Shoot day

Today the group shot the news parody, local MP Henry Smith was featured which is bound to give the video some sort of popularity. I was on sound and shooting behind the scenes throughout the day and help setting up green screens

Uploading COTV

we uploaded COTV and starting sharing the youtube link through social media sites to gain attention, the video is currently on roughly 5000 views and we have been asked I we Can feature in a local newspaper article due to the reception we have received. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G2CSqGdouPg

Green screens

Finally I transferred the green screen shots to after effects using the Adobe intergration network, I then use the keylight effect again to replace the green screen with a cityscape background. I then added two feathered pink boxes around the cityscape to create a window effect. I still felt as though there was something missing so I watched a news report and noticed that the lighting is similar to a spotlight, so I added a light on after effects and gave it a spotlight style, this added a shade around the news desk and window which looked more realistic.

COTV feed

After making a rough cut I wanted to create the complete news feel by adding an animated feed with tickers and the logo of the news. So I firstly created a spinning logo, again using element 3D to create a disk style object with COTV engraved on it as it constantly spins throughout the duration. I then created the feed which would also be running throuout, this featured constant bulletins and tickers which introduced the subject. I animated different sized boxes to give the effect of the tickers and also used 2 expressions, one for the time which began at 10 and rose throughout, also an expression to make the bulletins continuously scroll across the bottom of the screen.

Editing COTV

I began editing COTV by firstly importing and sorting all the footage into Adobe premier pro. I knew that the news parody would be reliant on transitions and graphics, so I made a title sequence in Adobe After Effects, for this I used the Element 3D plugin to create a shiny red and silver 3D text. After this I added an animated background in which I downloaded stock footage of ash particles and blurred them aswell as adding a red tint, this created a solar flare type animation which matched the style of the title. After this I added an overlay to the title which was footage of the news reporters featured in the episode.

 

COTV

Recently a few of my mates have made a  youtube hit which got 10,000 views in a few days, which is a comedy based on the hometown we live in and manged to get in the local paper and on the radio. I have been asked to edit the second installment of the series I parodies, the theme will be a news programme called Crawley Online TV which means it will most likely need effects such as chroma keying.

Editing Swipe

The group have recently finished shooting swipe which was a success. I am splitting the edit with Al, in which he will do the jumping scenes and I will do the character customising scenes. For this interface I went for a layout which was widely used in RPGs such as GTA. I have the character (Ethan) on the right with the selection menu on the left. I have times the animations of the menu so that when the "gamer" presses a specific item e.g. T-shirt, Ethan will leave the room and imediately re enter the room wearing that item. The menu and interface uses simple animations however due to the amount of interaction I wanted the interface to look as though it had, this did take some time. After this I then combined the vfx Al had done, with mine, added sound, transitions, start menu and credits then it was ready for the export. I edited the range of ambient sounds so they would match the locations.

Poster vfx

I wanted the poster shot to feature a poster in which a character would be moving in time with the music. I again used the keylight effect to replace the green screen, I found a daft punk poster which would match perfectly with both the style of the soundtrack and the characters taste based on the other aspects of her room. I then masked out their heads to bring them into seperate layers from their bodies in order for me to make their heads bob to the music by kefir among and repositioning them. After this I added a glass image to the poster and lowered its opacity to make the poster seem more realistic. Once done I added in a front view image of the room to make the blue screen a mirror aswell as adding the waveform again to the whiteboard for continuity purposes.

Whiteboard vfx

For the whiteboard shot I wanted a waveform which would react with the soundtrack so I added the waveform effect within Adobe After Effects and linked it with the correct section of the sound track. I also realised that there were crease marks on the wall ruining the aesthetics aswell as making the whiteboard look as though it was in the corner of the wall. I removed these creases using the clones stamp tool which resulted in the shot looking a lot cleaner.

Sony headphones advert

After editing the rough cut for my sony headphone advert, I exported all the shots which required vfx in a PNG sequence in preparation for Adobe after effects

Green screening

The first shots I edited were the ones raquirong chroma keying, I started of with the static shot by simply adding the key light effect and adding images in the layers behind. I tried to find images which would look realistic as a background for the characters bedroom, e.g. A lit up street at night. I also added a window frame and gave it a brief couloir grade for it to blend with the surrounding wall of the set. I then repeated this for the other to green screen shots however these were in motion so required a 3D camera track or a motion track. I ended up using a 3d track for the green screen which was at a slight angle as it would simplify things. I used a motion track for the one which was in a simple face on position.

Ready for export

I have now finished colour grading within the time slot in which we had the online suit booked. I leveled out the gain, gamma and setup in order to crush the black in the surrounding background. This also brought out a golden tint to the sand sequence, after this I added any secondary colour grades which were needed, such as the water in the water sequence gave of green hoghlights to the dancers face. I simply brought out the blue to give it a more sea like blue. the dance sequence is now ready to be exported into both a QuickTime DNxHD format aswell as a h.264 for the web version.

