Betty Angel

Tonight was a very successful Craft club with the most members we’ve had!  14 sketchers, knitters, stitchers, crocheters and quilters showed up to spend an evening making beautiful crafts they love.  Unfortunately I had also planned to go to the cinema that evening so was unable to stay for the whole time but it was fab to see everyone and all their talents!

So later on…  Vicky and I went to see Bel Ami at the Watershed.  Whilst we had predominantly decided to go because of R-Patz, I also thought it sounded like a good film.  However, I feel a tad dissapointed now.  I know Robert Pattinson isn’t the best actor in the world but this film really showed him at his worst.  I think though, had the camera not been so up in his face the whole time he might have got away with it but noone wants to have to endure 102 minutes of his creepy caterpillar eyebrows and quivering lips right in front of their face on the big screen.

It’s such a shame they didn’t cast someone better in the male lead as then I probably would have enjoyed this film rather than laughing every 10 minutes at the silly thing R-Patz has gone and done now.

Last night I listened to a talk given by wildlife and documentary cameraman Doug Allan.  Not only was it fascinating learning about how they film in both the Arctic and Antarctica but it was breathtaking seeing the beautiful images he has captured whilst there.

Doug really kept the audience engaged with his charming words and humorous stories, including the time was briefly attacked by, no not a walrus (although he was) but by Sir David Attenborough on a snowmobile!  Still a cameraman has to do what a cameraman has to do.

It was incredible to see the organisation and planning needed for these types of shoots, especially the underwater dives.  I would love to experience this kind of filmmaking one day or failing that to even just visit these places for myself!

First of all however, I am going to enjoy reading Doug’s book ‘Freeze Frame’ and marvel at his gorgeous photographs.

Last night, a friend and I went to watch ‘Margaret’ at the Watershed.  For those who don’t know what it is about here is a brief outline from IMDB:

Margaret centers on a 17-year-old New York City high-school student who feels certain that she inadvertently played a role in a traffic accident that has claimed a woman’s life. In her attempts to set things right she meets with opposition at every step. Torn apart with frustration, she begins emotionally brutalizing her family, her friends, her teachers, and most of all, herself. She has been confronted quite unexpectedly with a basic truth: that her youthful ideals are on a collision course against the realities and compromises of the adult world.

I must say although overall I think I enjoyed the film but the fact that I only think this rather than know this says a lot.  It was very slow and there were a lot of totally unnecessary scenes.  Take for instance the scene where the mother is talking with her boyfriend about his family.  It adds nothing to the story and I wasted about 5 minutes watching it.  In fact it was one of those moments where had you gone to the toilet you wouldn’t have noticed anything had happened in the time you were gone.

There were also a few times when I thought the movie was finishing, apparently not.  I always think when this happens in films they probably should have ended already.

When I watched the trailer for this film it looked so promising and it seemed that there was going to be more of a psychological thriller situation happening, however it was basically about a young girl being a drama queen for no reason but attention.  At the end of the film I was left feeling very confused by what I had just watched.  Normally I can’t stop thinking about films after I’ve seen them, replaying what I’ve watched in my mind when I fall asleep that night.  With this all I can remember is the graphic accident scene and a man with a funny moustache seen in one of the shots at the very end.

Betty xx

P.s. Please don’t make a film with the cliché teacher sleeps with student scenario for no reason.  BARF.

Today my mother and I went to a Festival of Ideas talk at the Watershed.  It was called ‘Technology in Human Planet’ and as soon as I heard about it I knew I wanted to go.  Having watched the series and been amazed by not only by the visuals and camerwork but by the incredible and almost unbelievable people featured, I knew this was a talk not to be missed!

What made going to the talk all the more exciting is knowing that tomorrow night Human Planet is nominated for a BAFTA in the Specialist Factual category.  My fingers are crossed for them to win as the team truly deserves it!

Anyway, back to the talk…

Dale Templar, one of the producers, gave the talk.   Using clips from the series she showed us the different cameras and rigs they used to capture some of the most spectacular shots.  This included my favourite, the Cinebulle.  Anyone who has had to complete the BBC health and safety video will know why this is a particularly interesting technique for filming and the Human Planet team encountered their own difficulties too.  To explain, a Cinebulle is the following:

Pretty nifty and also just a tad cool.  The BBC health and safety video uses a clip of a cinebulle crashing in to a tree to demonstrate that despite all H&S procedures being in place and everything signed of for a shoot, things still go wrong sometimes.

At the end of the talk I was even more inspired by the style of filming and the shots captured.  It’s documentaries like this that puts things in perspective from where you’re sat.  Mum bought me one of the Human Planet books at the end that Dale signed for me:

Lets just hope that when it comes to the broadcast of series two of Human Planet I could be watching it and thinking ‘I really enjoyed filming that scene’ or ‘I’m glad we kept that part in the edit’!

Betty Angel xx

The other day my mum wanted to type a hash key.  Instead of doing what I normally do and copying and pasting one from either Word or the internet she looked up the shortcut.  I was with her when this happened and happened to remember the shortcut just now for the title of this blog entry.  #shortcut win.

This is my new and (hopefully) exciting blog!  Having been trying to set up a website for a while now I was advised to use WordPress.  Apparently you could set one up in about 10 minutes.  It worked.  Needless to say I now have my own website and a new blog alongside it.

As a soon to be graudate of TV Production I would like to share some recent tv programmes I have seen.  The most recent being ‘Made in Chelsea’.  This follows rich 20somethings who live in Chelsea.  Obviously.  The awkwardness experienced in most scenes is what makes this show so watchable.  That and the fact that one character clearly needs to come out of the closet!  My housemates and I were gripped from episode one and after just watching episode three we are all eagerly anticipating the next.

Now, of course this programme is Channel 4′s alternative to ITV’s ‘The Only Way is Essex’.  A series that apparently follows people in Essex.  I haven’t seen any episodes but it won a BAFTA last night (The People’s Choice) so there must be something good about it.  I may have to give it a go and watch a couple of episodes to see if it lives up to the hype.  Although, my heart is with Chelsea and I am sure will always remain so.

Another recent programme I’ve watched is the BBC documentary ‘Inside the Human Body’.  I have yet to see the latest episode but the first two were pretty incredible.  At times it was a bit repetitive as they showed the same graphics a few times but on the whole was really educational.  If only they had this when I was at school.  Maybe I would have got an ‘A’ in Biology (or even an ‘A*’).  I am very excited to watch the next one, which is currently being downloaded on iplayer.  It’s all about the human brain so I hope they make another trip to At-Bristol to film the one there.  Although I don’t think it was in place when this series was being made.  I work in At-Bristol science centre sometimes, hence why I want them to show more of it!

Speaking of At-Bristol.  I will be returning home soon as I am very nearly finished here at Bournemouth University.  It has been an interesting three years and probably not quite what I expected.  A lot more lows than highs I would say.  However, I always wanted to go to University and it was great to have the opportunity to study a subject that I not only want to have a career in but also that I have such a passion and love for.  I can only hope it was all worth it.  As my grandmother always used to say ‘Everything happens for a reason’ and there was certainly a reason everything has happened the way it has.  So, here’s to the future and lets hope whatever happens and for whatever reason it happens it leads me to happiness.

Betty Angel xx