Transcription Update...

After having a meeting with Alan today and discussing the development of my Transcription unit as well as some personal goals and improvements to be made, we've agreed that i need to dig deeper with this unit, during the research stages to find an interesting style i'm comfortable with, using a dossier. I'm also going to take Phil and Alan's suggested source materials and do some more thorough research, to try and find something more unique, original and adventurous to work with. As of tomorrow, expect to find some thorough research and dossier studies being posted on my blog...

Masque of the Red Death Images...

Here's a great bunch of interesting images related to Masque of the Red Death that have caught my eye recently. I particular like the various styles and different approaches people have taken in their painted/drawn adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's short story... These images specifically deal with the design of the mysterious red death character. There are also a few attempts of incorporating the designs of the rooms that are described in the story...

Transcription... Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe...

The Mist Review...

The Mist is a 2007 thriller based on the 1980 novel of the same name by Stephen King. The film is written and directed by Frank Darabont, who had previously adapted Stephen King's works The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Darabont had been interested in adapting The Mist for the big screen since the 1980s. The director revised the ending of the film to be darker than the novel's ending, a change to which Stephen King was amenable. Unique creature designs were also sought to differ from creatures in past films. The Mist performed well at the box office and received generally positive reviews. Although a monster movie, the central theme is what ordinary people will be driven to do under extraordinary circumstances. The plot revolves around members of the small town of Bridgton, Maine, who conceal themselves in a local supermarket when a violent thunderstorm cuts off the power. While they struggle to survive an unnatural mist which envelops the town and conceals vicious, otherworldly monsters, extreme tensions rise among the survivors.

The Mist was an extremely well made film that had me hooked from beginning to end, despite it's low budget. In paticular, i was really impressed by the ending, which is one of the best i've seen in a while. Despite somehow knowing the ending, i felt it was a strong and brave move by the director and production team that gives the movie the ending it deserves. Another strong piece of filmmaking was the scenes where the group of people kill the soldier. Again though, i was more hooked on the curiosity and mysteriousness of the mist, but as soon as monsters appeared, the film lost a bit of tension. However, the film was so well made and the mosters and story so strong that this didn't particularly effect the film. This is a thriller that i'd be happy to watch over and over again.

Tremors Review...

Tremors is a 1990 science fiction horror film directed by Ron Underwood. The film was received well by critics and holds an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, becoming a cult classic, followed by two direct-to-video sequels Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996), Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001), one prequel Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004) and the television show Tremors: The Series (2003).

The story follows Valentine McKee (Kevin Bacon) and Earl Basset (Fred Ward) who work in a small, secluded settlement in the Nevada desert. With the disappearance of residents and a number of unexplained animal deaths occurring in the area which coincide with strange seismic readings, the pair discover the existence of undocumented subterranean creatures stalking any animal living in the area. Dubbed 'Graboids', the residents and a visiting seismologist must fight to survive the appetite of these insatiable creatures.

I was already aware of Tremors and the back story from watching the TV series, but i'd never seen the film before. Similar to the other films we've watched in the narrative prgramme though, i felt the mystery of monster and what is was worked better than actually seeing the monster. For me, the tension of not knwing is a much more enjoyable than seeing the monster. Part of this is because of the less developed special effects of the B-movie eras, but also because the unknowing always keeps its audience hooked. As soon as the unknowing is revealed, the film loses that element of mystery and curiosity. However, Tremors was extremely enjoyable and a well made film that had me hooked from the beginning to end.

New Transcription Idea... Twisted Land of Oz film sets...

So i still want to go with this dark and possibly gothic style for this transcription unit and after getting stuck on the idea of Red Riding Hood which Phil rightly suggested has been over-done, i've decided to go back to this set of characters from Mcfarlane toys. They are based on a dark and twisted version of the Wizard of Oz and with such creepy characters as these, i can only imagine what the sets and environments would look like. I believe a film based on the toys is actually being considered, possibly by Warner Bros, but as far as i'm aware, these set of character toys is as much as we have so far. This idea, therefore, would involve taking the story of the Wizard of Oz and adapting some sets/environments for it based on the style of the toys.

Transcription Ideas... Red Riding Hood...

Aside from the Narrative project, i've been coming up with some more ideas for the Transcription unit. So far, i'm working on an adaptation of red riding hood, aiming to create a short animation to get the best out of the unit and keep developing my skills further. Here are a couple of ideas i've had:

What's in the basket?

This is a dark mystery story centred around the question of what's in the basket. I also had the idea of an added twist where the audience is led to believe that red riding hood is under the hood, but at the end, we find out it is actually the wolf.

Get the basket to Grandma

This story is more fun thanhe first idea as red riding hood would have to tackle a bundle of obstacles and problems to keep the basket safe and get it to grandma. This too could follow the mysterious question of what's in the basket which would be unveiled at the end.