Bioaccumulation - The whale, squid and pollution illustration is to show bio-accumulation within the food chain. Pollution becomes mixed with zoo plankton, and small bits of weathered plastic are mistaken for food by fish and other marine organisms and animals. Because Sperm Whales are one of the animals at the top of the food chain they accumulate toxins eaten all the way up the food chain. A large whale may be able to cope with these toxins, but it is also passed to newborn calves through breast milk.

500 sheep! - as well as their spermaceti oil being valuable , a whales' meat is equivalent to around 500 sheep.

Brain – A whales' brain weighs approximately 20kg – about the same as a car tire or two year old child.

Mother and child – I was trying to demonstrate to children that Sperm Whales have similar birthing habits to humans and similar relationships for the first couple of years. The second drawing shows that, although very rare, they are also able to have twins.

Drift nets - Despite the EU ban on driftnets in 2002 making drift netting a seemingly minor threat to Sperm whales in the Med, I drew a diagram for it anyway, as French and Italian fisherman still use this practice illegally to catch tuna and swordfish in the Mediterranean due to an extreme lack of enforcement. This wasn't used in the end but I still have the subsequent illustrations.

Whale caught in drift net – These nets are almost invisible to marine mammals. If they become entangled they are likely to drown. If they escape with part of the net still wrapped round them this could make life very hard and cause abrasions, infections, and eventually death.

Human family - I drew this family in order to express to children that whales also live in families, although they have a different structure to ours as previously explained.

Heart - Visual aid to help children remember that the average weight of a sperm whales' heart is equal to that of two adult humans!

Educational Sperm Whale DVD

In order left to right: The size of a sperm whales' tooth is comparative to the size of a Chiwawa dog, and the biggest of all the animals.

This illustration of a circle of adult whales around a calf is to mirror the narration explaining how Sperm Whales' only natural predator is the Killer/ Orca whale. Although possible, adult sperm whales are often too difficult to kill due to their size, so Orca's try to seperate the calf from the group as it is an easy target. The correct terminology for this circle is a 'rosette' which is formed to prevent the Orca's from reaching the calf. This was actually used in the DVD in the end as we were making something more specific to the Mediterranean where there are no Orca's. Their only threats here are anthropogenic.

In order left to right: Whales teeth - The size of a sperm whales' tooth is comparative to the size of a Chiwawa dog, and the biggest of all the animals.

Rosette - This illustration of a circle of adult whales around a calf is to mirror the narration explaining how Sperm Whales' only natural predator is the Killer/ Orca whale. Although possible, adult sperm whales are often too difficult to kill due to their size, so Orca's try to seperate the calf from the group as it is an easy target. The correct terminology for this circle is a 'rosette' which is formed to prevent the Orca's from reaching the calf. This was actually used in the DVD in the end as we were making something more specific to the Mediterranean where there are no Orca's. Their only threats here are anthropogenic.

Echolocation - Diagram showing the process of sending out sonar waves to detect food and location (and threats).

Food - Showing how the sonar works, bouncing off an object and back to the whale, with the whale sometimes being able to tell what the object is from the pattern of the returning sound waves.

Whale pods - Male and female Sperm whales live in separate pods, and even in different geographical locations. The females help each other to give birth and look after the other calves when mothers have to leave the surface to hunt for food. When male calves reach a degree of maturity – after 4 years old – they join the male group. They return to reproduce when they reach their twenties, then doing so every three to six years.

Educational Sperm Whale short film 16.09.10

My most recent piece of work is this 9'00" film about Sperm Whales. I had one week to make this educational video for a school in Athens targeting 6-12 year olds.

Being told it could be whatever length needed I starting researching on Wednesday and by Friday had condensed the research, scripted it (to be child friendly) and done the shot list. This was then checked over by my manager, relevant changes made and translated into Greek.

While I was waiting for the script to be finalised I started gathering the footage on the shot list together from the media library and organising it into folders in the project window of Premier. I also started making graphic illustrations using Adobe Illustrator to help portray the information more clearly to children. It was good the DVD was for children and I could add these images as there weren't enough images on Creative Commons websites and we didn't have enough footage to cover all the relevant subtopics.

As the first time using Illustrator, and with the time constraints, the images I made were very basic. Drawing them freehand using the paint brush tool I googled photographs and cartoon images of the sperm whales and other things I was drawing for a guide/ inspiration.

When the script was finished I recorded the narration and started putting the non-fictional footage in the time line while my colleague started putting colour on the graphic illustrations to save time. Some of the illustrations I made were no longer needed because of the change in the script.

I had drawn human beings next to Sperm whales and things like this to help the children relate to whales being animals like us in order to create understanding of these sensitive and intelligent creatures. I made many references to people throughout the script and the drawings reflected this style. But when the script was translated and changes made this no longer applied in the same way, so some things were left out. When I have more time I may make changes to the illustrations which have been used so they are more fitting, as we will use this DVD for other purposes in the future too.

Because I had used quite an illustrative style – rather than graphic – I didn't want to use block colours or have anything too bold. In fact block colour, in my limited knowledge of this software, wouldn't be possible anyway, as none of the lines in the drawings were joined. Therefore we decided on shadowing, highlighting some parts in colour, and very occasionally colouring parts.

Monday and Tuesday were then spent editing and making any changes to graphics, including the translations as some of the graphics reflecting the size of the sperm whale had already been done by another volunteer for a previous project. Because graphics were used from a previous project this means the style throughout is inconsistent, and though this doesn't affect the fluidity or understanding of the piece it would be nice when I have more time to make it uniform. At 10.30pm on Tuesday night, after 15hours at the office, I was finally putting the music on after things taking a lot longer than I anticipated, in a chicken and egg situation of not realising how time consuming graphics could be...or rather, it was time consuming because of my lack of experience with graphics!

Anyway, it has now been sent to them, and I am generally happy with what has been produced in a week and with finally using In Design and learning a couple of new skills. I find the prospect of things you can do with this programme quite exciting and hope to use it for more elaborate sketches / sequences in the future.

I have included pictures of the basic original illustrations (above).

Archipelagos website media page re-design

Our current website is slightly confusing when it comes to media, with pieces spread around in various locations. Therefore a colleague and I have re-designed the media pages with new imagery, and a condensed, more simplistic layout, drawing out page examples on In Design with a written description to go with each. This re-design was a great opportunity to familiarise myself with a software I haven't used before.

We are now just awaiting our web designers to do the job!

Strandings & illegal fishing activities

Other things which have been going on are the coverage of general environmental issues and conservation in the area, including the stranding of one Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus), a Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncates), and a Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis), on which Archipelagos volunteers performed necropsies.

I have also filmed illegal tuna trafficking activities from Turkish boats in Greek waters. The first boats, just off the coast of Samos, were transporting tuna out of season and gave conflicting information when asked about the initial whereabouts of the catch. A few days later, boats of a similar nature were caught fishing in the Samos-Fourni channel, and we had to make our own conservation and awareness efforts as port police appeared indifferent to the situation

All these videos were made to compliment newsletters written for our website and rushes of the footage were given to regional and national news channels as part of environmental and headline reports.

Updating 'Pesticides in Agriculture'

I have been touching up a documentary I made last year on the harms of pesticides, which is of particular relevance to the island of Samos, and throughout areas of Greece, as many farmers are either ill informed or choose to be ignorant to the risks of over-using pesticides.

It aims to highlight not only the risks to human health but also the implications it has within the environment, especially once in contact with water.

The changes needed were simply replacing some images, as last year I didn't have much access to transport and therefore couldn't get all the shots I needed, having to take some from the internet. I have replaced some of these still images with my own moving image and photography, and for images I couldn't get myself, such as that of dead birds, I used Creative Commons websites to avoid copyright issues.

After I left last year a volunteer made an English version of the documentary, which also required some touch-ups, including the re-arranging of footage to fit with the different order of words in English from Greek.

Unfortunately I encountered problems with this as the laptop originally worked on doesn't accept VLC format when importing video, and this is the format with which everything was filmed on our new HDV camera. I therefore tried to edit it on our new PC computer which accepts VLC, but when I transferred the project over, due to the way it had been saved it lost its sound.

Therefore I ended up editing it on the old laptop, using more photography within the English version than moving image, which wasn't the look I was originally going for.

I could have spent more time on this, converting the footage to a format which would work on the old laptop, or reimporting and editing the sound on to the new computer, but considering the message of the piece was accurately shown with the images used, I didn't want to spend any more time on this when there was other work to do.

BIODIVERSITY AND THREATS

An organisation in Crete asked for a DVD to show the biodiversity of the Aegean and threats to it. This is a 6 minute piece which draws on elements, sometimes directly, from our Archipelagos Institute DVD.

