Design Practice 3: Assignment 2: Projeted Visuals: Work Submission

Originally designed to be projected on stage behind a local Nottingham Hip-Hop group. The piece is intended to be a collection of abstract visuals, which harbour no identifiable storyline, plot or characters.

Basically it was meant to deviate from the conventions of the cliché' rap video, e.g. cars, girls. The Key themes are Mirrors, Death, Time, Energy and Anger. The extra two minutes at the end when the song repeats were designed in case the band performs over schedule.

I used a lot of After Effects and filmed most green screen and live footage using the Canon 7D. This work was also assigned by the Nottingham design agency Urban Angle.

Enjoy, Rate and please leave a comment.

Context 2: Assignment 2: Portfolio: Work Submission

Here is my completed show reel assignment for 2012 with motion dvd menu integrated, the DVD version is slightly shorter with ducking audio.



Hi my name is Samuel Dobson and I am currently studying multi media at Nottingham Trent University, Although I do have knowledge In both interactive space and 3D animation, my prevailing speciality Is In moving image.

Film has always absorbed me personally, even from an early age.I believe it is the most effective way to express my creativity, entertain people and portray information.

This is my showreel for 2012, it includes various short films, visual effects, photography/photoshop and 3D animation.

www.mediadobson.com

Claim To Fame.

Well kinda, nothing huge but it's worth a mention here, remember my last project? The political advert I made about foul ingredients found in everyday fast foods? Well that very video has been embedded on http://www.fittvo.com. Fit TeleVision is an online service which offers content that helps users find a range of information on daily fitness and fitness products. Maintained to keep up to date on topics and products relevant to users and provides information on a variety of health related topics.

I discovered I was on their site while analysing my monthly youtube view statistics, a large amount of views were being redirected from an external embed on a mysterious site. I browsed through Fittvo's article base and discovered a post entitled: Mechanically Seperated Meat: www.fittvo.com/6174/mechanically-separated-meat/

Sure enough my video is there at the very bottom, the article shares very similar themes, concepts and view points to my political advert, it's nice to see that the intended meaning I designed, which was: to inform the public to think twice about ingredients found in their food, has been recognised and related to by Fittvo. It makes me happy to think that maybe just two or three people have been inspired by my video after a viewing on this article, makes it all worth while.

Design Practice 3: Assignment 2: Projeted Visuals: Development: Part 1

There has been heaps of development since the last design practise 3 post I wrote here, two separate filming sessions have gone by, scenes have been built up in after effects and tweaked. Finally new ideas entirely for scenes have formed around the development of my existing ideas and I'm working on incorporating them into the 4 and half minute music video.

Lets start with the filming sessions as that's a chronologically suitable place to start: my first session fell last Wednesday and was a combined arrangement by me, Jordan Brooks and Joe Burns, we helped each other set up equipment and act/model in each others videos. The lightning went well, we had an evenly lit green screen with no shadows and a correct exposure on the 7D. A main outstanding problem I believe disrupted filming and limited what I could achieve was the inherent time restrictions we had on our DSLR camera.

I hate being rushed and that's exactly what it felt like, we had the camera 10 - 4 for one day so some scenes didn't turn out the way I'd hoped, it was cramming at it's finest. I later had a contingency shoot day the following Monday with Chris Thorby which allowed  me to replace previous bad footage and collect new material, I also had the chance to experiment with my new time lapse timer in Nottingham Square, i was pleased with the result.

Moving on, I'm not going to document the entire process of editing my assets, as frankly it would bore and take to much space, I'll give you a basic overview of progress. The main scenes I have started work on and subsquentially almost completed are:
Scene 1: Man In Mirror:

Scene 2: Mirror Scale

Scene 4: Flickering Room

 









Scene 9: Alive in Toilet Mirror

Scene 13: Time lapse at Nottingham Square

New Scene: Passing through mirror

In conclusion I proberly over estimated what I needed to film to make this video, I'm about 2 minutes into the song and i don't think I'm going to need to produce every last scene, so a few will be scrapped. Besides resources for the project are dwindling so I'm going to use what I've got for now. Another thing to note is that I do think the whole thing is a bit after effects heavy, I'm starting to feel like a computer hermit, I'm looking forward to the 90 second drama FILM next project.

Context 2: Assignment 2: Portfolio: The Brief

I'm a bit late posting this brief but don't worry I have indeed been working on it from day one, I am to produce a portfolio that showcases my work as a multi-media practitioner, mainly consisting of work from my chosen pathway, which is moving image. I can include various projects from over the years involving university, clientele and personal work, it should be noted that we are intended to include work in progress and a contextual analysis of our work not just finalised pieces.

Ultimately the reason for this project is to obtain work experience from potential employees over the summer, even contacting the companies we discussed in assignment one. I should only include work I believe is relevant, focus on my current skills and ambitions for the future and then showcase them appropriately.

Structure:

- Title splash page
- Finalised work section
- Work-In-Progress section
- Design Development Process section
- Contact Me section

For my pathway I believe a portfolio is best displayed via a moving image show reel, accompanied by a DVD menu, DVD cover, appropriate music and a brief description of the work being shown over the visuals.

Silhouette & Texture Tests

Design Practice 3: Assignment 2: Projected Visuals: Inspiration & Brainstorming: Part 3

Production Files


Here is my complete production log in essence, obviously it will be refined and updated as further information is gathered. Everything appears to running smoothly and I am looking forward to starting this project, below are a few production stills at a location I'm using, it is to be noted that the majority of the 'magic' will in fact come from editing in After Effects post production:

I have also collected a vast amount of textures for use in 3d planes, text and for characters silhouettes in after effects, although i could make my own I thought it would be nice to step away from the virtual world and get some real world ones. Here is the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/56511472@N08/sets/72157629070319613/ and here is a sample of my favourite ones: