Gold Arts Award
Zelda: Twilight Princess – Zant’s Theme: music analysis
Aug 27th
This is a really simple bit of music. Koji Kondo’s main aim with his music is to have music that can be repeated over and over again without becoming repetitive or dull. This piece succeeds so well in that department. The same four notes are played in a constant loop, with some chilling effects added over the top.
Zant is King of the Twilight. He is the dark lord, an insane man, wanting nothing other than power. But he isn’t the true king of the Twilight. His power is false, fake and he needs help from a certain god, who (without spoiling the plot) is even more evil than Zant. But the thing is, Zant is more disturbed and insane than the god who helps him.
Somebody commented on YouTube about this tune and said that it reminded them of a psychopath laughing while he kills his victims. This is by far the darkest and most disturbing piece Koji Kondo has ever produced, not just in the Zelda series, but all of the games he has worked on.
I think this would be quite inspirational for the film that I am doing, as it has quite a dark side to it, and the enemy in it that is fairly insane themselves. Not necessarily as mad as Zant, but they are very dark and born out of war and have no control over their actions. I think a piece inspired by this would suit it perfectly.
I am the Doctor / Every Planet, Every Star: music analysis
Aug 27th
This composition, basically defined the 2010 series of Doctor Who, but more importantly symbolises the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor. The music in this piece is cut and sliced during episodes and not all of it is used at once. The music changes under different circumstances and moods.
This music starts off with a section used in many of the early trailers, it’s all about expectation of what’s to come. At 20 seconds in, the piece becomes more dramatic as if your off on your adventure. At 25 seconds in, we hear the piece that was used when the Doctor took his new companion, Amy, away to see the stars. This is used to symbolise leaving home and the expectation and fun of adventures together. At 45 seconds the music becomes more dramatic and you can almost imagine this bit showing the Tardis tumbling through time. This was also used to show the Doctor’s might and power in one scene, where he managed to talk all of his enemies out of invading the Earth.
At 1 minute, 10 seconds we experience the emotional image of expectation of what is about to happen. When the piece changes again at 1 minute, 41 seconds we have what I see as the Doctor’s thinking part. Murray Gold often uses this when the Doctor is thinking up a plan and then, once again, expectation is aroused.
At 2 minutes 4 seconds in to the music, I think the Doctor’s age is expressed and we are reminded that he is a wise old being. The music makes the audience aware that he is more than any of us can comprehend.
At 2 minutes 38 seconds it becomes dramatic again, ready for the fight as it were, and then at 2 minutes, 52 seconds it becomes more innocent. I think it’s meant to portray the good morals the Doctor follows, even though he has fought so ferociously over the years.
This music really inspires me as it shows how you can compose one tune, then alter it in order to still represent what you want it to express, such as characters, mood and emotions. I think for my film I will try to use this technique.
Sea Legs Puppet Theatre: Peter and the Wolf
Dec 20th
Peter and the Wolf was a very enjoyable puppet show… I could easily class it as the best puppet show I have ever seen…
The two puppets of the hunters
The show itself was performed Sea Legs Puppet Theatre. It is set in Russia where the “Storyteller” goes to find a new story…
there he meets Peter’s grandfather who tells him all about the events that happened when his grandson visited his house to play, and they discover that the hungry wolf is hiding in the woods… from there the story continues…
The presentation of the show was very well done and entertaining with simple models to show the “storyteller” travelling from
his home all the way to Russia. It was very simple how it was done, but one of the highlights of the evening that everyone enjoyed. All the performing was done by just the storyteller himself with Sergei Prokofiev’s orchestrated music of the tale providing a good background and variety to all the puppets giving them character and filling them with life. The music was almost film quality in some places as the way it was used sometimes made the whole room happy, scared, laugh with joy or cheer to events happening in the Storyteller’s world…
The puppets were very well detailed and all looked like they had life and soul, great work from the artist who created the puppets and great work by the puppeteer for bringing them to life in such a brilliant and imaginative way…
The story kept true to the original with a lot of audience involvement. This really was a show that people of all ages could come in and enjoy, nothing about it seemed as if it was aimed at the young audience alone, it was entertaining for all ages. I would happily recommend this to anyone looking for enjoyable, high quality family entertainment.
You can also read this review at http://www.shropshirelive.com/2010/10/21/peter-and-the-wolf-reviewed-by-elliott-edwards/ or at http://www.hiveonline.org.uk/index.php?id=832
Lempen Puppet Theatre: Journey of Turtle
Dec 17th
“Journey of Turtle” was a puppet show put on by “Lempen Puppet Theatre”
This was a tale about how the turtle came to how it is today, through many different events in the early days of the world…
The puppeteer explained to the audience how she came up with the idea for the story, through telling us how she thought of the story, a puppet of herself sat on the top of “turtle hill” read the story to a puppet of a young boy. This worked really well as the puppeteer was presenting the show but it was almost split between herself and the puppet when it came to telling the story, a way of presenting that I feel should be done more often.