VIDEO TO BE POSTED SOON

ARCHIPELAGOS INSTITUTE DVD

Archipelagos Institute DVD:

This 10 minute piece is designed to incorporate most elements of Archipelagos’ work. Throughout I have tried to show biodiversity in the region of the Eastern Aegean, threats to this, and the research and methods we use to try and combat these threats. Shown within the DVD is scientific research, laboratory analysis, field work surveys, office work, practical conservation work, educational sessions and promotional material. This includes both the marine and terrestrial sides of Archipelagos and will hopefully give anyone interested a well rounded overview of the company.

VIDEO TO BE POSTED SOON

KIDS DVD

MAIN PROJECTS

Kids DVD:

We were asked to make an educational DVD about biodiversity and threats for local schools and eventually schools throughout the Aegean.

The DVD was originally going to be released for two age group ranges – 5-8 years old and 8-12 years old, but after discussion with coordinators and local teachers we decided to make a combined piece. As the DVD is targeted at such a wide age bracket, we have included animated features and reinforcements to help the younger children understand complex terms and concepts.

The project began with a research phase during which we worked closely with Archipelagos scientists, local education workers and volunteers. We did not only research data, but also contemporary methods of presenting scientific information to children. Children’s videos from National Geographic, Discovery Channel and other documentary producers were watched to gain both inspiration and insight into the production of large scale children’s educational films.

After writing the first draft of the script we liaised with a local primary school teacher who provided valuable feedback and advice. She helped us to think more carefully about communicating with such a specific audience. For example, we were advised not to use harsh words like ‘death’ but rather, to use euphemisms and metaphors to help young children understand serious issues without upsetting or scaring them.

We are now in the production phase of the DVD and various members of the team are working on bringing the script to life. The piece is being created with a collage style, incorporating live footage, still photography, graphics and animations. The animations and graphics are being created in a style not seen by Archipelagos before, using hand drawn images, watercolour paintings and other materials to create a fun and different look. One example is seen in the ‘Threats’ section where the concept of pollution is explored with an animation.

Lucy worked in Adobe After Effects and began by drawing images of cars, houses and trees on cardboard and then scanning these into the computer. She also took photos of real textures such as the grass and the sky to work into backgrounds. A watercolour sun was painted to be included in the background of the animation. All of these images were edited and worked with in Adobe Photoshop before being introduced to After Effects. Lucy then laid out a background with sky, grass, trees and a sun all in bright colours. The animation follows with buildings, a road, cars and smoke all appearing and travelling across the screen whilst the trees die and rubbish piles up behind the houses.

The main characters of the DVD are all watercolour animations combined with photo cut-outs and this style makes it easier to combine the animation with live footage – creating a kind of scrap book look which is colourful and engaging for children.

I helped with brainstorming relevant topics and ways to communicate these in the initial stages of the project but have done little since due to other work commitments. In the next few weeks I will be narrating one of the characters and editing the non-fiction footage into the piece.

I was hoping to do more work on this kids DVD and learn about Adobe Photoshop and In Design in more detail, but because we are sometimes pushed for time we stick to our medium in order to get work done. I would like to be more proactive in my spare time to make my skills more interdisciplinary, and also improve my editing skills while I have access to Archipelagos' Lynda.com account, which gives tutorials on different software.

2010!

AUGUST 2010

After last years placement of 5 and a half months turned into 9, I was asked to come back for another 6 months this year as media coordinator.

Working predominantly alone last year, the media department at Archipelagos has expanded this year, comprising of international team members, from England, Ireland, Switzerland, America and even Hong Kong and Australia! We have been very busy with more alternative projects than last year, and the volunteers bring a range of dynamic skills to the projects.

I have broken down the projects so far this year into seperate posts below:

End of 2009 placement

I will shortly be coming to the end of my placement so I’m currently trying to finish off and pass on various pieces of work.

Since my last blog I have been working on a couple of new things along with the work in progress. I have started making ‘vodcasts’ (video podcasts) to go with the relevant written news articles on the website. This has included acquiring new footage along with making use of that previously filmed.

The videos I have been making are more of an extension of the usual vodcast style, which is just a short visual piece, traditionally with no text or sound. It was decided to add text and later a score so a brief message can be understood in the video alone. There has been an English and Greek version made of each video, though not all videos have been uploaded onto both sites yet.

