Bruce Block: The Visual Story: Chapters 1 - 2

So I've just started to skim the surface of Bruce Blocks: The Visual Story, my reading pace seems quite staggered, but I believe that's due to the long recap period required after each chapter. Every page is riddled with diagrams and examples of films to check out, a lot of information in a small amount of space, it can take a while to grasp and fully understand a single point made.
 The main outstanding notes I have made for Chapter 1 & 2 are as followed;

There are three main elements to any film production, these are categorised as
- Story: Building blocks of plot, character and dialogue
- Sound: Building blocks of dialogue, sound effects and music
- Visuals: Which is built upon; The Basic Visual Components;

   - Space: the physical space in front of camera, the space on screen, the size of the screen itself.
   - Line and Shape: lines make up and appear to create all shapes
   - Tone: the brightness of an object relative to the grey scale
   - Colour: the most powerful visual component

   - Movement: to attract the eye via objects  on camera

An actor is part of these visual components, no difference between them and other objects, still use space, lines, shapes, tones, colours and movement.

Visual component can portray emotion and messages to the audience, perfect example for sound is the music in Jaws and Psycho which communicates terror.



A perfect example for colour would be that red indicates danger, its a stereotypical and well known colour for it, but you don't have to stick to conventions, blue could show danger if portrayed to the audience enough.

The next major point made is that of Film progression, diagrammed simply as a point transforming into a line, transforming into a cube, something starting off as simple and evolving into something complex. Examples in films include;

Raging Bull; Fight scenes start of as very simple and end very complex
The Birds; The birds are constantly gathering more and more to attack
The North by Northwest cornfield scene, the scene progresses from very dull to high intensity.




We are introduced to contrast and affinity, a perfect example of tonal contrast would be a black silhouette on a white background or Visa Vera, a perfect example of tonal affinity would be two colour next to each other on the grey scale overlapping.

The more contrast in any visual element the greater visual intensity, the more affinity the less visual intensity. The whole point made was that you need a good mix of contrast and affinity if you are to hold the audiences attention, if there is no contrast to the story, dialogue, visuals etc the audience becomes bored, if there is too much with no affinity it becomes too intense, basically you need good pace to a film.

Bruce Block: The Visual Story: The Beginning

I've decided that its about time to increase my visual knowledge of film overall, If I ever hope to achieve a credible career in film I need to know the finer details of cinematography. Although I have had numerous practical experience in the field I still feel amateur in the visual language of film, I want to learn existing film theory to apply in my practical work rather than just relying on instincts all the time. That's where my new book I got for Christmas (Bruce Blocks: The Visual Story) comes in. I had heard various recommendation from students and lectures, stating that it's a vital piece of learning material for film students, it claims to offer a clear view of the relationship between the story/script structure and the visual structure of a film, teaching you how to structure your visuals as carefully as say a writer structure a story... Ultimately understand how to communicate moods and emotions through film.


"You hold in your hand the key to understanding the complex and ever changing world of modern cinema" Jay Roach, director of Austin Powers, Meet the parents and Meet the Fockers

"Bruce Block masterfully deconstructs visual storytelling. Exposure to this material is essential for all students of cinema. This book will make you a better film-maker!" - American Film Institute

"Inspirational to those working in visuals. This reference is invaluable and essential for any artist" - Walt Disney Televison Animation

It all sounds very promising, lets hope it's not a load of commercial hype. Over the next week I will be dissecting and analysing all the material found in this piece, proberly about two to three chapters at a time and recapping on this blog. I will cite examples and my own personal thoughts on the theories found throughout this book, mainly so I can future reference and understand better what I am reading. Hopefully after I will become a better film-maker and apply this newly found knowledge to work next term

Review: Mac and Me (1988)

