Intro beats

For my next assignment, I was to expand upon Beat 01 from my previous entry, "Beat board". Basically, I was to do a mini-beat board of the intro.

Again, use 5 images to capture the main points and messages of the intro. Add a succinct sentence to each image.

We were also informed that these sentences... (I'm assuming a total of 25 sentences accompanying a total of 25 panels post-expansion of Beat 05) will become my script... I'm not sure how to feel about that (does that mean even LESS content?!? o_O...).

Anyways, here are the introductory beats (Intro 01-05):

Intro 01. "Cancers in the bone are most often

formed by metastatic emboli traveling in the

circulation, arriving via the sinusoids."

Intro 02. "The local osteoid environment

provides the tumour with a fertile ground for

growth."

Intro 03. "In turn, the tumour releases factors

that increase osteoblast activity and, more

importantly, osteoclastogenesis."

Intro 04. "The establishment of these

interactions begins a vicious downward

cycle."

Intro 05. "That is not only difficult to treat,

but very painful to experience."

Beat board

A beat board is essentially a visual summary and/or outline of an animation. It consists of 5 images; no more, no less. It is from a beat board that the story and plot is based and elaborated.

For my second assignment, I was to create a beat board of my project. I must say it was a difficult task. I had to decide, what the most important messages were. What are the key points? If I wanted the audience to take away something that could be summed up in 5 sentences, what would they be?

These were the 5 images (Beat 01-05) and short succinct descriptions that accompanied them:

Beat 01. Interactions are complex between

tumour and environment.

Beat 02. Osteoclasts expose nerves.

Beat 03. Nociceptors are stimulated by

chemical factors.

Beat 04. Immune factors and heat also

activate nociceptors.

Beat 05. Acidosis decreases threshold of

nociceptors.

After completing this exercise... I came to the conclusion that there is yet much more for me to refine in terms of script and story. For those who have been following, you might be wondering why I did not dedicate an entire beat to osteoclastogenesis. The reason I omitted this point is that while it is indeed a crucial part of the pathology, it contributes the least directly to pain sensation. I have resorted to alluding to it within Beat 02 that increases osteoclast resorption leads to nerves being exposed.

A realization. There is much more to be done. And the doing requires shaving, trimming, and essentially more removal of content... all in order to fit everything into a 3-5 (as everyone keeps reminding me) minute film. I do hope that this limit on the film will last only until mid-August 2010.

A metaphor

A new term is well underway, and so is my Interpretive Visualization course where we will be introduced to conventions of storyboarding and pre-production processes.

For our first assignment, we were to capture the essence of our project's message in under seven words. These words were chosen: Cancer initiates an intensifying triage of pains.

The essence or spirit of my message was then to be visualized as a metaphor in the form of a slide show containing 10-15 original photographs. Here, I present to you my slideshow as a narrated video, "The unruly victorious" (Video 1).

Caution to viewers: Before jumping to the play button, allow me to explain that the metphor seen here greatly differs from what may be expected given the style and even apparent metaphors in my previous entries. It was my opinion that this exercise was designed to get our creative juices running and does not necessarily indicate in anyway how my final product will look. I was at first intent on showing humans pillaging the earth of undeserved rewards; I would take photos reminiscent of Tolkien's descriptions of the great mines of the dwarven races. My hopes to capture my own Mine of Moria, were unfortunately cut short when I realized that there were no such location in the heart of Toronto... Thus I was left with only the option of creating a series of stills that were utterly anti-environmentalism, a complete 180º from my original ideas.

Video 1. The unruly victorious.

Quick guide:

Perfection = Homeostasis

Imperfection = Pain/Pathos

Man made structures = Bone

Organics/Plants = Cells

Weeds = Cancer

Gardener aka June = Immune cell

Leaves/foliage = Chemical factors