• Location: Georgia
  • Joined: June 30, 2014

Topic: School System Revolution

Ever gone to school one day and thought, "You know, it doesn't really feel like I'm learning much. It feels more like the teachers are trying to jam information into my head." If so, don't just toil away. Stand up! As it is the Fourth Of July, this is the opportunity for me to announce my latest project: The School System Revolution. It shows how school boards across the United States have turned schools into knowledge factories, selling off the schools to rich businessmen who think they know how to educate future generations *cough* Bill Gates *cough*. mini/shifty   Are the students just going to do their masters' bidding? Heck no! If it worked for the colonists, it can work for the students. Revolution! Down with test-taking-tyranny! Here is where I will be showing the formation of this brick film about the corruption, decline, and eventual downfall of the United States' school system, or should I say, the British Monarchy?

Last edited by texas_cheeto_hog (July 6, 2014 (06:55pm))

"Defeat is always momentary."

-Carl Denham, King Kong (2005)
  • Location: Perpetual Twilight
  • Joined: August 26, 2012

Re: School System Revolution

Hey texas_cheeto_hog, welcome to the forums!

I'm glad to see that you've got ideas and will be working on them and continue to advance your filmmaking, that's great!
Just a few quick tips for you:
Be sure to read the forum rules, and you may want to introduce yourself since you're pretty new, help people get to know who you are.
I'd also suggest being more specific as to what exactly you're doing here.  If this is just a story idea you had, it should have gone here.  If you plan on having a thread for its pre-production and updates, then this is the right place!  Just try and make your idea a little more specific and what you'd like to do with it, then you can get better and more precise feedback.

Oh, and try to limit how much you use the smilies; it makes things a little hard to read if they're used too often.

I hope I'm not coming across as rude, that's definitely not my intent.  I just thought you could use a few tips. 
Your project is certainly relevant in this day and age, and something not often, if ever, done in brickfilm form. 
Good luck!

Last edited by JonnDthunDer (July 4, 2014 (11:07pm))

Personal Website + Portfolio
Available for Film Composition
http://i.imgur.com/wwdENK0m.jpg

JonnDthunDer's Website

  • Location: New Jersey
  • Joined: March 22, 2012

Re: School System Revolution

Have you been doing research on this?  Because you can find a lot of information with keywords, "common core", "Bill Gates", "Google".

https://vimeo.com/channels/holdingourown      http://holding-our-own.tumblr.com

"None practice tolerance less frequently than those who most loudly preach it."

HoldingOurOwn's Website

  • Joined: October 29, 2012

Re: School System Revolution

Education in this country (UK), particularly college education, is going to hell because of continuous political interference in the system. This has resulted in students having more power. Guess what? This hasn't been a good idea...

  • Location: Georgia
  • Joined: June 30, 2014

Re: School System Revolution

jahnocli wrote:

Education in this country (UK), particularly college education, is going to hell because of continuous political interference in the system. This has resulted in students having more power. Guess what? This hasn't been a good idea...

Yeah, sometimes men with power and influence aren't the best ones to turn to for handling school matters...

"Defeat is always momentary."

-Carl Denham, King Kong (2005)
  • Location: Georgia
  • Joined: June 30, 2014

Re: School System Revolution

HoldingOurOwn wrote:

Have you been doing research on this?  Because you can find a lot of information with keywords, "common core", "Bill Gates", "Google".

Some research, yes, and also some information from a group of dissatisfied parents in my community, as well as my own opinions as a student.

"Defeat is always momentary."

-Carl Denham, King Kong (2005)
  • Location: Georgia
  • Joined: June 30, 2014

Re: School System Revolution

JonnDthunDer wrote:

Hey texas_cheeto_hog, welcome to the forums!

I'm glad to see that you've got ideas and will be working on them and continue to advance your filmmaking, that's great!
Just a few quick tips for you:
Be sure to read the forum rules, and you may want to introduce yourself since you're pretty new, help people get to know who you are.
I'd also suggest being more specific as to what exactly you're doing here.  If this is just a story idea you had, it should have gone here.  If you plan on having a thread for its pre-production and updates, then this is the right place!  Just try and make your idea a little more specific and what you'd like to do with it, then you can get better and more precise feedback.