I had absolutely no expectations going into this movie, I was merely inspired to watch it by overseeing a fellow student viewing a trailer in class. Firstly I'd like to say I was completely unaware of the stigma attached to this piece and atop of that (in which I'm ashamed to admit) was viewed before Steven Spielberg's E.T., with all this in mind I believe my viewing experience was possible improved tenfold, as I had no prior bias or bandwagon opinion to jump upon.
Mac and Me begins on what I can only assume is Mars, following a family of four (obviously puppet) aliens as they investigate a strange space probe landing on their planet, sequentially being sucked up by the machine and transported to the planet Earth. The first thing to note is that If you over analyse the special effects in this movie and compare them to the standards of today, off course you're going to come up disappointed, however take them as comedy and treat this piece as a B-movie and you'll reap some pretty funny rewards. 
As the film continues we watch as the alien family, now dazed and confused from their journey get separated, leaving Mac, the youngest of the family to survive on his own. After causing a traffic accident by colliding his obviously rubber body into a nearby car's windshield (hilarious), he takes it upon himself to hitch a ride on the backseat of a family's car. The human family whom are unaware of Macs existence arrive at their newly purchased property in Americaville and begin to settle in, Eric, the disabled lonely child of the family begins to suspect somethings a miss when he experiences electrical disturbances throughout his house, along with waking up to a full redecoration of his living room to imitate Mac's home planet. This is when Eric finally discovers Mac and we have to endure the loving, heart-felt relationship only a disabled boy and his alien could experience. That's pretty much the plot along with some cliché government guys trying to recapture Mac for evil experiments and Eric taking it upon himself to reunite Mac with his freaky anorexic family lost in the desert.

The scenes that will provide most enjoyment for those who allow themselves to derive guilty laughs from bad movies are when; Eric loses control of his chair, leaving him falling down a steep ravine to his imminent doom, the spontaneous random dance off at MacDonald's, the countless-shameless product placements throughout and finally the penultimate petrol station explosion scene which see's the formerly P.C alien family obliviously popping caps at local police authorities and gas pumps.



In conclusion I can completely understand why this movie is the target of so much abuse, everything Is incredibly amateur, plagiarised and predictable, however by no means am I suggesting that it's not enjoyable to watch, it's packed with charm, love and silly fun, in the end this is a children's movie and the magic it provided to kids is what counts, do you think it would have been an issue to young Timmy in the 80's if there was product placement and it was similar to E.T? No, get off your high horse and respect the fact that people can and did enjoy this film.

Review: Scarface (1983)

Usually I'm not a gigantic fan of character studies, although analysing a personality type can be interesting viewing for a period of time, I tend to bore somewhere around the mid-point of the film, I'm left thinking, "OK I understand that this guy is sensitive... popular or aggressive... but now what? What else can you offer me. Well that's where Scarface takes the cherry, It not only delivers a deep, intellectual character study on an internal level but also presents us with an exciting external narrative, a perfect mix between the two, complimenting each other to ensure boredom is never an issue.
The film revolves around a Cuban refugee, who after escaping the holding camps in Miami, seeks to rise to the top of the international drug empire.

Tony's characteristics and actions take the centre stage throughout, they are some of the most intriguing I've ever seen, more so then any other recent character I can remember. From act one we are presented with this reckless, dominant and highly ambitious man who doesn't seem to feel fear, he has a certain unstoppable momentum about him, incredible stage presence for a character that in reality is just a mere man. Excellent facial expressions throughout adds to Tony's larger than life persona, he looks so calm, almost bored in the mist of drug deals and shootouts, as if reality isn't worthy of his attention.

He is one of those people who is never satisfied, they want it all and will do whatever it takes to get it, possessing a certain warped ego that says the world owes it them. Off course as Tony dreams of grandeur are met, his descent into madness truly begins, he slowly becomes more and more detached from himself and any common values, destroying everything he holds dear. I loved this sense of impending doom, every time a major event occurred I felt this incredible pressure building, one more string snapping in his head. The actions external from Tony's mind were also compelling, an interesting look at the drug running operations and gang culture of the time.

All in all I highly enjoyed Scarface, it had enough action sequences to satisfy my bloodlust along with an array of interesting characters to bring meaning and substance to the film. The message portrayed is one to remember, don't obsess over wealth and power, nothing good ever comes out off being overly materialistic, value what's real.. and cocaine is a hell of a drug.

Design Practice 3: Assignment 1: Work Submission

And that's a wrap! This is my final edit for my Gust Concept advert, this version includes enhanced colour correction treatment to the whole sequence, improved titles, an MediaDobson opening, removal of panning shots and finally better timed VFX on the pot flip. Bring on Fridays final premiere, I aim to impress.

Design Practice 3: Assignment 1: Editing: Part 2

The main addition to this edit is the flashing light transformation on the flipping pot scene, which was generally seen as the scene that needed the most work and attention in post-production. I am satisfied with the effect produced, which is a mixture of particles, lights and key frames transpiring mid-air. More importantly It hides the fact that there's noting actually present in the pot while adding to the adverts visual appeal. I now consider this aspect solved and will be moving onto further problems, tackling colour correction and titles.

