Copyright

How to Copyright work. This is a list of how to resister for copyright the right way for best results. Even though as a member of the UK copyright is already your right, it can be difficult to prove in a court if the other person has more money and better lawyers, therefore, registering is a good idea. I found this incredibly helpful and is a much more straight forward process than I initially thought it would be. This is something I will now do to all my work and has put my at ease about people misusing and stealing my work. This list is used from the UK copyright webstie that can be found at this link: http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/ on this page: http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p04_copyright_registration

1. Why register?
   Although copyright is an automatic right of the author, if an unscrupulous third party infringes your work, proving your claim may be a difficult matter.
   In the past, a popular but misguided solution has been to post a copy of the work to yourself, but as it is an easy task to open and replace the contents or simply seal the envelope later, this method does not provide strong evidence in the event of a dispute.
   Without more substantial evidence, copyright disputes can boil down to a case of their word against yours, and if the other party has greater financial resources, reputation and lawyers it may be very difficult to get a ruling in your favour.
   This is why we feel the best solution is to have the work registered, so that in the event of a dispute you have the best, independently verifiable, evidence of the date and content of your work.
   
2. About the UK Copyright Service
   One of the key considerations in setting up the service was to achieve a better level of copyright protection at a price that everyone can afford.
   UK Copyright Service is essentially an independent witnessing service and an archive of original works, which offers impartial supporting evidence of ownership. Nothing can ever provide a 100% guarantee, but if you register your copyright and follow our guidelines we feel you will have done as much as possible to protect your work.
   
3. What types of work can be registered?
   Just about anything which is an original work, here are some examples based on experience so far:
   • Music, lyrics and sound recordings
   • Design work
   • Web sites
   • Advertisements, plans, designs and patterns
   • Labels, maps and charts
   • Computer programs
   • Films and scripts
   • Books, manuscripts and synopsis
   • Artwork and photography
   • Commercial documents, logos, letterheads
   • Periodicals, catalogues and other documents
   • Games (rules and descriptions)
   • Descriptions of ideas prior to patent
   •  
4. What happens when your work is registered?
   • You will be allocated a personal account number, and information about the work is stored in our database.
   • To ensure your work is protected against unauthorised access, we create an encrypted electronic copy in place of the submitted version which may then be discarded.
   • Encrypted back ups are also stored in multiple, geographically separated locations. This precaution ensures protection against data corruption, fire, and other risks.
   • You will be sent a certificate as confirmation of registration.
   • The archive is maintained by our dedicated personnel who take every care to ensure that copies of your work are kept safe and secure for the period of registration. You will also be notified before the registration expires and offered the option to extend the registration period if required.
   • Your details, your work and all data about it are treated as confidential.
   • An entry in our archive is evidence of copyright ownership from the date of registration, and will assist you in the event of a dispute.
   •  
5. How to register your work
   1. Online  
      The fastest way to register is via our online registration service. This provides immediate protection for your work.
   2. Postal applications
      We also accept postal applications. To register complete the registration application form F-01, and send the following:
      • A copy of the work to be registered.
      • A completed application.
      • The registration fee.
   3. Accepted media formats for postal applications
      CD
      DVD
      USB Flash drive
      Paper - incuding photographs, transparencies and prints.
      Please see the postal registration format information page for conditions and guidance on all media types accepted for registration.
      Ensure that you only include a copy of the work and not the original or master.
      
6. Charges and registration limits
   1. Online
      1. Online registration fees
         The current charges for online registration are £39.00 for 5 years or £64.00 for 10 years per work.
      2. Online registration limitsThere is no limit on the amount of data that can be included in a registration processed online, and no limit to the amount of files that may be uploaded within each registration.
         If you have a large number of files, we do suggest that you use an archiving program such as WinZip, StuffIt or Tar, to preserve your directory structure and simplify your upload.
         Note: Most web browsers, (i.e. Internet Explorer), will only upload files up to 2GB. To avoid problems we therefore have a 2GB limit per file, so larger items would need to be split into 2 or more files before uploading.
   2. Postal applications
      1. Registration fees for postal applications
         The current charges for postal applications are £47.00 for 5 years or £72.00 for 10 years per work.
      2. Charges for oversized itemsThe standard charges include submissions of CDs, USB Flash drive or a DVD drive containing up to 1GB (1024MB) of data, or paper documents, photos or fabric samples up to 20 pages A4/Letter/Foolscap size
         
