My Intro

From looking at the intros for ‘The Only Way is Essex’, I used the software’s Cinema 4D and Adobe After Effects to create a parody title into.

Group Crit

Below is some of the feedback I had from my group crit:

•       Edit script, make them bitchier and mean
•       Have a climax at the end. ( have them being hypocritical, eating donuts.)

Story Board

The Only Way Is Birmingham

In the summer of 2012, there was a lot of advertisement and hype about a Brummie version of reality show the Only Way is Essex that was due out soon. Billboards and buses were plastered with posters and trailers were made viral. Many people from Birmingham (The Only Way Is Essex fans) got excited about this new series being based in their home town.

However, the “show” was a nothing more than a stunt to mark the founding of a new super-college in Birmingham.

Below is a link to the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QPjYADVx8Y

The Only Way is Birmingham hoax, The Birmingham Mail, Website, Veiwed  30/03/2013.(http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/the-only-way-is-birmingham-is-a-hoax-college-189714)

Finished Puppets

Amy 

Kim

Abigail

Final Puppets

As the process of making the finalized prototype was going really well and the puppets looked well-made and professional I decided to use them as my final puppets. This decision was also made as cost and time was running low.

I created the puppets head first, while all the face of the puppet was at a good standard, I unfortunately came across a problem with attaching the polystyrene balls to the breast area on the Essex style puppet. They wouldn't sit right on the arm and when I removed them, some of the polystyrene stuck onto the fleece. 

As I was already so far in the making and time and cost issues, I chose to improvise and covered the stuck polystyrene and stitch the outline of the breasts. It didn't turn out how I wanted and I wished I had tested it out before hand, but now I will use this incidence as future reference. 

As I had to stitch on an extra bit of fleece to cover the mess, the stitch was on show, so I chose to apply a bead necklace around her neck to cover it. 

Kim

 As I designed this puppet to only have lips and boobs to connote how much work she had done, I could only use the YouTube instructions for creating the mouth as a basis which then I experiment and worked until I created the lips that I was happy with.

As I didn't have any advice how to create the boobs, I had to just experimented using covered half’s of a polystyrene ball and a bikini top.  Fortunately, they both worked out well. 

Abigail - Continued

I also used hair extensions for on Abi; however I rolled the strip to create a pony tail style which I then wrapped a feather ribbon around to make a hair bobble.

As I've created character Abi as being  chubby, I created this effect by layering wadding in-between the body of the puppet and her t-shirt, putting a few tacks to secure it place.

I chose to replace her black eye lashes with brown to make the puppet look more natural, as from a previous crit it was brought up that black lashes represents mascara.

Amy - Continued

I stuffed the felt lips with wadding to make them fuller, and then hand stitched the edges to ensure they were secure. This also defined the lips.

For the hair of the puppet I used real hair extensions, this is so I was able to style it how I wanted before filming.  I stuck 2 strips of the extensions along the middle of the head, which created a parting. 

Finalized Prototype of Amy & Abigail

I began to make a finalized prototype using all the final materials.

The  making of the head and bodies of Amy and Abigail.I carefully stuck to the instructions of the YouTube video.
(I mainly used a glue gun to attach different parts to the puppets)

Mac Overall Feedback

I found this experience very interesting and enjoyable, as I was able to not only just see what a day is like for a visual arts technician at mac but connect with the public and artists. i noticed that the technicians formed a positive relationships with some of the public as they offer good support though their creations and experience. i was able to see loads of different styles of work from all different types of people, and I was a pleases to get the chance to be a support.

Even though that element of the experience was really interesting, I found the general tasks of a technician  very repetitive and could become boring if done more than a couple of days, this is why the staff at the mac work shifts. After completing this work placement I was not as inspired as what I thought I would have been. But I am very pleased with the experience and what I have learnt, like how to complete the different tasks of a visual technician and how to use different equipment e.g. kiln, and knowing when it’s done correctly.

Day at Mac

I began work at 9am and was introduced to Graham Handley, whom I will be shadowing for the day. After I signed in and had a quick tour around all the studios, I had to check what classes was on for that day and had to set up some of the studios ready for the 10am workshops (pottery, textiles and jewellery), ensuring all the equipment needed was out and available for the visitors.

After all the classes were set up and the leader had all the equipment required, i went down to the kilns which had been firing pottery the night before and was ready to be emptied. This process took a couple an hours, as a lot of the pieces where very delicate and it is the technician’s reasonability to ensure the works are safe. The pieces needed to be transferred to the storing shelves within the pottery room, this was happening while a class was taking place. I was able to get the chance to talk to the leader and visitors about their connection with mac.

(When chatting to the leader of pottery, I found out she was a student at BIAD and completed the same foundation course as me) 

During this time, we received calls for errands from other workshops, fetching equipment e.g. clay, We had to change the acid wash within the jewellery workshop, for health and safety reasons I just has to observe the technicians do it.

By this time it was afternoon, and I had to set up the studios for the afternoon classes (textiles, jewellery and life drawing). 

The afternoon was very similar to the morning, however, as the kilns where emptied, the awaiting pottery to be fired needed to be structurally stacked into the kilns. Filling them was a lot more time consuming and difficult as you have to ensure  the pieces on the same level are all about the same size and there is space between all the pottery but trying to put as much in at the same time.

(we had to ensure the shelves where clean, any clay or glaze that had stuck had to be removed before use)

(This is a tool used to check if the kiln has finished its firing process, as each spike softens at different temperatures)

After all the workshops ended and was about 2 hours before i finished, i had to clean all the studios that had been used and get them ready for classes the following morning, to reduce the amount of work the next day. 

Mac

8 hour day - 9am-5pm

Wednesday 6th March

Mac first opened in 1962 and is located in cannon Hill Park. Mac is Birmingham's pioneering arts complex for everyone. It is a national leader in developing work with children, families and young people of all backgrounds.

Mac offers a busy programme of theatre, dance, independent cinema, exhibitions and special events, as well as a wealth of practical classes in all aspects of creativity, from playing musical instruments to ceramics and jewellery-making.

I will be working alongside the visual art technicians for one day. I aim to get the knowledge of what consists within an art technician’s role and how they are important to the daily run of the mac’s studios and the public and artists involved. It will be a great opportunity to support artists, and the current/upcoming exhibitions. 

Meeting with Baverstock

Within the meeting we discussed:

•       How many hours the work placement was for

•       Dates of the work placement

•       Health and safety

•       Rules and regulations  (signed forms)

•       What areas I wanted to work in

•       What I wanted to achieve from this experience

I was able to get 6 days (6 hour days), working mainly in the art and photography department, with a couple of lessons in graphics.  Starting on 25^th march for 3 day, and then 3 days starting on 15^th April (after the easter holiday).