Show & Tell #2

I have had the first premiere of my advert to the class (all 7 of them) and it was generally well received, I had a lot of people nodding which is always a good sign. Peoples comments consisted off "Now I don't feel like eating fast food" "It just got the message across perfectly" "Good acting" and "Nice looking location", Not bad as I was doubting whether or not it was too fast paced to depict a message, seems that I underestimated the ability of the audience. On the other hand there was also constructive feedback to take away from this session, The main focus was that of the final climactic scene, where Chef Gusto flips the pot over to slam onto the table. The audience can clearly see there's nothing present in the pot, which in turn results in a less shocking finale and distracts from the realism, there were suggestions on refilming and green-screening, but Instead I have plans to add a special effect to represent a transformation mid- air.
Other points made include:

• Removing the pan on the "let's start cooking scene"
• Removing the "Now you've seen how its made" line on the final scene
• Adding a basscut to the audio
• Work on the brightness levels through out

The scene that needs most work, the empty pan will be hidden and replaced with VFX in After Effects

Design Practice 3: Assignment 1: Editing: Part 1

My initial assembly of clips is done, it has taken some carful observation and altering to fit the required footage into the thirty second time frame. I have had to cut at least 50% from my raw unedited footage, with these adjustment I'm hoping my original message still retains despite the fast nature of the sequence. I have tested the advert on various samples and each one has stated that they understood the message and that the clips flowed nicely together.  I am overall satisfied with how the footage has turned out , It is most likely one of the most professional looking pieces I have produced, not to mention how nice the lighting shows off the location.  I still have text, colour corrections and VFX too work on however.

After Effects CRAZY!

Yep, so After Effects had pretty much been my creative zen this past week, I'm working under the philosophy that It'll be less painful to learn now than a year down the road, when the vast majority of employers and clients are going to want to see evidence of AE competency... film and visual effects are becoming ever more intertwined and I believe it's a necessity to understand both in this modern society. More importantly though I want to gain a greater understanding of how this technology can be incorporated into my projects personally. How can I work out future scenes if I don't realise what AE is capable of?

I'm finding it quite complex at the moment, more so then any other program I've used (bar 3ds MAX), but that's fine as it is in fact widely considered a steep learning curve for most beginner. So all in all I feel that I can gradually build up my knowledge of the program through online tutorials and my project time at University, the plan is that by the end of my course here I will at least be of average standard in AE and be able to confidently incorporate VFX in my work flow.

Design Practice 3: Assignment 1: Development: Part 4

Well the production stage of my political advert has now finished, It has took a lot of organization and scrounging, but in return I have gained one of the most aesthetically pleasing sets in the group, along with a semi-decent message. The main set for all the scenes was located In the countryside of Matlock Derbyshire, a whopping three hours drive away, and as I didn't own a car I had to rely a lot on my crew members (Jordon & Paul) for transport.

Off course petrol money had to be reimbursed for the expense of the long journey, which meant I realistically only had one take as my budget was already overflowing. In total this project racked up around £60 and 10 hours of filming, not to mention many more hours poured into pre-production, It has really put matters into perspective, the pure amount of effort you have to put into film, even for a 30 second project is astounding.

Production Stills:

Untouched

Daniel Bissill alters the focus

The set is dressed for the cooking show

Some big pointers were; to never underestimate the amount of time needed to film even a short piece of footage, that shot lists are crucial, they were literally my lifeline on set, I referenced them more times than I can count. Getting to know the equipment a day (preferable weeks) before a shoot is also important and can save heaps of time. Furthermore always check you have the correct equipment and hire out spares, half our equipment was faulty or missing and finally don't hold out on your crew members, I am so glad I had three members rather than two, the roles demand more attention than one person can provide.

Jordan Brooks as 'Chef Gusto'

Widshot of the cooking show set

Post production has now started and I estimate to complete the project on time, titles, colour correction, VFX and soundmixing all need be completed by 25/11/11. A big thank you to Jordan Brooks (actor), Daniel Bissill (lighting), Pam Fletcher (location) & to Paul Dobson (assistant producer) for making It all possible.

After Effects Puppet Test

Just a really crude test of parenting in Adobe after effects, got the basic grasp of pivot points and their hierarchical structure now, could be useful for special effects, titles and credits in future projects



Justin Bieber robot?