Oh, and try to limit how much you use the smilies; it makes things a little hard to read if they're used too often.


I hope I'm not coming across as rude, that's definitely not my intent.  I just thought you could use a few tips. 
Your project is certainly relevant in this day and age, and something not often, if ever, done in brickfilm form. 
Good luck!

Hello, JohnDthunDer! Thank you for the advice. This probably should have gone in the ideas forum, but it will do fine here for now. I will post updates when I get the chance, and will also introduce myself in the form of the same name.

P.S. Don't worry about being rude, it's nice to get advice from people who know the ropes and can help me find my way.

"Defeat is always momentary."

-Carl Denham, King Kong (2005)
  • Location: United States
  • Joined: June 21, 2011

Re: School System Revolution

Yowza!
Hey Texas, if you wanna reply to several people, you can either do something like this:
@Jon, message
@Hoo, message
@jahn, message

Or copy what each person said, then put the quote codes in manually. That way it's all in one nice, neat post and not three posts that clutter up the thread. The first is handy if you're only going to reply with a sentence or two, and the second if you wanna address something specific in detail.

Now, as to the subject of the film, it seems to be going in a satire-like feel, which sounds great. Will it be more seriously toned, or a bit more over-the top? Also, will you be going a more drama-y route, or will you lean towards the action angle? I'd personally recommend less action and more time involved on the deep politics and stuff. Either way, I'm looking forward to it.
And it's great to have you join up here! Hope you enjoy it.

Youtube | Facebook | Twitter

Pritchard Studios's Website

  • Location: Georgia
  • Joined: June 30, 2014

Re: School System Revolution

@Pritchard Studios

Yeah…I'm such a noob!

Will be sure to do that next time…

As of right now, the film is mostly going to be a satire about how some fool decided to change the system, though it may not be…entirely factual, and how the new system treats students. However, the message itself is serious:…which I'm not going to post right now because of spoilers. Thanks for the tip! Be sure to check it out when it's released!

"Defeat is always momentary."

-Carl Denham, King Kong (2005)
  • Location: New Jersey
  • Joined: March 22, 2012

Re: School System Revolution

Don't worry, Tex; I've made worse mistakes here even when not-so-new.

https://vimeo.com/channels/holdingourown      http://holding-our-own.tumblr.com

"None practice tolerance less frequently than those who most loudly preach it."

HoldingOurOwn's Website

  • Location: I'm a very private person
  • Joined: August 12, 2012

Re: School System Revolution

So, is this meant to be a brickfilming project of yours?  It does sound like it could be interesting, and like Jonn said, it's not really something you see happening often in brickfilm form.  I think we've all felt that way at some point in school (though perhaps not as drastically as you describe it...)

jahnocli wrote:

Education in this country (UK), particularly college education, is going to hell because of continuous political interference in the system. This has resulted in students having more power. Guess what? This hasn't been a good idea...

Ummm... a UK University education went from being free to being £3000 a year to £9000 a year all in the space of a few years, even after politicians "promised" that tuition costs wouldn't go up.  (Of course, when you're a politician, the definition of "promise" is pretty loose, but that's beside the point....)  And now Michael Gove (the Education Secretary) apparently wants to increase the length of school days and shorten school holidays, has scrapped classic American and foreign literature (such as To Kill a Mockingbird) from the A-level English syllabus in favour of British classics, and has even suggested getting rid of A-levels and making the IB diploma mandatory for all schools in the UK.  How is any of this resulting in "students having more power"?

Last edited by Mr Vertigo (July 7, 2014 (01:38pm))

Retribution (3rd place in BRAWL 2015)

&Smeagol      make the most of being surrounded by single, educated women your own age on a regular basis in college
AquaMorph    I dunno women are expensive
  • Joined: October 29, 2012

Re: School System Revolution

FlyingMinifig wrote:

So, is this meant to be a brickfilming project of yours?  It does sound like it could be interesting, and like Jonn said, it's not really something you see happening often in brickfilm form.  I think we've all felt that way at some point in school (though perhaps not as drastically as you describe it...)

jahnocli wrote:

Education in this country (UK), particularly college education, is going to hell because of continuous political interference in the system. This has resulted in students having more power. Guess what? This hasn't been a good idea...