         A £5 processing fee will apply for:
         Paper documents between 21 & 100 pages.
         Paper documents larger than A4/Letter size.
         DVD/CD disc(s) or USB Flash drive, over 1GB and up to 4GB.
         A £15 processing fee will apply for:
         Paper documents between 101 & 250 pages.
         DVD/CD disc(s) or USB Flash Drive, over 4GB and up to 8GB.
         For DVD/CD disc(s) or USB Flash Drive, over 8GB please add £2 per additional GB.
         A £25 processing fee will apply for:
         Paper documents between 251 & 500 pages.
         Larger works should be treated as 2 or more registrations.
         The preferred formats for postal submissions are CD or DVD.
         
7. When to register
   It is important to remember that a registration is evidence of your work from the registration date. It is therefore best to register sooner rather than later so you establish the evidence before your work has a chance to be infringed.
   
   
8. For maximum protection, ensure that
   • Your work displays a copyright notice.
     e.g. Copyright © 2000 Joe Smith.
   • Once registered, you should include a statement that your work is registered with the UK Copyright Service to deter infringement.
   • In the case of jointly authored works, you should have an agreement, so that if a member of your collective leaves you are all clear what will happen to the copyright of your work.
   • Any significant updates to your work are registered using the registration update facility.
   For more information about protecting your work, see our fact sheet P-02: Protecting Copyright.
   
9. What if the work is infringed?
   In the event of a dispute, UKCS can act as an impartial independent witness, providing evidence to authenticate your claim:
   We can verify when the work was first registered by means of a certificate of registration, (further copies can be made at your request), and at your instruction we can produce copies of the work as proof of the content of your work at the registration date, these can be sent to any address you specify, this may be your solicitor, or the judge/tribunal dealing with your case.
   
10. What if the work changes after registration?
    If a work changes after registration and you wish the new content to also be protected it is possible to submit an updated version of the work as a registration update. This creates another dated evidence deposit that will demonstrate the evolution of your work over time. Updates are charged at a reduced rate - for more information please see the registration updates factsheet.
    
    
11. Extending the registration period
    A registration can be extended using our online renewal/extension facility at any point when it has less than 5 years left to run. Expired registrations can also be renewed up to 28 days after the expiry date.
    About one month before the registration period ends, you will also be automatically sent a postal reminder with the option to extend the registration for a further 5 or 10 year period if required. You will also receive this reminder as a email if we have your email address on record.
    The maximum registration duration at any point is 10 years, but renewal process can be repeated as often as required throughout the life of the work, up to the legal copyright duration (which is normally author’s life plus 70 years).
    
12. Important notes, exceptions and allowances
    1. Registering a collection of works under one title
       Where a number of items form a larger collective work, you may register all parts on one CD, online upload, etc. For example: A web site and artwork. A music album, lyrics and midi files. A single collection of poems.
       In such a case, the works will be registered with UKCS as one item, with one title; this does not affect the copyright of the work in any way, but please ensure this is suitable for your needs.
       Please note: As copyright exists under the name of the author or company/commissioner of the work, work by different authors, organisations or collaborations need be registered separately.
    2. Allowance for supporting works (postal applications)
       Clearly work size can vary enormously, and for that reason, extra charges are waived for clients who submit 2 CD’s as a double album, or include a second CD containing information proving work development,e.g. rough drafts, content notes, supplementary files, etc. Both the discs however must pertain to the same work.
    3. Electronic documents with unusual fonts or images
       If you are registering electronic documents, (i.e. Word, Excel, Publisher), ensure that any graphic files are included or embedded in the documents. Also ensure that fonts are embedded, or use standard fonts such as Arial and Times New Roman. Failure to do so may result in the document being indecipherable and affect your claim in the event of dispute.
    4. Extracts, quotes etc.
       If your work includes some parts which are not your own creation, it may still be possible to register provided you either have permission to use the work, and enclose proof of written permission from the copyright owner of the parts in question, (a photocopy will suffice), or remove any parts that are not your own creation from the copy for registration.
    5. Outstanding disputes
       This service is intended to protect against future infringement. It will not assist if ownership of the work is already in dispute.
       