Design Practice 3: Assignment 1: Development: Part 3

 Production Files

Context 2: Coursework #1: Network Diagram

Mix-Bag Of Lighting, Composition & Interview Tests

So during Thursday's seminar we were set some rather interesting tasks, we were put into groups and had to film an exterior and interior shot that screamed metaphor, which in practice helped us think about composition, we had to film a classic three point lighting scene to develop understanding of light and finally an interview on the move. I enjoyed this session and hope for more like them, If it was up to me my university course would be nothing but these 'down to earth' sort of practical sessions, I learnt much more about the cameras, lighting and composition in this session than in the first month of lectures combined, very useful.

I brought home the raw footage from the session and basically took the opportunity to have a mess around and test out my new Quadcore I7 desktop rendering speeds, Its not at all serious but I had some immature fun editing it.

Design Practice 3: Assignment 1: Development: Part 2

So since last weeks feedback session I have descided to narrow my ideas down and focus on the intrinsic message I wish to portray, I have descided to develop the concept of food education as this is the treatment that got the majority approval at show & tell. In a nutshell my advert is aimed at:

Educating and getting people interested in the ingredients found in their food, urging them to question the standard and quality of certain ingredients and ultimately influence them to find out how they can eat healthier.

I will visually represent this via a cooking show, this is explored in the storyboards below:

Context 2: Coursework #1: Skeleton Productions

Show & Tell #1

Well the first show and tell session today was enlightening to say the least, It pretty much confirmed my self-doubts that my ideas were too unstructured, that they required clearer plot and core purpose. My original gust concept was to try and promote traditional values when it came to food, such as knowing where your ingredients are sourced and taking the time to cook your meal with pride, but at the same time I didn't necessarily want it to be just about healthy eating. I was originally going to show this via a transition of people buying from organic butchers and greengrocers to people ordering fast food, but came to the conclusion that it was neither innovative nor memorable enough. So my ideas pretty much spiralled from there, from cooking shows and interviewing children to spoofs, although these new ideas were fresher and more controversial they didn't hold the original concept of promoting traditional values when it came to food. I believe I need a new concept.

Points made in show & Tell

• Narrow your ideas down
• Think educational
• More clear on what you want to do
• Think about your core idea, change it.

It is clear that my original concept was not portrayed in my three treatments, however the theme of food education was picked up on in my second treatment and generally liked by the group. I believe my new core concept should be about:

Food education - Educating and getting people interested in the ingredients found in
their food, urging them to question the standard and quality of certain ingredients and ultimately influence them to find out how they can eat healthier.

A preliminary idea on how to visually represent this is with my cooking show idea, the ingredients of a particularly bad processed fast food recipe are added to a mix, while the chef simultaneously informs the audience whats going on. It ends with the disturbing ingredients being transforms into a burger (or likewise) and being held up to the audiences face, In which the Chef states "Now you know where it come from do you still want it?"

Keyframe Test

Design Practice 3: Assignment 1: Development: Part 1

TREATMENT #1 M & S STYLE SPOOF

TREATMENT #2 GUSTO COOKING SHOW

TREATMENT #3 EDUCATIONAL INTERVIEW

3D Text Test

MALak (very short film)

An interpretation exercise set by university to get us thinking. The script revolves around a woman tormenting a male victim with a mysterious object called MALak, although 'MALak' could be anything you choose. Our interpretation goes along the route of a dream sequence/Hallucination, the man could be suffering from post-traumatic stress or some kind of mental illness... or maybe there some dark magic in the works.

Overall this interpretation exercise did its job by getting me back into the swing of moving image, this piece could have benefited through a more thought out script and then concentrating on one specific treatment to apply to it, we suffered as we couldn't decide upon one treatment and ended up with a mixture of many. To add more purpose to the plot a scene at the end which revealed he is infact talking to him self would have added some much needed closure.

Design Practice 3: Assignment One: Inspiration & Brainstorming

Firstly I did a brainstorm of all the possible subjects worthy of being classed as 'close to my heart', below are the varied subject I initially thought off:
The Class System, Food, Bullying, Gender Roles, Religion, Drugs and Freedom.

Out of the original brainstorm i decided to pinpoint and pursue the subject of food as I feel I have a genuine interest in it, I am able to easily articulate my own experiences and perspective through it.