The puppets where amazing… everyone of them was very well made with great movements and ligaments to help them to come even more alive than it seemed possible. A great use of lighting also gave a great effect to the story allowing cut outs of the characters to be placed behind the back scenery where a light stood behind so the puppeteer could could move the characters behind the sheet. This showed silhouettes of each of the characters telling the aspects of the story that would be nearly impossible with the puppets themselves.
There was a good mix of comedy in this tale, both through spoken jokes and just plain laughter when characters did silly things that all the audience members knew would never work.
This is a very good production and if your family wants an enjoyable show to see in the summer holidays, this is something I would highly recommend.
You can also read this review at http://www.shropshirelive.com/2010/10/21/journey-of-turtle-reviewed-by-elliott-edwards/ or at http://www.hiveonline.org.uk/index.php?id=833
Unpacked: Jumping Mouse
Dec 17th
On the 27th of October 2010, “Unpacked” brought it’s brilliant puppet show “Jumping Mouse” to The Hive. When I say puppet show, it was really more of a pantomime that involved a few puppets and some simple yet great looking costumes. The show had lots of props such as walking sticks, a tyre, several ladders, but the way these props were used was so clever and creative and actually added to the experience as you watched the entire set change into something completely new.
The story followed a small mouse called 147b (“just a number”) and her trip from 2nd bus through the marshlands and over mountains to discover the source of “the rumbling” in her ears, the rumbling that no other mouse could hear. The characters were hilarious, the use of simple props and the absolutely brilliant acting from the cast made every character come to life, from the Old Bison to the mysterious and dreaded “Spots”.
The age rating was for everyone from the age of five. Personally, I think this would have been even more enjoyable for children around the age of 10, as the presentation was very child friendly but the story was more grown up, talking about finding your own path for life and you can achieve anything, something ten year olds could possibly understand and also completely enjoy.
Overall, the show was enjoyable, VERY enjoyable, and if you have any young kids, I would suggest that if this show is ever performed again you should take your kids to see this show just as an excuse to go in and watch it yourself. This show is 100% worth your money to go and experience it for yourself!
Fair Game Theatre: Cinderella
Dec 17th
I was given the chance to see the Arts Alive event, Cinderella at Farlow and Oreton Village Hall. This show by Fairgame Theatre is a very different take on the classic we have all come to know and love. Our tale is set in the present day, when the Prince and Cinderella (or Ella) are thinking back to how they first met in the 70s. They tell us the story with a brilliant selection of music from the time fitting perfectly into the story. At the start of the show they say that it isn’t a Pantomime or a Musical and is in fact a love story. I personally think it’s all of those things, and more.
The cast is very small, there are three people involved in it altogether. This may sound a bit odd, but it’s really not and adds to the comedic and dramatic factors. There are mainly just two on stage at any one time. A coat or funny glasses (once you’ve got to know the character) instantly change your view of the actor in front of you into either one of the ugly sisters or the constantly brilliantly dressed prince. At the beginning it was a bit confusing thanks to this but only because it was a really unexpected when the Prince changed into Cinderella’s long dead father, but once you get what’s going on everything makes sense.
I must congratulate the cast of the show for their brilliant musical talent as all the music was performed on stage with several different instruments being used by each of the cast. The classic tunes were recreated so well and were chosen and placed in such perfect moments that the show would have a completely different impact on me if they had chosen not to have included these songs in the performances.
The acting also needs to be applauded as some characters were played by several different people during the show but they all managed to keep them recognisable by the tone in their voice, their mannerisms or the way they walked. It all felt very natural and real as well, as they created various atmospheres for the sad scenes and the happy ones. There was a lot of really good talent in this show which made a good evening of live entertainment.
The lay out for this show wasn’t really what you’d expect as they set up their stage along the length of the hall, allowing a much bigger stage which worked wonders for the performance and showed the versatility of the company and the premises. The seating rows were therefore longer so everyone had a good view and there was lots of enjoyable audience participation for young and old alike. Worth your time and money to go and see this show? Yes, yes it is!
This show is also on tour so I would recommend going to www.fairgametheatre.com to see if it’s in a venue near you.
Flip Animation Festival/Cultural Olympics
Dec 17th
At ten o-clock on Saturday the 6th of November, a short animation that I had made years previous to that moment was shown at the Flip Animation Festival in Wolverhampton.
This was actually just by chance that Imanaged to have a film shown here. My stop frame animation “Bigfoot the Movie V2″ had been made several years ago for my Silver Arts Award. This film was based on a film I had done earlier that year which was based on a comic book I had made almost five years previous. So this film was scripted by a eight year old and filmed and edited by a ten year old. When I saw the chance for my film to be shown, I thought I may as well go for it. Al through I didn’t really expect it to be shown, so I very happy when I was told that it would be shown at a proper venue.
Unfortunately, I didn’t win any prizes for my film. But it was very basic compared to most of the other films there. But that’s because the eight year old and the ten year old worked together to create this film, and the fact that it was shown there would have made those two kids dance with joy!
Once the Animation festival was over, I was able to take part in a workshop and take part in the Cultural Olympics for the 2012 games. The equipment was very different to what I had used previously for the Bigfoot movie as we where now using tapes to record onto instead of doing it all digitally. This had a few advantages as it would play back what you had already filmed before taking each photo so you could see exactly how the animation was going to look. We had a small bit of training in using their cameras and tape recorders then we set to work brainstorming for our animation.