The vodcasts I have made, which are on the website, reflect the following news articles:

‘Creating a monitoring network for water quality in the Eastern Aegean islands’ - (Greek site).
This involved editing footage filmed by a team member on the trip to Agathonisi, and also creating some of my own footage here at the lab.
http://archipelago.gr/en/VideoPlayer/TabId/200/VideoId/21/Agathonisi-Water-Analysis.aspx

‘Preliminary biological mapping in south west Samos’ - (Greek site)
For this article, which talks about Posidonia Oceanica (sea grass), I put a short video together (filming and editing) showing trawler fishing, as this is one of the many threats to this productive habitat.
http://www.archipelago.gr/en/Home/NewsofArchipelagos/tabid/100/xmmid/441/xmid/965/xmview/2/Default.aspx

‘Opening the research bases in the North Eastern Dodecanese, and the phenomenon of illegal recreational fishing activities’
For this I simply edited down donated footage.
http://archipelago.gr/en/Home/NewsofArchipelagos/tabid/100/xmmid/441/xmid/966/xmview/2/Default.aspx

‘A juvenile Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) is returned to its natural habitat after being looked after for 12 daysat the Archipelagos research base in Samos’
This involved filming and editing the feeding and release of the owl (English and Greek site).
http://archipelago.gr/en/Home/NewsofArchipelagos/tabid/100/xmmid/441/xmid/1003/xmview/2/Default.aspx

Other vodcasts I have made which are yet to be put on the website are on threats to the common chameleon, Posidonia Oceanica (sea grass), and a piece showing the contrast between biological and chemical farms in response to a recent news article. This article in a national Greek paper claimed that organic food has the same nutritional value as chemically engineered food, and the vodcast was to go with Archipelagos’ news article contending this. Archipelagos will soon be conducting more scientific research into this.

I also made a piece using existing footage, for a presentation Archipelagos did to the village of Ormos about our work. Unfortunately due to technical problems this was unable to be shown but will now be used as a general video to show our work.

The ongoing pesticide documentary is nearly finished now. I just need one more interview with a biological farmer and some panoramic shots. A translator also needs to help me edit down the interviews (as it must be in Greek which I am limited at).

From the 20th to the 27th September the two new media volunteers and I filmed Cardiff University Marine Biology students, who came to Samos for a field course. This included social such as evening meals, and work such as snorkeling, sonar and other scientific practices.

This week (from the 27th – 2nd October) I am assisting an award winning freelance film-maker who has come here to film and edit previous footage to make some pieces for Archipelagos.

Pesticides in Agriculture DVD

Filming for the marine pollution advert has been on hold in the last few weeks for a couple of reasons. First of all as I was working on a piece for the Eco Festival in Athens to show the marine work Archipelagos do, using some footage I have filmed and existing work.

Secondly, we had four professionals from the University of Oradea – Romania, who came to Samos for three weeks. They consisted of two agronomists, a biologist and an economist, who were here to study the impact of pesticides in agriculture and on the socio- economic sector.

As I am making a DVD on pesticides, I followed the academics on field trips to various farms to document them taking samples for visual and lab analysis, and filmed them working in the Archipelagos laboratory.

Their work will be shown and reflected in the DVD being made, which will be used as part of a meeting with locals about the research findings, both on an agricultural level and an economic one.

The basic purpose of the DVD is to bring a message that biological farming is not alien, strange or unnecessary. It has existed far, far longer than any kinds of chemical farming methods, and it can relieve the land of long lasting environmental impacts created and imposed by chemicals. At the same time it is understood that, although it should be as a last resort, these herbicides or pesticides may be necessary. The problem is that some people will not even consider a change being for the best, but instead exacerbate the situation by overusing chemicals beyond what is safe and effective. I am planning to get interviews with locals practicing in biological farming for examples of how it can work.

Therefore I plan to highlight the dangers pesticides pose, especially when not used in accordance with instructions and correct protective wear, and to show people how to practice safely, for both personal reasons and for public health. In relation to this, it will also show how the farming methods chosen now can affect their land and livelihoods in the long term, therefore having an impact on their children’s heritage – in both their work and in the overall well-being of the island. In relation to this the tourist industry will be touched upon also.

I have done a shot list for this piece which I think will be more efficient than storyboarding, as the layouts are subject to change throughout the production process.

This is a project which will need to be updated after I leave, as results from samples of the land – sent to labs at Athens University and Oradea University for analysis – will need to be added, and people informed in respect of the findings.

Originally posted August 2009
http://workjournal.archipelago.gr/?p=984

Documentary & environmental filming with video journalism

For the next stage of the marine pollution ad (filming) I have come to Samos, as this is where the marine base is.

In a subsequent meeting it was decided the storyboarded ad style was too harsh for the approaching season as it targets tourism which is already suffering in the current economic climate. Therefore this structure may be carried out in a few months time.

