Brief 2 - Emote - Evaluation

    During this module we had to work on two different briefs, which should be treated as a separated parts. For the second brief – ‘Emote’ - we had to work in groups of three to create a short film sequence concentrating on one of the six themes. Our final video should last up to two minutes long.

We approached our task by starting with mind mapping the ideas. For this we have used an online tool called Mind Meister. We have established interest in Stanley Kubricks’ style and George Orwells’ 1984 idea of oppressed society. After discussing various ideas for each of the themes we have decided to work on the ‘fight’ theme.

     We wanted to present a ‘victim’ character being oppressed by the ‘Big Brother’, controlling and supervising. Moreover our aim was to dehumanise the ‘Big Brother’ character by showing only his mouth shouting through the screen. Also we have desaturated footage to make it look more eerie and clinical. In a sense we wanted to do something along the lines of  ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” which is hopefully conveyed in our final short film.

     My main role during this group brief was to come up with storyboards and any additional drawings to present the story. I have also research range of sources for set inspiration.  I sketched few pages of ideas of shots and angles we could use, also created a detailed storyboard to help us with filming.

     We had some problems with founding and booking a space for shoot but managed to overcome this difficulty.

     During the shoot I have helped with lighting and shot directing.

     Moving onto the post production – I was involved in footage editing and sound design. I found it challenging but also really rewarding.

    Sound researching was probably the hardest part of this brief, as I don’t have experience in it and had to start from scratch. We couldn’t use any of sounds recorded on the set due to the nature of our film. Also, because we wanted to dehumanise ‘Big Brother’ character, we couldn’t use actors’ voice. In order to better convey our message to the viewer we used a range of dictator speeches overlapping and distorted. As I was heavily involved in sound research as I found many ambient noises, distorted sounds.

      Final task on this brief was to come up with title and design end credits. We decided on ‘do not obey’ title with the flicker effect added in Final Cut Pro by changing opacity of the text. For the final credits we used a mixture of small and capital letters, trying to avoid making it too cluster, bold or difficult to read.

     As a group task this brief was really challenging but I believe we managed to fulfill all the criteria. I have also learned a lot during this process, however I still prefer to work on my own. Our final short film was meant to shock and surprise and hopefully we achieved that effect.

Brief 1 - Instruct - Evaluation

     During this module we had to work on two different briefs, which should be treated as a separated parts. For the first brief we had to create a one minute long instructional video. Introductions to various pieces of equipment also happen during this brief, which was really helpful. I have learned a lot about Final Cut Pro, which helped me overcome my fear of film editing.

    For this brief we had to work with a set time constraint of one minute. After brainstorming few ideas I have decided to go with the idea of filming one of my guinea pigs. I have looked at different videos about them; also looked at different books from library. I have planned most of the shots before filming. The part I have really enjoyed was storyboarding and producing animatic.  

    As I have decided to film my guinea pig I didn’t have to worry about booking space to shoot. I have used my room and kitchen as a set.

     It was really challenging brief, as I don’t consider myself a filmmaker. However I found the process really enjoyable and I have learned a lot from doing it. I am aware that sound levels in this video are a bit off and I should use music instead of leaving background noises.  However I wanted to keep this video as simple as possible and I couldn’t think about any soundtrack that could match the theme. The only thing I would change is the subject matter – animals are really hard to film, as they don’t behave in the way you want them to.  

High Speed Cam Introduction/Demo

Few weeks ago we had our introduction to high speed cameras.  It was really interesting demo. Moreover my husband is really into rc cars and it's something I really want to film - it could be a challenging side project, something extra to my portfolio. I'm already starting to plan a short (up to 3 min long) video.

Motion Pro X3 - high speed cam with super fast shutter and flash memory.
Motion Pro X - software used to capture footage; frame rate: up to 1480 fps (depends on resolution).
XRay Cut - software used to convert files.

gorillaz - storyboards research

During our second brief (Emote) I was mostly involved at pre production - sketching ideas, drawing storyboards, sets.
I've looked at work of various artists and really liked storyboards for Gorillaz music videos.

Storyboards for Rhinestone Eyes music video.

I really like colours, motion and variety of shots in this video. It's such a shame that they didn't make a final animation for it.

Above - animatic for Clint Eastwood music video.
Below - Clint Eastwood music video

Jamie Hewlett storyboards for Dare

Variety of shots (wide shots, close ups) and camera angles helps viewer understand story better, also give a sense of motion.
 
I've also looked at some books in the library for useful tips and advices.

Brief 2 - Emote - do not OBEY video

                     
do not OBEY - final short film created together with Von Betelegeuse and Jamie Mcloughlin, starring James Pedley.
Also we've added this video to our behance accounts.

Brief 2 - Emote - Edit Notes/ Credits

During this brief I was also involved in editing process and by doing that my FinalCutPro confidence went up by 200% (+30 pts to edit magic). I've learned few tricks and basically understood this software better. Moreover I found this process quite enjoyable or at least not as painful as during the first try.

