ROLLER DERBY TODAY Midterm Project

ResearchVéronique Pelletier

Paula Youwakim

INTRODUCTION TO OUR PROJECT

We decided to do our final project on Roller Derby for various reason. First, Paula is completely obsessed with it and she actually skates in a Montreal league. Véronique knows barely anything about it except from what she saw when she watched Whip It! At first, we were not sure if we wanted to create a story follow-ing a derby girl or make it more informative so people could learn more about the sport. When you talk to someone about roller derby you instinctively think that it is a very violent sport. While we won’t deny that it can get pretty violent, it is also a very competitive and fun sports which is even considered for the Olympics.

While our project is not totally going to be infographics, we did not want it to be “too serious” so throughout the voice over that we will include, we will try to make it as humoristic as possible (and a little sarcastic). Visually wise, we want to go for a vintage looking video, as you can tell from our research and mood-board. When we first discussed the project we both had the same vision of something vintage, but with really vibrant colours when it comes to representing the teams and derby girls. We are most likely going to go with neon green, neon pink as well as neon violet and black. The font is still something that we are discuss-ing, but we definitely want to go with something that is sans-serif and bold. It’s a physical sport, a sans-serif without any character per se would not be appropriate. Music and sound wise, as mentioned before, we will do voice over since we think it will make the video more dynamic than just having the viewer read everything. Paula’s friend also kindly offered to create a song for our project.

SHORT HISTORY OF ROLLER DERBY

1935: Leo Seltzer creates the Transcontinental Roller Derby where a man and a woman competed against each other. The fact that a woman athele took part in the race worked both for and against Seltzer.

1938-47: Roller Derby grows in popularity and rules changed. It is now a game of 5 men against 5 women skating around a rank and allowed physical contact.

1948: First televised match of Derby caught the atten-tion of the population.

1952: Becomes over exposed in the USA and expands to Europe.

1960-70s: Roller Derby makes the cover of various well known magazine giving it even more exposure.

Now: Roller Derby is regaining popularity.

VIDEO INSPIRATIONThe first video that inspired us is the “UNICEF Canada Gifts of Magic (Girl)” video. It is a great animation video promoting Unicef and while we are not trying to promote roller derby, we really liked the concept and were really inspired by the colours and the overall feel and movement of the video.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKriIPainCY&fea-ture=share&list=PL2ABD92283D57CC3E

The next video that inspired us is Herman Miller’s “This Is You”. We loved the more vintage and crafty effect the video has and we think it would be a great inspiration for our video since this is the look we want to give to our project.

Link: http://youtu.be/XkqLZAEL_TQ

The last video that inspired us is “Efas Frozen Yogurt”. It is an infographic animation which relates to what we want to do. We love the layout as well as the vibe of the video. We also really like the movement that the shapes constantly have. It’s something that we’re interested in exploring.

http://youtu.be/s1MJ-046SrY

VIDEO INSPIRATIONWhip It!

Whip It! is a 2009 movie directed by Drew Barrymore and starring Ellen Page. It’s about girl who discovers roller derby while trying to cope with her boring life in middle of no where Texas.

We both loved the movie and found it to be a great inspiration for our project. We loved the very vibrant colours that the girls are wearing and we thought the sports was well explained.

Link to the official movie trailer: http://youtu.be/RQGPdXnb2Gg

TYPOGRAPHYROLLER DERBY (Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold)

ROLLER DERBY(Blanch)

ROLLER DERBY (Carton)

ROLLER DERBY (Geared Slab)

ROLLER DERBY(Colleged)

ROLLER DERBY (Science fair)

ROLLER DERBY (Handshop)

These are a few examples of fonts we could potentially use for our video project. The ones highlighted in pink are the ones that interested us the most and may be used for our final video.

COLOUR PALETTES

These are colour palettes that we could use. The one with the arrow pointing at is the one we decided to go with along with black since it is the one that is the most vibrant.

MOODBOARD & PICTURES INSPIRATION

MOODBOARD & PICTURES INSPIRATION

MOODBOARD & PICTURES INSPIRATION

Overall we are just really inspired by vintage looking posters and advertisement. It’s the look that really caught out attention and we think it would go great with our project since roller derby is an old sport. As for texture and background, we’re going to go with the background that is being used in this PDF. We may modify it to accomodate our designs, but we love the look it gives and how great the pink font looks with it.

SC : 1 Shot : 1 (5 secs)Skate is passing through the frame.

SC : 1 Shot : 2 (5 secs)Zoom in on skate’s lace + title of the project (to be determined)

SC : 2 Shot : 1 (~15 secs)USA map fades in. Voice over: Quick history of Roller Derby.

Throughout the scene the Texas state changes colours. Important dates appear at the top right of the frame.

SC : 3 Shot : 1 (3 secs)The roller derby track and the title of the section appears (the basics).

SC : 3 Shot : 2 (45 secs)Jammer “skates” in first.Voice over: The jammer is the only player to score points. You can recognize the jammer by the star on their helmet. In order to start scoring points, the jammer has to pass through the other team’s blocker one time, only then are they able to start scoring points. For each blocker that the jammer passes, the team scores one point. Each team has one jammer.

Lead jammer “skates” in second.Voice over: The lead jammer is the first jammer to go through the pack without comitting any fouls. She has the power to call off a jam by hitting her hips.