The new style idea is more obviously comparative, using negative images next to positive ones and asking the audience which they would prefer. In this way the script is the main change with the shot list remaining similar and modifications taking place in editing.

I’ve drawn a couple of storyboards to suit this new style, though a decision need not be made until as late as editing. The idea for the first with a loose script idea, is along the lines of “a place to be proud of” as a statement at the beginning, followed by positive imagery. At the end “a place to be proud of?” becomes a question after the negative imagery.

The second storyboard has more obvious comparisons with negative imagery following directly after positive in a sequence of about six different scenarios. Possible text would be along the lines of “the choices are yours”.

Organic farming vs. pesticides:

I am currently getting footage together to make a short DVD about the effects of pesticides on public health and the natural environment, but also to offer solutions by giving examples of organic farming. This is to include interviews with various farmers and professionals.

General filming:

I have gathered footage of farmers burning toxic rubbish on the beach – plastic, aluminum and tin amongst other things.

I have also been filming trawler fishing boats as there has been a lot of activity lately with them becoming illegal in Greek waters from the 1st June (until the next season).

While filming this I spotted common dolphins feeding, so we went out on the boat to get some footage. They were filmed coming right up to the boat as well as long shots of them feeding/ playing. Flocks of birds gather above where the dolphins are, to feed on the fish as the dolphins gather them together at the surface. So for the long shots I had to simply look for the gathering birds.

It is worrying, however, to see the common dolphins so close to shore as this isn’t natural behaviour. One suggestion is that the excessive trawler fishing is depleting fish supplies so much it’s driving the dolphins to shallower waters in search of food. Current Greek law only states that trawler boats are not to come within one mile of the shore.

Originally posted June 2009
http://workjournal.archipelago.gr/?p=836

Environmental Marine Advertisement

I have recently joined Archipelagos on a 24 week placement, after graduating last year in Media Production, majoring in Broadcast Journalism (TV).

The first task I have been asked to undertake by Archipelagos is to make an environmental TV advertisement. There are four to be made ideally, between me and another person. We have decided to work individually – making two ads each – though we will work closely in terms of constructively critisising each others’ work and assisting with filming (and whenever needed). The ad I am starting with is on the marine environment in general.

Stage One
This is such a huge topic it would be impossible to communicate any aspect efficiently within the time frame of the ad (less than 2 minutes). Therefore I started researching generally and divided this into what I thought the 5 main issues were which have sub issues within themselves. Although the researchers at Archipelagos know many of the problems I was told to still do my own research as the wider the perspective the better – and eventually more accurate. The five topics I catagorised my research into were:

Shipping – Wrong routes, general pollution, anchoring/ mooring/ abrasion by ship hulls, coastal damage and damage caused by accidents, ship waste handling.

Fishing boats – Exploitation of resources, unwanted by-catch/ trapped animals returned dead to the sea (protected species), fishing techniques, general pollution, small scale fishing.
Pleasure boats – Anchoring /mooring, general pollution, accidents

Military – Pollution (general & noise)

Land-based pollution – Marine effected land pollution (e.g. illegal tip leakage)
An issue to be emphasized throughout is poor local and governmental management as these are the middle men needed to make the change possible – the connection between public will and progress.

(The issues of noise pollution and contamination of alien species from other seas were left out as these are more obscure and big topics on their own, which may need to be looked at in more depth – making whole ads or short documentaries by themselves.)

Stage 2
After this decision I had to think of a way to communicate the message in a way people would firstly listen to and secondly remember.

There are so many scientific facts which can be added but this will most likely confuse or bore people within the short time frame. For the desired effect and response the audience needs to engage emotionally with the issues. Therefore I have come up with a basic structure and style for an ad. There are three variations of this basic model but because all the shots will be the same this can be decided as late as editing stages.

The agreed upon model is for the ad to start like a tourist ad, with all the stereotypical features of this genre so the audience feel a false sense of security. Then, maintaining a happy and relaxed narration the images will become more disturbing, creating a sense of irony and a contrast between negative and positive which will hopefully give impact. The theme throughout all the good and bad images will be “come to beautiful Greece/ your guaranteed to get more than you bargained for…in beautiful Greece” (or words to that effect).
Then if people want more details the web address will be at the end for them to look up.
The next stage is storyboarding and filming the planned shots.
Feel free to contact me for more details of the effects mentioned on the marine environment – or for questions on video journalism.

http://workjournal.archipelago.gr/?p=668