       
13. Privacy policy
    UK Copyright Service operates a strict privacy policy regarding client information.
    • All our personnel dealing directly with client details are required to sign a confidentiality agreement.
    • All client details, registered works or registration details are considered confidential and except where legally required, (i.e. by court order or Police investigation), will not be disclosed to any third party without prior consent.
    • Client details will never be passed onto other companies, mailing lists, etc.
    • All electronic back ups of works are encrypted, to ensure they cannot be accessed by unauthorised personnel.
    • All documents and files containing client data that require disposal, (such as redundant or expired files) are disposed of in a secure manner, normally by shredding and/or incineration.

Exibiton

We held an exhibition of our work for the Game Art Machinima module for the public today. We had Andrew Bennison, Managing Director of Update, a Games apps and software events company who looked at our work and gave us positive feedback. He also asked if he could leave us his card and invited us to his next event, which I took as a positive note as our work must have impressed him to a certain degree for him to have done this.

We also had Games Republic look at our work, who had a play through our walk-through and watched our film. One member asked "So how long did you have to produce this? A year?" for which I replied "8 to 10 weeks." He was then very surprised and impressed as it was clear he thought he time we took creating our work was 5 times the length it actually was.

Finally we had a class of students come to look at our work who were between 15-16 years old. They seemed very intrigued with our work with one student almost interviewing us about the process of creating the work we had, and the stages of the characters development. He said it was really good and hope to be on a course like this so he can create work like this because he "loved it." We were also talking to a teacher of the group who said our drawings and characters looked fantastic, and judging on how inquisitive and interacting the students were being that they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

This was all very pleasant to hear as after so much work and time to be able to present our work and hear positive word son it did feel rewarding, but to also be able to help and talk to students wanting to work towards where I am and explain our work flow and what is good for them to start practicing felt really good, as I recall being in their position doing the same thing at their age, similar to what I do to professional comic artists at comic cons now.

Overall our groups section of the exhibition seemed to go really well with many positive comments from practitioners and professionals, but also our target audience as well, proving to ourselves that we achieved our goal with this module.

Photos of our groups set up section of the exibiton can be sen below.

Showreel

Here is my end of year showreel for year 2. I produced a showreel as I feel I have done alot of high quality video work this year and as I am unlikely to continue film in 3rd year this would act as a showreel for films I have made. I am proud of the piece but going into 3rd year I would make a portfolio by the end with all the characters and comics I will write to show potential future employers, as at the moment the portfolio hasn't changed much since I showed some of my work at London Super Comic Con.

A Link to my Showreel can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJE0hepH86Q&feature=youtu.be

Drawings of film characters

Here are my drawings of a selection on my favorite on screen film characters. I decided to draw these to see if I could capture the same level of similarity of a recognisable face I can do with pencil using pen and a more comic like style. I feel I have achieved this and am improving on my illustration skills by exploring styles and technique. I am proud of these piece, thou I feel Gandalf, Thor, Davy Jones and Indiana Jones are the strongest.

Portaits

Here are two illustration I did of character from films I produced this year. I used a range of HB to 9B pencils and photoshop to edited them and add colour. I and proud of these pieces and happy to keep practicing this style of drawing to keep my skill set at a high level even though i have started to concentrate on a more traditional comic book style of drawing recently.

Light Night

For Light Night our theme was circus, and I produced a poster with more political meaning using photoship that I feel works rather well.

 Using the same theme, I worked with Meg Sugden to create an idea and image with a similar point and message. This piece was printed to about six foot tall for people to see. I was pleased with the final out come and happy with how much work we completed in our given time.

Art Work - Animals

Here I drew two animals,  the first dog for a present to a family member, the second dog purely for fun, the third dog for commission and the other two cats I did as a commission as well. I was proud my skills were considered well enough to pay money for, but unfortunately some of the quality of the images is fairly poor as I had to give the pictures away before I got a change to scan them in using a high quality scanner.

