Best of British South Pole - Manley Hopkinson at Fortnum & Mason

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:25:00 +0000

Click to Play

http://www.bestofbritishsouthpole.com

Manley Hopkinson's talk at the Away at Christmas event hosted by Fortnum and Mason on November 17th 2009

http://www.fortnumandmason.com/events/bestofbritishsouthpole.aspx

Best of British South Pole - Rob Holden interview

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:21:00 +0000

Click to Play

http://www.bestofbritishsouthpole.com

Rob Holden interviewed by Alec Wilkinson at Fortnum & Mason
17.11.2009

Best of British South Pole Expedition Blog 1

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:35:00 +0000

Click to Play

Manley Hopkinson presents a video blog about the training weekend held from the 16th to the 18th of October 2009. To follow the expedition please go to http://www.bestofbritishsouthpole.com/

Best of British South Pole Expedition

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:17:00 +0000

We have been appointed the production company by a group of six Britons heading out to Antarctica in 2010 to set a record for Britain. They will take the traditionally British route via the Beardmore Glacier to the South Pole. This first film is a video blog by Manley Hopkinson, the expedition leader and it's about October's training weekend.

Best of British South Pole - Video Blog 1 from i-catching movies on Vimeo.

The expedition heads out in November 2010. Please keep an eye on their website: The Best of British South Pole Expedition

Displacemant Activity - I should be in bed

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:55:00 +0000

Just a few minutes ago we pulled into the drive of the family home in south France. My father got me up at ten to four this morning and after driving 800 miles and crossing the Channel we got here at eleven in the evening in your English time.

Filthy weather most of the way and that was surprising. Usually there is a big difference the other side of the Loire river. Still, it was a relaxing drive and nothing fell off the car. Brilliant dinner at "Le Carthage" - a Tunisian restaurant. (21, Rue Roger Salengro, 82000 Montauban 05 63 20 20 62) Definite drop-in when 'one hit' driving here.

It must have been while I was tired but I could not get out of my head the notion that if you are at the North Pole then the sun only ever rises and sets in the South. It also stops rising and setting in a confusing long day and long night. The same but the other way up goes for the South Pole but this one is nearest to me. It's my pole.

So I was thinking that there are probably only two days in the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west of your position. And even that doesn't happen everywhere. I know that at the moment, where I live in England, the sun rises North of east and sets North of West. Somehow I must discover the geometry that allows you to calculate all this stuff - or maybe the yearning will subside when I stop drinking this wonderful Armagnac...

However, lovely as it is to be here I came to work. I brought my Mac laptop with me along with a Sonnet F2 1Tb RAID loaded with work to cut. I know that it will probably never get much better than this. In fact, the next victim is with me. I was given a script to consider for editing some time next year when it's shot. It's about a blues player's descent to death. Gloomy perhaps but there will be damn fine music.

I also want to finish a bit for this blog about how editing is fading away from some TV workflow. Instead, production clips up a few 'good' bits, an 'editor' cleans the cuts and adds B-roll and the inevitable voiceover needed to explain what is going on. But more of that when I have worked my Irish up.

It's been a long day and France is ahead 1 hour so sleep is the specific for what will only embarrass me later if I continue.

Why is emotion important to a story?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Sat, 23 May 2009 12:58:00 +0000

If you'd prefer to hear this article read then use the player below.

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...and if you'd like to hear a robot read it then click on the Odiogo "Listen Now" link

I have heard people say that they want more emotion in a piece. Whether it's a drama or a doc or a piece on some aspect of a sport it seems that emotion is considered to somehow elevate it. By some mysterious magic it turns a pedestrian report into a story.

Why is this? Why do we want to see emotion? And does this mean some prurient and voyeuristic bit of tearfall or is it something else? Is it as simple as stories are incomplete without the tears and the joy? Seeing disparate emotion can be as dry as reading a textbook if there is no good reason for it. How does it move the story forward? There has to be a better reason than we like to see other people emoting.

One part of the brain that we share with other mammals is the limbic system, the mammalian brain and the home to emotion according to MacLean's Triune Brain Theory. We humans also have a very well developed and much vaunted Neo Cortex wherein the logic gets done with which we justify the purchase of shoes amongst other things.

In addition to these two is the Reptilian Brain, the R-Complex, an ancient organ which perches atop the spinal cord. It's a comparatively simple bureaucrat which handles balance, heartbeat, breathing and other parts of being alive which are vital but only become the focus of our conscious attention when they go wrong.

Each of these three brains constantly interacts with the world and with each other. It is their interaction with and susceptibility to story which is pertinent here. In order to be successful a story must satisfy the criteria of each of these brains in a proportion that reflects the nature of the story.