Ummm... a UK University education went from being free to being £3000 a year to £9000 a year all in the space of a few years, even after politicians "promised" that tuition costs wouldn't go up.  (Of course, when you're a politician, the definition of "promise" is pretty loose, but that's beside the point....)  And now Michael Gove (the Education Secretary) apparently wants to increase the length of school days and shorten school holidays, has scrapped classic American and foreign literature (such as To Kill a Mockingbird) from the A-level English syllabus in favour of British classics, and has even suggested getting rid of A-levels and making the IB diploma mandatory for all schools in the UK.  How is any of this resulting in "students having more power"?

You'll remember that I was careful to concentrate on college education? This is outside the scope of most of your reply, which concentrates on compulsory secondary education and university education. College education (or 'further education' here in the UK), is ridiculously compromised by a 'payment by results' system. There are no shortage of anecdotal stories -- here is one:
A lecturer at a local college was introduced to a student who he genuinely could not remember. He was told this student should be allowed to copy other students' course work and be coached through the end of term multiple-choice test so that the college could maintain its pass figures and hence guarantee its funding...
THAT'S what I mean by "students having more power". But if you know any better, I'd be interested to hear.

  • Location: Georgia
  • Joined: June 30, 2014

Re: School System Revolution

UPDATE 1: Good news. I just finished the script (it's a short brickfilm). I'm really quite pleased with it. It has wacky, zany jokes in it (some of them references to other brickfilms) and a fast-paced rhythm to it, but still effectively delivers a serious message and an insightful (but a little preachy) moral. It may be a while before I make another update, as I am going to a stop-motion-animation camp in a little less than a week. Hopefully, it will help me to improve on my...somewhat slow animation. Click this link to see what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLqXJq6ETH4    mini/confused

"Defeat is always momentary."

-Carl Denham, King Kong (2005)
  • Location: Georgia
  • Joined: June 30, 2014

Re: School System Revolution

I'm sorry I've been gone awhile. School started back for me and I've had a lot to contend with. I'm going to try to get most of the lines recorded by the end of Labor Day.

"Defeat is always momentary."

-Carl Denham, King Kong (2005)
  • Location: Georgia
  • Joined: June 30, 2014

Re: School System Revolution

UPDATE 2: I have finished recording most of the dialogue. In the future I will probably have casting calls because it is very hard for me to say lines with my braces (this will be evident in many of my films coming out soon.) I have begun setting up the studio. Hopefully filming will have begun by either tomorrow or Saturday, and I will have filmed most of it by Wednesday. This film will be the first in my higher quality future brickfilms. I'm trying out a new camera, software, green screen, and more detailed sets with this one, and I will also work on making the animation smoother. Hopefully this cilm will have wrapped by the end of October and I can focus on Blue and Gray (it's participating in a festival at the end of January, and since its a long film, pre production needs to start by October to meet the quota)

"Defeat is always momentary."

-Carl Denham, King Kong (2005)
  • Location: New Jersey
  • Joined: March 22, 2012

Re: School System Revolution

Can't wait to see it!

https://vimeo.com/channels/holdingourown      http://holding-our-own.tumblr.com

"None practice tolerance less frequently than those who most loudly preach it."

HoldingOurOwn's Website

  • Location: Georgia
  • Joined: June 30, 2014

Re: School System Revolution

Filming is falling behind schedule; I spent a lot of today trying to find my sticky tack, but still could not find it. I tried beginning filming without it, but my Frames 5 software would not pick up my camera or import my audio, and there are few tutorials on it. I tried a free trial of stop motion pro, but it would also not pick up my camera (a Nikon DX), so I tried helium frog:would not download. I know how to work monkey jam but I don't know how to sync my audio with my frames. I am currently trying DigiCamControl, but I still have no idea how to sync the audio. This has been a dark day...foes anyone have any hints or suggestions for my software or other software?

"Defeat is always momentary."

-Carl Denham, King Kong (2005)