Art Work - The Thing

I wanted to illustrate The Thing in the same style that I had illustrated Thor in a piece on concept art for the VFX module that can be seen to the left. Here I wanted to knowledge the character in a more realistic way. So as a more realistic character in terms of personality in comparison to other superheroes I thought he should wear normal clothes, like a regular guy, similarly to how he dose in the game Marvel Nemesis. I also thought about as a explorer and traveller he should look a little more well traveled, hence the back pack.

I also considered the characters weakness. He is strong but if he needed to cut something he can't, so I

included a knife in his artillery. Also, though he is strong and near indestructible, there is little he can do from a distance against fro example a flying foe. So I decided he should have a gun of some sort, and since he is so strong it made sense he could carry a big weapon. I thought that maybe this could be in a  future where the other members of the Fantastic Four have been killed, so he made this weapon in their memory, (so it could have a grapple round to reach things far away, like Mr. Fantastic, it could project blasts of energy and grab thing similarly to Syndrome in the Incredibles, like Invisible Woman, and it could act as a flame thrower also, like the Human Torch.)

I was proud of this piece as he looks how I would like. I kept his blue eyes (and important feature of the character) gave him large rocks in places he doesn't need to bend and smaller one where he would, so in exaggerated realism this characters anatomy might work) and gave him braces on his trousers to age him and a cigar, as the character regularly smokes and its something I think he mode do more after the death of is team mates.

VFX: Meg's film

I was also asked to act in Meg's film as a overly enthusiastic and strange mad scientist. I was happy to help and used a silly voice and overly dramatic movements and facial expressions, (like in children's cartoons) to convey the humour and the child friendly aspect of the film. I was again successful in my acting as numerous people commentated on how funny my performance was, including a child who was in the age range the film was targeted for.  

A link to the film can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjw-8yNyg8Y

VFX: Si's film

For Si's film I was cast as an actor when I had little experience in acting, but was happy to help after I had already filmed and acted in my VFX film. I also had to visit the make up artists house for patch tests, and costume fittings which was all worth while, as I had lots of fun having professional make-up applied to me and got to learn about it while I was helping. I am yet to see the footage but know it'll look great as the production value of the film I could tell was brilliant. I liked acting more so as the Zombie than the person before he turned with dialogue as the zombie was a new role I hadn't tried before. I was told that I was good and moved in the right way for the character, and I look forward to seeing the footage when it is edited.

Inspiational Film - Noah

Darren Aronofsky's latest mater piece seemed to get negative reviews amongst critics but for the life of me I can't figure out why. The story of Noah here was taken in a more fantastical sense, with more mythical creatures in the story. I especially liked how the fallen angels were shown, cursed for betraying 'The Creator' by going to earth to try and guide man from his wicked ways. They were trapped in stone and they're wings now used as limbs, were enslaved by man, they very people they were trying to help.  These huge rock creatures were something I didn't expect to see in the movie and came a pleasant surprise.

The movie was also incredibly well shot, with some outstanding cinematography and shot types. My particularly favouratie scene was when Noah tells the story of creation, and we see through stop motion the universe form, and then slowly zooming to our world, and how this was made to have have plants, then life, and how that life evolved. This keeps zooming throughout and then tracking the evolution of a single cell organism to a primate, where the scene then turns to normal motion. It opens to Adam and Eve, taking an apple off the tree that has a heart beat, symbolising the first sin of man, and the birth of wickedness. It then turns to the shot of Cain murdering Abel, and quickly shows different soilders of war though different ages murdering each other, from a modern army solider to a Native American, flashing thorough all the slaughter man created.

This scene is incredibly well made and very thought provoking, and though bald by using scenes that don't necessarily  fit the rest of the film and different styles throughout, the message of the evil of man is defiantly brought home, and very understandable why 'The Creator' wants rid of man from the earth. I feel this is the best scene and one of my favoraite scenes from any film for the pure creativity and idea of such a sequence, and also the symbolism and metaphors withing it. A link to this scene can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwSWRdbSQK0

The film's soundtrack was also amazing, soft and tender and times and dramatic and impeding, creating a very intense mood to the film. I also love Patty Smith's 'Mercy is' recorded for the film witch plays at the credits.