Could our neural anatomy be the reason that we want stories to be coherent; to be consistent with their own logical and emotional context? And is this where story gets its power?

Could it be that we need to explore the world of the story through the main character and to rehearse our own actions and decisions in the situations and activities into which they are cast by the author?

Are we convinced by a story in which we agree with the emotional and logical conclusion?

A film editor's approach to story in documentary film

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Sat, 09 May 2009 22:35:00 +0000

One often noted editor's dilemma starts with that sinking feeling when first seeing just how much has been shot and how little of it has been logged. Where the hell is the story in that lot? And to be honest there is no single story. As every editor knows, there are just lots and lots of options. Which means lots and lots of possible directions you could go in. And this is probably why first assemblies are so hard.

Like most people who practise this art or sullen craft I recognise the importance of something called story; but it has always been what I could recognise but not easily define satisfactorily to myself and I have found little consensus with others. Obviously the concept must be a broad one to encompass the entirety of what we humans call stories. Those things that somewhere we associate with fireside full tummies and the start of comfortable night.

Aboriginal cultures such as Native Americans traditionally have a variety of story genres which include story maps, romances, adventures, descriptions of how things work in nature, lessons, survival accounts and so forth. If you have no writing then a relatively easily learned story is a very good vehicle to use to preserve both knowlege and philosophy.

But what unites all of these disparate forms? Of course I read the Field, Vogler, McKee body of knowlege but although enlightening the theories seemed somehow constrained to narrative and I wanted something that would fit other genres of story. Like documentary for example.

Attempting to find coherence I thought about and researched the very small. I attempted to discover something about very small stories. Dr Renee Fuller wrote interesting stuff about what she calls story engrams - a noun and a verb. For example 'dog barks'. But this did not seem to be a story. It's just a statement and stories are so much more than that.

Quite by chance I came across a theory that says that a complete story is an argument for dealing with a problem. Now this seemed like it might also apply to documentary. The fact 'Dog barks' needs more to become the stub of a story, documentary or otherwise. Try adding some more words. Dying dog barks. This begins to engage my sympathy but it's still not really a story.

A clever chap I spoke to suggested that the smallest story would be a quad comprising a noun, a verb, and adverb and an adjective. His quantum story was: ‘Dying dog barks defiantly’. And the light came on. This statement engages not only sympathy but also interest. This really does seem to be the core of story. We start to want answers to questions because it's gone beyond what News calls a story, a collection of statements occasionally concluded with a consequence.

The chap was Chris Huntley and he along with Melanie Phillips devised a theory of story called Dramatica in which a complete story is defined as being an argument for the solution to a problem. It's not a trivial task to learn Dramatica but I have found it massively rewarding. And the majority of the learning aids are just free on the site.

So returning to the topic of this thread, I have found what I think will be an intriguing way of teasing the story out of the raw material that, as we have noted, scares the willies out of most editors.

To illustrate the approach I need to explain a very brief piece of essential Dramatica theory. The central problem will exist in one of four domains. These are an Internal or External Activity or Situation. To clarify, an external activity might be an invasion. An external situation might be an occupation. An internal situation might be prejudice and finally, an internal activity might be manipulation.

So with this quad in mind I suggest that highlighting phrases in the transcripts that have to do with internal or external situations or activities. This will tell you quite a lot about the central problem that has actually been filmed.

If the film is ostensibly about a war then you'd expect the majority of those phrases to be about an external situation. If it is about the drug trade then you'd expect to see an external activity cropping up. If it's about racial intolerance then you'd expect evidence of an internal situation - prejudice. A political film might contain much that is internal activity or manipulation.

This process will also tell you about the issues and concerns of the interviewees. Now it might not be quite what you expected, the same area as the one that the film was meant to address. But if we are honest this is often the case with documentary. And so often the conflict between the material actually shot and the film's desired perspective means that the dissonance has to be forcibly held together with voiceover.

Of course this post is a trivial and over simplified description of a comprehensive theory of story and for that I apologise. But I thoroughly recommend you to at least gloss over the comic book which you will find on the Dramatica site. This is such a good tool.

Volvo Ocean Race - Boston In Port Races

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:24:00 +0000

Another late night, liquid dinner and early morning. Yes, my eyes think it's next year. Today is set aside for the in-port race which starts at about 16:15 UK time. A modified Olympic sausage designed to entertain the great and the good at each stopover. It's also streamed live to the web and captured in superb High Definition for the world's media.

Yesterday I went on one of the yachts, Telefonica. I was following the engineers who ensure the continued operation of the TV systems. Each yacht is effectively a five camera Outside Broadcast unit which can be remote controlled by a shore based media team when required. Usually operated by the media crew member (a sort of embedded reporter on steroids) they capture footage during the the legs of the race and beam back HD material by Inmarsat's Fleet Broadband - well, OK, it's HDV but still pretty good.