Final cut

I have now imported all the vfx and title sequences, I will now be in the stages of making any final tweaks to the flow of some sequences before moving on to colour grading.

Rough cut

I have now finished the rough cut and showed it to my lecturer for the second time. I received some feed back that suggests that we should create more of an infinite space within the background, we felt as though the best way to do this would be to mask out the borders of the dance area which are visible in some of the shots, this would potentially add to the spotlight effect. To achieve this I sent the shots which needed masking to the vfx team by exporting them from avid into a PNG sequence.

Editing the dance piece

Next I began to edit the dance piece by element in the same chronological order as the script. I also added any resizing or minimal effects where nessasary. After each element I intend to send an aff export of the piece to the director in which he will write notes and send it back for me to receive and act on his feedback as I have already done with sand.

Importing into avid

Today i imported the footage from our dance shoot into avid via ama link, once done I imediatelt began to organise the footage into separate bins to make it easier when searching for specific shots, I also renamed all the shots after it's scene and take number as well as adding a brief description of each shot.

Last day of shooting

The last day of shooting was another success, we managed to shoot both the sand (as planned) aswell as the remaining air close ups we missed. We also used the tracking dolly to shoot the transition sequence again as we had developed a new idea in which the dancer waves the fabric over the lens from the water sequences to match cut to the air sequence. I repeated the routine of reviewing the dailies and also ama linked the files into avid in preparation for the edit. 

2nd day of shooting

We have now finished our second day of shooting which was the water element. Today I had to step up due to a member of the group being absent due to an emergency I had to operate the camera for a great deal of the shots which was unexpected. We managed to get all the shots we wanted. After the shoot I again took the SONY EX3 home to review the dailies and then report back to the producer.

1st day of shooting

Today we finished our first day of shooting which was the fire and air elements, it was a successful day. Throuout the day I have been operating the light setup aswell as taking any notes which may come to use for post production. I have also taken home the footage to review and check for any shots we may of missed or any errors but also to create back ups on my PC and an external hard drive. The producer has given me the camera log and the shot list to compare the dailies to, I will then report back to the producer to inform her on the level of success.

Swipe Idea inspiration

The main inspiration has been gathered from my essay in which I studied the Matrix. In this essay I explored the relations between Buddhist beliefs and the narrative of The Matrix, the main aspect which inspired me most was the Samsara. Samsara is the Cycle of birth, death and intermediate bardo state. This arises from ordinary beings who are fixed on this constant cycle in which they cannot break free of unless (in Buddhist views)  they follow Buddhist ways.

I found as though this relates to the virtual reality which technology is now creating today in such mediums as video games, the constant development in interaction and realism allows gamers to become deeply immersed when controlling an avatar, which in some cases can be customized to add their own personification to the character. These fictional worlds are used as respite to hide the truths and darkness of the real world. Based on the history of this development in technology and social interaction if the development carries on, there could potentially a virtual world which people can dip in and out of without having an avatar of themselves.

This is a 3D tracking test using the 3D camera tracking tool in Adobe After effects. I created a 3D camera and a null, I then copied the position and orientation of this null to get the keyboard into the 3D space matching the iPhone, after that it was a simple case of lining it up with the framing of the iPhone screen. I then repeated this technique to ensure the dual screens where at a similar depth. I have made a test with this tool as I plan on using it for one of my individual practice projects. I will be 3D tracking a matte paintings to replace backgrounds throughout the piece.

Before shooting our piece we sent the dancer a rehearsal reel in which we left notes over the rehearsal footage for her to read relating to the timing and actions of her dance. This also allowed me to have a brief run through of the avid workflow using AMA linked footage as we used the same camera which we are using for the actual shoot (Sony PMW-EX3).

Post production workflow for Al-Kimia group project

Today I downloaded the XDCAM Codec in preparation for editing footage from the Sony EX3 on software such as Avid and Adobe After Effects.

Swipe

I have an idea for one my individual practice pieces. I was inspired by the recent theory lessons I have been attending in which we have been shown experimental films which play with the idea of repetition and control in a disciplinary manner.

The idea is that a man is running across screen from left to right, as he reaches the end of them frame he warps to another location, this repeats again and again for each location until it is revealed that it is a game someone is play on their mobile phone in which they swipe their finger at the correct moment to make him teleport. This plays with the idea that as a society everyone is being watched/controlled in today's disciplinary system through methods such as CCTV.    

Auditions

Yesterday we had auditions in which 2 dancers came in to perform in front of the group at separate times. This was very beneficial as both dancers had their own interpretation of the elements which came across in their style of dancing. It also gave us inspiration as we hadn't thought of  some of the moves they performed which gave us fresh ideas for when it comes to choreographing. We recorded the auditions so we are now in the stages of choosing which dancer we feel would best suit the style we are looking for. For me personally I recorded with a separate camera in order to analyse the variations of movement the dancers use in order to get a sense of which moments are best to cut to another shot when it comes to editing to keep the piece flowing.

