The Grand Design: Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow

The Grand Design (Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow) in a nutshell, gives you the low down on the natural laws of physics, the constant battle of science and religion to explain the origins of our universe, and all the forces in between.

Not to sound like I'm writing a personal statement, but I have been a bit of a science geek from a very young age. Due to "blocking" of A-Levels, however, biology was the only science I was able to carrying on studying at an academic level, as Art was my first and foremost important subject... Dropping Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics was one of the most difficult decisions I ever made. And so this has left me studying science as a hobby. Isn't that strange? Art and Media as a career path, science as a pass-time? Yes, I know.

However, for someone who has no professional A-Level knowledge of science other than what she has learned from magazines, books and documentaries, this book was really easy to digest! However, not light reading, and definitely not light on information. I feel like after putting this book down, I have learned the answers to many questions, and, unlike in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Douglas Adams, 1979), the answer is not just 42. 

The Skeuomorphism of Framerates

I will be seeing Dir. Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" tomorrow afternoon. The main reason I'm anticipating this so much is to feast my eyes on the future of frame rate that is 48fps or "HFR" (High Frame Rate).

We've been stuck with the same old 24fps in films since the 1920s, and really the only restriction there was cost and sound technology. However, 24fps still works pretty effectively, despite slight "strobing" during high action it still keeps the film within a realm of realism, so why spend a whole lot of money on something not really needed?  Well, because there's no restrictions anymore, so why the hell not?
The reason why we haven't advanced before this film is because people generally don't like to be put out of their comfort zones. There were many upon many other technological advances that were predicted to be the "death of cinema", for example, colour, and with 24fps being the norm for approximately 90 years, it's a awfully large comfort zone. I feel it's about time cinema started advancing. We have a wider aspect ratio, and along with it, 70mm horizontal reels. It is about time frame rate followed... Jackson was actually smart about keeping it divisible by 24 I found, as it can be screened at 24fps if needed to after cinematic distribution, so just because the film is of higher technology than most, we won't need some special equiptment to see the film again.

I hear it's supposed to be quite odd to look at for around the first 30 minutes, as it's much crisper and smoother than any other action that's been placed on the screen before... I am almost more excited for the visuals than see the adaption of the story. That being said, I've brushed up on all my LOTR films, and I'm pretty ready to be wowed!

Liverpool to Home

 

The last day of my first semester in Liverpool was spent lounging on the roof of the university building with Lee, speaking of Summer plans to visit friends in Canada.
Don't be fooled - that December afternoon was a lot chillier than it looks.

As much as I am enjoying my time living independently in a massive city, I miss my humble country home-town. I miss trees, vast grassylands, long dirtroads, bitter cold beaches and most of all, my mum's cooking. I'm happy to be home now, where I am familiar with locals bands and the North Coast music scene, giving me great opportunities in nightlife photography.

Castlerock Coast, Northern Ireland

Belfast Benefit 15.12.12

 

I was able to take a few nice shots of ASIWYFA, Ed Zealous, MTC and Team Fresh last night, despite being too lazy to apply for a press pass. The bands played superbly. (and for free for a good cause!) The bands of the North Coast/Belfast music scene never fail to make me proud of my hometown.

See The Flickr Photographs of the Belfast Benefit 15.12.12 here.

Give ASIWYFA a listen if you haven't already.

A Critical Analysis of Psycho (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) in Terms of Mise En Scene and Cinematography, Essay 1

Our first essay that we were instructed to write for the Film Language module was a critical analysis of any given film in terms of any given elements. I chose to analyse Psycho (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) in terms of Mise-en-scene and Cinematography. I then went on to link these two aspects of film-making to motifs that would reveal an explicit meaning within the narrative.

I am more than pleased to announce that I received a First for my efforts in writing the essay. 

Production Group

My classmate, Lee Reid, and I are coming together to make a small production group in which a big group of our friends and will be involved. Within the production group we will be doing various university side projects stemming from documentaries to short films to photography and everything in-between that takes our fancy.  I feel this is a great idea as it gives us a medium for free creative outlet and will help to build our knowledge of the media and strengthen our technical abilities.

Here's to hoping all goes well.

O2 Academy Band Photography - 6/12/12

The Flickr Pictures