So seven mobile studios each feed any one of five cameras into two receivers which are switch between the yachts and provide inputs to the Anycast. A helicopter with another linked camera flies above dodging the traffic from the airport. The yachts' positions are fed to a graphics simulator. This all gets mixed and streams live to the web from Volvo's TV race site.

Along with the EX-1s, 3s and Z-1s here will be several PDW-700's in RIBs and helicopters capturing the news coverage. Not a single SD camera in sight. These cameramen are the best at boat to boat as you can see from the footage.

The Volvo Ocean Race is a very big media deal. The media team works long and late most days. Today could be a 20hr sprint with lunatic numbers of XDCAM discs to ingest. News VNR will be clipped up and about 20mins of XDCAM will be ready for transfer back to the UK by a system called JATS which works at about 8Mbs per sec unlike FTP which can only manage a few measly kBps.

I am going to watch the races from the a RIB. It's currently a flat calm and looks like it won't blow up too much. I suppose that this means a long day on the water.

...and this is what I saw.

Come on Steenbeck

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:30:00 +0000

When I think of editing I still have a momentary image of a big blue table with six plates, the feeling of joining tape under the fingernails and heady anticipation of looking at an answer print. Steenbeck is ingrained into my mind even after years away from editing film.

So I looked Steenbeck up on the web and they're still there. In Holland now not Hamburg but still turning out new machines and repairing old ones. In a fit of nostalgia I wrote an email saying how glad I was that they still existed and got back a very polite reply.

But I think that they're missing a trick. Undoubtedly, the Steenbeck paddle controller is peerless in its sensitive control of the machine's transport. You can be so accurate with it from almost plate tectonics up to full rewind chat and its magnetic detents were in just the right place.

That controller should be driving Final Cut, Premiere or even Avid because it's a part of editing!

I can see so clearly in my mind how the film transport on the central machined aluminium plate could be replaced with a keyboard, a sound mixer over on the left and a mouse wherever they go. You could hide a Mac under the table where the motors and gears were and even have a few SDHC SxS and PCMCIA slots under the screens...

Come on! I know it's a dream but then that's how everything you're looking at now started. Then we'd have them back to spill coffee on and not have to work in an environment that looks like the Antiques Roadshow hosted on the bridge of the Enterprise.

Next week I reckon to look at modifying an upright Moviola with an iPod Touch and turn an Acmade 8 gang synchroniser into a control surface for Pyramix. Or would that be going too far?

Now people who never cut film might not understand all this but I long to recreate the tactile nature of editing on silver. We've lost a lot more than sprocket holes over the years. Whatever happened to building it in your head?

The Ancient Knowlege of Editors and Cameramen

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Morice) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:02:00 +0000

A very long time ago at the BBC when I was thin and Film Department was in its prime there was something of a conundrum about editors and cameramen. You had to be there to notice it and how very extraordinary it was. It was probably my very first elephant in the room.

If best in class of new stereo systems was your intent then the most reliable source of intel was a cameraman. If you wanted to know which sort of camera to buy then you'd best have asked an editor or forever risked oprobrium for your poor work.

On location shoots for any big drama you'd find crew waiting. They'd wait with an almost meditative intensity for something to happen and while they did they read. They consumed with passion magazines with exotic titles such as New Audio, Stereo Today and of course Gramophone Monthly. In those long gone heady days of large production budgets and unbreakable Union Rules these were the people who knew all there was to know about domestic stereo systems.

An unlikely quantum entanglement could be observed at Ealing Studios and other places where BBC editors practised their art or sullen craft. In almost every cutting room from Shepherds Bush to Open University, along with the back copies of such exciting comics as Committed Railway Modeller and Canal Enthusiast Today there were untidy heaps of photographic magazines. And with just the same diligence as their brothers in the field, editorial advice was the vade mecum for anyone aspiring to buy a camera.

This was the environment in which I was planted and then thrived, first as a very junior trainee and then along the eclectic career path which leads inexorably to the bruised and battered blobby thing I am today. And although I never became an oracle on matters canal or railway I cannot look at these things without some affection. An affection that is markedly stronger than that which I feel for my old and now almost blind Nikon.

I suppose that as experiential wave functions aggregated through my life the probabilistic youth I started out as became more editor than cameraman. Something, I think, that is quite obvious to trivial review of my work today. Has this singularity persisted? Perhaps. I work with an editor much younger than me and he's mustard with his Canon EOS and knows all about the various lenses. And this has me thinking. It has been possible to shoot movies on still cameras for a while now but they were never that good. But something has disturbed the fabric of spacetime.

And to see what I mean you need to look at this > *