As this is to do with the Cultural Olympics, it had to be about team work and friendship. We settled with the initial idea of a team exploring a jungle, then we decided that instead of building a set, we could use the room as a set. In the end, we settled with the concept of a group of explorers who are made of plasticine. The film starts with the models being moved around by an animator (yours truly) who then gets up and walks out of the room. Then our epic explorers come to life and breaks up into two teams, one is a hard working team who look out for each other and the other team is a mean bunch who only care about them selves. Both of the teams go on a quest to get to the other side of the door, but they will have to make their way through the perils of the office work place if they are to do so. This is to show that team work will lead to success and if you don’t work together, you will fail.
The animation needs to be edited so it isn’t finished yet, but when it is, it may have a chance of being shown on several big screens all around the UK and possibly even on world wide television.
This was a great day for me, not only did I have one of my animations shown, but I helped make one that may be in with a chance of being used in one of the Olympic ceremonies in 2012. The film may not be used as there are hundreds of other films fighting for the chance to be shown, but having the chance is a great privilege and I hope I get the chance to do it again.
Doctor Who Live: The Monsters are Coming!
Dec 17th
On the 19th of October 2010, I went to see Doctor Who live in Birmingham.
Now as you may know, previously this year, I went to the Doctor Who Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. So not only will this be review by me, I will also be comparing it to it’s older brother.
First of all I must point out that this show was not put on by the BBC, this was a third party company who had brought the rights of Doctor Who and created a show to make a profit, and the profit side of it was clear as soon as you entered the
The Daleks and Cybermen battled live on stage during the show
building. There was, DVDs, t-shirts, booklets, CDs… you name it, they where selling it. The costs of these products where very expensive as well. The brochure cost £10, and for what? A several pieces of paper stick together full of adverts for more
Doctor Who related stuff you will be able to buy later this year.
The venue wasn’t exactly the Royal Albert Hall but you could see why they chose to preform the show there. The show did offer us a lot of monsters, possibly more than the proms.
Matt Smith made an appearance, but only as pre recorded video displayed on several screens around the stage. This is disappointing, but they must have spent a lot of money to be able to employ the actor alone, so the fact that this company
didn’t have Matt Smith live every night wasn’t surprising to me in any way.
Dispute all these things through, the show was very good, not as good as the proms, but all the same it was very good. The only thing that spoilt the show for me through, was the audience. They where really
impatient when waiting for the show to start, hardly ever clapped or cheered during the show and where in a huge rush to get back home again. This to me, really spoilt the show. This wasn’t for true Doctor Who fans, this was for the audience of small kids who watched Doctor Who every week just to get their TV fix and then flick
channels as soon as the credits start rolling.
This is really sad because the show itself would be greatly improved, if the crowd of the proms had turned up instead of the audience that came to live.
At the end of the day through, if you are a Doctor Who fan, a REAL Doctor Who fan. Please buy your place on the next Doctor Who live show, because your all that’s needed to make this one of the best shows of the year!
BBC Doctor Who Proms, Royal Albert hall
Oct 11th
On Saturday the 24th of July 2010, after five years of trying and failing to get tickets each year, I finally managed to go to the BBC Doctor Who Proms in the Royal Albert hall. I dressed up in my bow tie, tweed jacket and my brilliant fez and went down to London for a few days. The proms itself where very enjoyable. All the music, creatures and most of the main cast for series 5 including the Doctor (Matt Smith), Amy Pond (Karen Gillian) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) appeared during the show.
But it wasn’t just a pantomime of monsters and aliens. This was the BBC proms, and therefore the music was brilliant! If you’ve ever seen the TV show since it’s resurrection in 2005 by Russel T. Davis you will know that the shows composer Murry Gold has done a brilliant job setting the tone for the episodes. Murry Gold was himself a huge Doctor Who fan when he was young, as was Russell T. Davis, and that love and emotion shows through in the stories and music that go together so well, the music for characters can even be very moving at times.
The venue, obviously, was brilliant! The Royal Albert Hall almost seems to be made for the Doctor Who proms having loads of seats for all the fans, a big stage for the orchestra and the presenters and a great central area clear of seats for the creatures and monsters to walk through the crowds. There are plenty of entrances for them to walk in from, giving an impression that we’re surrounded by some of the worst possible animals ever to arise from our universe (and even the universes beyond that) and also room for a trap door for an unexpected visitor…
Seeing the Doctor turn up like that was really enjoyable, and as I said before, unexpected. Previous years have only ever involved the Doctor being pre filmed and maybe a monster making it’s way into the hall through the Doctor’s time portal (aka the screen) and attacking the audience with a water pistol, so actually having the Doctor there this year was a brilliant experience. I only wish I was nine again so I could have been the Doctor’s volunteer…
The Doctor Who Proms was the best show I’ve seen so far this year, and possibly even in the 14 years of my lifetime… I can’t wait for the Doctor Who Live later this year, I hope it lives up to this… But on what I’ve seen of this years proms, I will definitely fight with all my might to get the tickets for the proms 2011.