After we finished editing the only thing that was left was to come up with title and design end credits. I've looked at various movies credits, also search for some rules/guidelines to follow. Also I've tried to pay a lot of attention to how the credits looked like from designer point of view; our names are quite long so was hard to avoid making it all chunky, bold and unreadable. I'm glad that we already had our typograhy lecture. Searching for perfect font was a little bit challenging but I'm sure that Century Gothic do its magic. I think credits are the part I'm the most proud of - guilty pleasure, looking at your own name fading away, having great title next to it.

Brief 2 - Emote - General Notes/Research

For this brief our group decided to go with something inspired by Kubricks', George Orwells' and Big Brother concept. Clinical, stylised, pure white settings; society controlled by dictator; this kinda thing. Our final film is definatly for more mature audience which will be able to understand what we are trying to portray.

I really like Slipknot videos because of their style, mood, lighting. Desaturated colours, smoke, lighting makes those clips more powerful.

Below Atreyu - Lip Gloss and Black music video.

Theme we have decided to illustrate in our short video was FIGHT. In our film we're going to present victim character rebelling, fighting against the Big Brother character - the system, leadership. We are also thinking about presenting Big Brother through the screen by showing only his mouth talking/shouting. Moreover it will be good if only eyes of victim character would be shown until the very end of the video.Sound effects can be added later on, during postproduction/edit.

Hobbit post production video

I'm not much of fan of Hobbit or Lord of the Rings trilogy but I appreciate the amount of hard work that goes into making those movies. Recently I've came across really good series of behind the scene videos. I found it always useful to see from inside how the studios works. In the one below Peter Jackson is letting the viewer to have a closer look at post production process as well as at the beard motion capture unit.
Hobbit behind the scene
The only thing that bother me is the fact that they keep animators locked in one tiny bed room ;).

the walking dead - lightning

The Walking Dead is an American TV drama based on comic book by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. In October 2010 first episode was aired; now AMC shows third season of the series. There were also two internet seasons (short episodes, lasting from 2mins to 9mins) added to AMC website.
In this blog post I will concentrate on lighting and what certain types of lighting adds to the shots. Action of The Walking Dead usually takes place either during daytime (a lot of sunshine), night or in dark locations. For the outside shots they probably used screens to bounce light to the characters.

Daytime shots are really clear and sharp, colors are bright and vivid. There is probably additional light used on the actors to pull the out of background.
Night and indoor shots usually have three point lighting system used - help in creating certain mood, tension. Also there is usually rim light on the character.

This TV show is filled with constant action, dynamic shots and special effects. In my opinion the only weak point of this show is the storyline - when I was playing The Walking Dead game story was much more better, powerful. Now I just need to catch up with comic chapters :).

Brief 2 - Emote - Sound research

For our brief video we've decided to create our own sound effects. Storyline is very surreal and disturbing so I've looked at a lot of ambient noises, machinery, alarm and doors sounds.
Below I've included a list of noises and sounds that can be useful.

BBC 19 - electronically generated sounds
Useable sounds:

• repeating cat alarm (no1)
• mewing kitten alarm (higher pitch) (no 3)
• buzzing computer (with constant tone bg) (no 21) - maybe good for base to create a distorted noise.
• single crash (no 22)
• space craft lands (no 29)
• electronic pipes dropped (no 30)
• missile ricochets (no 32-34)
• sliding door (mechanical, slow or medium) (no 37 or 40) - victim enters room scene.
• pulsing harmonic bass hum (no 76)
• digital hum (no 78) - interesting, maybe can be used without much editing
• generator hum (no 81)
• high pitch machinery (no 89)
• machine hum with heartbeat (no 93) - interesting if heartbeat sound a bit louder

Useable sounds from findsounds.com:

• household>tape> rewind tape and fast foward tape sounds 
• household>door>jail doors open/close
• household>door>sliding door open
• miscellaneous>ambiance>spooky ambiance (two different version - very good)
• miscellaneous>ambiance>creepy bass ambience
• miscellaneous>ambiance>heavenly ambience
• people>breath>breath,oxygen mask
• people>breath>heavy breathing
• people>heartbeat>heartbeat
• people>heart>breath and heartbeat

Brief 2 - Emote - Storyboard

Storyboards I've created for this brief. It was challenging task but also very rewarding.

 I still need to improve my storyboarding skills and make them more 'clear' and easier to read.

Brief 2 - Emote - Set and Props Ideas

For this brief I've looked at vast range of interior designs and film sets. Lists below of things that were, in my opinion, the most inspirational/interesting.

Set's I really like:

• Kubrick movie style set - fish eye angle adds extra mood and mystery to this shot; I also like how simple and disorganized this set is, the only thing I would change is furniture to less contemporary, reminding more of standard office desk and chair. 
• Trichrome Blue - an amazing animation by Lois van Baarle. I like the scene where female character is passing pile of multiple screens.
• Open Office Space
• Les-Palettes  - office furniture made from palettes.

Props, clothes for actors, etc.. :

• white or navy blue overalls for victim to create strong contrast between him and Big Brother, connection to slavery
• Big Brother >  white shirt, tie, suit? or maybe just mouth talking on the screen.
• walkman/discman and cassette
• table, screen, maybe chair and cleaning equipment