I have Measured the G12/KN studio we will be using and have created a layout based on the space we have available both for shooting and the dancers dance area. Safety has been the main consideration due to the use of water and sand, which is why I have allowed a great deal of empty space surrounding the dance area.

I looked into the length of timber if we were to create the rectangular layout which would be most affordable for our budget. These are the best of the initial options I have found.

Due to the dancer working with sand and water there needs to be some sort of containment to cater for the volume of these two elements. The initial idea was to lay a tarpaulin sheet on the floor and  use timber planks in a square layout to form a barrier around the dance area.

after a couple more meetings the group have decided the location where we will be shooting, which is the KN studio/G12. The hiring of the studio as well as the equipment for the shooting dates have been confirmed. I have been given a sub role of set design in which I will firstly measure the Studio to get a sense of the space we will be shooting in and how much space the dancer will have.

Rihanna - Where Have You BeenThis music video features a few of the elements which we plan on including in our dance video. It was interesting to see this method of approaching the elements. Firstly when she rises from under this shallow water and begins crawling, this looks as though she is a predator who lives amongst that environment which I thought was an interesting way to represent water as it creates this illusion as though she is one with the water. Secondly the desert scene was also interesting mainly due to the set and lighting. The huge rocks surrounding the dance area along with the moon in the background added great depth to the sequence and allowed the scene to appear to be natural. The scene also features a flickering flame in the foreground which added a tribal feel to the dance as well as simplifying the transition from earth to fire. Lastly the fire scene was very inspiring in terms of lighting, the back light with an orange tint is a great way to represent the sun beaming through the openings, this combined with what looks like a soft box at Rihanna's face creates a natural hot and sweaty look to this scene. The VFX of the flames which keep appearing from her hands is also a nice touch to again show that she is one with the element.

Presentation on the Choreography for the camera Notes:

Structure of the work

Try not to make work to ‘fit’ the frame. 

If the action begins and ends in the frame it will lack fluidity

Movement through the frame creates energy and draws the eye from one shot to the next

Fragments and close ups stimulate viewer’s imagination for active viewing

This is easier if the choreography is created first – camera can then affect the perception of movement to fit intention of the work

Filming for the edit

Two basic approaches to time and space…

Filming to maintain continuity of live choreography or

Montage – live choreography is completely reordered in edit

Questions to consider when framing the dance

Where is my eye drawn? Where does it move to next?

What creates depth in the frame?

What effect does light have?

What effect does movement to and from the lens have?

What effect does movement across the frame have?

What effect is created by objects and architecture within the frame?

Field and Frames Lecture

OM - John Smith 1986

Simple but effective is the phrase I would use to describe this piece. The audience is led to believe they are watching a monk hum whilst in a state of meditation however the lesson is nothing is always as it it seems. it is revealed that it is in fact the complete opposite of a monk and is in fact what many people would see as an English skinhead which is given by his Fred Perry polo and obviously his hair. This is great shock factor to finish this simple piece.

Notes from this: simple, don't over complicate, illusion, address the audience, don't reveal everything immediately, confusion. 

I found the lighting and camera movements in this music video very interesting. the main factors of the lighting which were effective was firstly the the lens flare hitting smoke which created a blue tinted mist which created a mysterious mood and also enhanced the dancers feet movement as the smoke would flow with each move whilst it is swept away. Also the rays of light which beams from behind Chris Brown as he enters the club is used repetitively throughout the duration of the video, this also a great way of making the audience focus on the body movements in the dance as it almost gives a silhouette effect. In terms of camera movement there is a lot tracking in which is used to establish the space of each room and then track in to focus on the choreographed routines, this adds to create the line of symmetry which the dancers formations show.  

Dance workshop Photos

The group have had quite a few meetings discussing our ideas and we came up with the idea of focusing on the four elements: Water, Wind, Fire and Earth. we felt as though this would be great incorporate dance into as each element has its own attributes and qualities which will bring great variation to the dance.

We put this idea to the test in our dance workshop in which we had 4 dancers at once improvising a dance for the same element, we repeated this for each element. This was very useful as we were inspired by the different perceptions of the elements that each of the dancers had e.g. a whirlpool for water which we hadn't thought of before, this gave us wider range of options of what how each element could be represented  in terms of choreography.

Inspirations:

Choreography

Shots/Editing

Notes from dance workshop

4 Components of dance - action, dynamics, relationship, space

2 hours max for a dancer dancing without break. No concrete floor without previous warning/preparation. Room temperature at least 18 degrees. Time to warm up/cool down. provide beverages for dancers

Screening list - 10/01/14
Hilary Harris - 9 Variations on dance
Eiko, Koma
Paul Kaiser, Shelly Eshkan - Ghost Catching
Wendy Housten - Touch
Llyod Newson - Enter Achilles
Philipe Decoufle - Le Petite Bal

An amazing acrobatic performance from the Ross sisters to a song about potato salad. (1944)