Blocker “skates” in third.Voice over: Each team has four blockers on the track. Blockers have help their jammer make it through the pack while blocking the other team’s jammer.

Pivot “skates” in fourth. Voice over: The pivot is a blocker who can become a jammer if the player previously mentionned passes the star. The pivot is identified by a stripe that goes across her helmet. All together the players form what we call a pack.

Voice over: Here’s a demonstration...

SCRIPT

SC : 3 Shot : 3 (15 secs)Demonstration of player’s position on track. Arrow for pivot line, arrow for jammer’s line. Lines appear before the players do. Players appear at their inital position. Sound: Whistle sound to indicate the start of the game. Every time a jammer passes a blocker you see points adding up in the corner of the frame (video game style)

SC : 3 Shot : 4 (10 secs)The scoring board appears. Arrow points towards what is ex-plained in the voice over.

Voice over: A game is split into two periods of 30 minutes each. The 30 minutes is split into 2 minutes jams. The team with the most points at the end of the game brings home the honours.

SC : 4 Shot : 1 (3 secs)The roller derby track and the title of the section appears (the rules).

SC : 4 Shot : 2 (5 secs)No packVoice over: As soon as there’s over 10 feet in front and behind separating players in the pack the ref calls a no pack, which forc-es player to fall back in.

SC : 4 Shot : 3 (5 secs)Use of elbows, forearms and hands.Voice over: In no way is a player allowed to block with her elbow, forearms and/or hands.

SC : 4 Shot : 4 (5 secs)Blocking to the backVoice over: A player cannot push someone from the back.

SC : 4 Shot : 5 (5 secs)Low blockingVoice over: A player cannot fall in front of another player, whether accidental or not, in order to block another player.

SC : 4 Shot : 7 ( 15 secs)Major penaltyVoice over: A major penalty is the most often given for illegal blocks, that forces a skater down, out of bounds or out of the play area. It will also be given for othe reasons such as passing play-ers while out of bounds, misconduct, or for an illegal procedure that gives a team or player a substential advantage. The punished skater must go to the penalty box immediatly and stay there for the next minute.

SC : 5 Shot : 1 (3 secs)The roller derby track and the title of the section appears (the equipment).

SC : 5 Shot : 2 ( 60 secs)A skater “skates” through the frame and stops in the middle. Arrows point towards each part of the equipment.

Voice over:Roller derby being a contact sport, wearing the proper equipment is more than necessary.

Helmet: The helmet very obviously protects the player’s head from serious injuries and... death.

Mouth guard: The mouth guard protects the player’s teeth and prevents from concussions.

Wrist guard: Protects the player’s wrists and palms during a fall.

Elbow guard: Protects the player’s elbow during a fall, preventing a skin burn.

Knee pads: Protects the player’s knees which are the most used body part for playing roller derby.

Skates: well skates are for skating...Every skater has their very own pair of skates, formed to the comfort of their feet.

Wheels: The choice of wheels is very important. There are many sizes depending on your needs, as well as hardness depending on the surface the player will be skating on.

SC : 6 Shot : 1 ( 3 secs)The roller derby track and the title of the section appears (So what is derby today?).

SC : 6 Shot : 2 ( 15 secs)A player’s back with names of the players changing.

Voice over:So derby is not about punching and pushing other players around. It is today a serious strategic sport that is even considered for the 2020 summer Olympic games. Though it has become a serious sport, it kept the essence of the original derby by allowing players to change their names into some pretty funny characters.

SC : 6 Shot : 3 ( 5 secs)So what would be your derby name?

SC: 7 Shot: 1 (10 seconds)Ending credits.

END OF SCRIPT

MUSIC & SOUNDSAs for music and sound, we previously mentionned that one of Paula’s friend will be recording a little tune for us. We’re looking for something upbeat that still has that vintage feel. For sound, we should not be adding any particular sound.

The soundtrack from Whip It! is also a great inspiration since it would work with our project.

The voiceover will be the tricky part since it needs to be very precise, but we are up for the challenge. We need to practice our English pronounciation!

Link to the Whip it! soundtrack:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTKbUUneV4s&fea-ture=share&list=PLJPMT2VWdsE-37R7EBQdjW30qeNYxlLYX

BIBLIOGRAPHYBernardo, Jane. “Holy Grail: 400+ of Outstanding Textures For Vintage Style Designs.” Web Designer. 2010. Web. October 18, 2013.

Drawsgood. “Captain America- Vintage Poster.” Design You Trust. 2013. Web. October 18, 2013.

Speckyboy. “20 Vintage Texture Packs.” Speckyboy. No-vember 14, 2012. Web. October 18, 2013.

Henderson, Jess. “Roller Derby.” Pinterest. 2013. Web. October 18, 2013.

Fleetwood, Mandy. “Roller Derby.” Pinterest. 2013. Web. October 18, 2013.

Mayer, Dan. “Vintage Roller Derby Program.” Tapiture. Web. October 18, 2013.

Smilove, Mary. “My First Pair Of Wheels.” Vision Accom-plished. Ocotober 9, 2007. Web. October 18, 2013.

Vintag.es. “Present Movie Poster With A Vintage Twist.” Vintage Everyday. January 17, 2012. Web. October 18, 2013.

Roller Derby Hall of Fame. “Roller Derby Timeline.” Roller Derby Hall of Fame. Web. October 18, 2013.