Another brilliant aspect of the film was how every character is utterly understandable though arguing between great odds. For example, the villian wanting to take the Ark to save his men rather than a bunch of animals is completely understandable. Noah's wife betraying Noah and making their adoptive daughter fertile again so that she can have a family of their own after the flood, despite Noah saying they will be the last humans as it is the creators command. And even Noah's harsh decision to slay the baby if it is female, to ensure man cannot ruin the world again, and make all the lives lost in the flood a worthless sacrifice.

Noah is a very thought provoking film that makes viewers think about the evil nature of man and if the world would be better without humans on it, a concept that would make a great cause for a super-villian I think.

When the film had its first draft, it was also made into a graphic novel, illustrated by Niko Henrichon. This is similar largely to the film but is different in terms of design and shot type. There are a few differences in script and I feel the film is better for these differences. The art is beautiful in the comic, but I feel the shots, acting, differences in script, soundtrack and visual effects make the the film superior.

Inspiratonal Character - Ultimate Thing

The Thing has always been a particular favouratie Marvel hero of mine, but my love for the character jumped when reading the ultimate version of the character. The Thing has always been depressed with his ugly appearance, but new stories seem to be emerging taking this in a much more adult and relatable context, especially in the Ultimate Universe. For example, in Ultimate Fantastic Four # 59 in a flash back to just after he has been transformed, The Thing can be seen attempting to self harm but failing because of his indestructible skin. I feel this gave the character a more gritty depth readers could see, making him seem far more human and real.


In the Ultimate X-men/ Fantastic Four Annual Volume 1 The X-men and Fantastic Four travel into the future, where Ben (The Thing) and Firestar are together, so Ben spends 2 whole issues flirting back and forth with her only for Johnny (The Human Torch) to ask her out at the end and for her to say yes. This also gave The Thing a more relatable side as though he has always been self conscious about his appearance the way the page is pannelled and the expression on Ben's face really shows his disappointment at rejection, something I'm sure everyone has felt.

The Thing I'm sure will continue to  grow and have his character shown in various ways but as of so far Ultimate Thing has captured him the best in my opinion.
 

Inspirational Work - Catwoman New 52 Volume 1: The Game

A Graphic Novel I read recently gave me much inspiration also is the New 52 Catwoman graphic novel written by Judd Winick and illustrated by Guillem March. The series has been great, but I feel the first volume has been the strongest so far. readers got to go further into the character of Catwoman, a character who has always interested me, but who never seems to have enough stand alone adventures, so seeing a more grown up take on the character was very exciting to see. (SPOILERS)

This Graphic Novel went in depth to the character, and showed her imperfections brilliantly. She though accidental means got her life long friend killed and though a villain did it, her guilt and sorrow grew because she knew it was her fault she involved her in this style of life.

 It also showed how angry she can get, and how she violently beats the man responsible, attempting to kill him only to be calmed by Batman. Though they are introduced to already know each other, and often engage in one night stands but never a relationship, the scene displayed how the sex wasn't meaningless and how they do have stronger feelings for one another, but due to their professional work can't be together.

The story then shows how lonely this makes her feel, the loss of her friend, a unfurfilling relationship and how the one night stands leave the character feeling more lonely than she did before, usually done for the comfort and company of Batman, and how their differences, anger, and passion conflict in these spontaneous nights. 

In an argument between the two about her dangerous life in a moment of hastiness Catwoman admits she may be living the life she is because she wants to die. This added sympathy to the character and creates a deeper mind set for her actions, and makes her a more understandable antihero.

Though I find the highlights of the volume the moments when her and Batman's relationship create an interesting dynamic to read, Catwoman successfully leads her own story. Batman occasionally appears but the story in solely concentrated on her side of the story, and it gives the character so much more depth that I have always felt she needs.

The writing is brilliant and art fantastic, especially when looking at expression, composition and shot type. The only criticism on the art would be for me sometimes the perspective is a little off, but that is a minor thing. Over all the book has proved to be one of my favorites  and defiantly the best story of Catwoman in my opinion, and I thing this is due to the complex character, personality and likability she has been given.