Mindmap:

I then went about producing a mind map that could visually represent as all the sub-subjects and ideas I had within the area of food, the aim was to try and harness what I wanted to further develop

What is your own experience/perspective of the subject?

As I have progressed through my life I started to become more aware of the quality of food around me, I yearned to experiment with food, try new things, I wanted to produce fresh delicious food of my own. I kind of lost touch with what food was all about, like many other people out there, I wasn't too enthusiastic about cooking and happily went for the fast option. I now believe that dedicating some time to getting involved with your food and taking pride in it can provide great personal satisfaction, it has many benefits. My main subject isn’t just that you shouldn’t eat fatty foods or unhealthy in general, its more aimed to promote traditional values when it comes to food such as knowing and understanding where your food comes from, taking the time to actually gather your ingredients and prepare your meals with pride and generally getting excited about what you eat and rediscovering the benefits it has.

So once I had pinpointed my main area for my gust concept I started researching any articles, videos, pictures that could inspire me or provide me with existing concept I could possible incorporate in my 30 second advert.

http://nutrition.wsu.edu/ebet/background.html

Talks about what is known about family meals, analysing reports and statistic. Identifies benefits such as improved family communication and relationships, better school performance, better nutrition and overall more adjusted individuals.  It’s important to building a strong family, and that it benefits society as well. Also identifies obstacles faced such as No time to cook, Don't know how to cook and Would rather do something else.Get more people educated in food and planning meals to be a positive experience

http://womenshealth.about.com/od/girlshealth101/a/fastfoodteenwei.htm

Report discussing How’s It is important to watch carefully what you eat, identifies the impact the fast food industry is having on society, deals with obesity and diabetes.

http://goop.com/newsletter/77/en/

Interview with Jamie Oliver discussing his food revolution. Talks about Working with a family, rich or poor, that has a terrible relationship with food, and seeing how even the simplest bits of information can completely change their future is inspiring. Also shares the viewpoints that It’s about sharing information and knowledge to get people thinking and getting interested in there food rather than just telling them they shouldn’t eat burgers. Bringing back the traditions of food and getting back in touch.

http://www.foodpolitics.com/

Website Jammed packs with food politic articles

http://generallordisimo.com/2011/05/16/when-taking-time-to-cook-is-time-worth-taking/

Deals with the available time people have to make quality food from scratch. People who want to save time or over buying quality ingredients to make delicious food, is it worth it? Battle between technology and food, is it just fuel or should we dedicate more time and pleasure towards our end product.



The slow food movement spawned from the idea that we have lost the connection between flavour and food, food should be locally sourced, simplicity infused with passion equals good food.

Design Practice 3: Assignment 1: The Brief

So the first assignment for the year is to produce an advert for a cause that is close to my heart, In which I am strongly emotionally attached and passionate about. Through the entire process I will research, design and produce a unique 30 second advert that projects a gust concept to the my target audience, it could challenge contemporary issues such as the obesity crisis or talk about my views on current military action...or simply be designed to inform and encourage people to spend more time with their family.

I am looking forward to this project as I have quite a few initial ideas flowing around already, It'll be the first real piece of media I will have produced which allows me to express myself politically rather than just creating solely for entertainment purposes.

Examples of some existing campaigns that caught my eye.


Simple yet effective campaign named the free hugs campaign is meant to express the importance of loving your fellowman and taking the time to stop and appreciate life. World peace would be nice



Here's one I found called 'buy nothing day' trying to promote a more economic way of living, not to be as materialistic and wasteful. I do however think it may be a bit blunt and rude, don't know how effective the message would be to the general public

First week back

After much soul searching I have decided to transfer from 3D animation to moving image, after just the first week of attending the 3D classes I came to realisation that it was something I felt very little confidence and passion towards and believed I would never be motivated to push myself and excel within it. More than the just the programs being hard to pick up is the fact that I'm not the most artistically talented in terms of drawing and have little interest in modelling, I would not enjoy this side of it. I believe I have made the right choice as it is apparent now that I should do something I'm passionate about rather than just what I think is the most challenging.  I could work with others and maybe enjoy myself in the process instead of struggling and fighting with what I'm naturally good at.


What may have been...

Context 1: Assignment Two: Visual Essay: Work Submission

Design Practice 2: Interactive Spaces: Work Submission

     

              WWW.MEDIADOBSON.COM

My main ideas and intentions that I was trying to express in the project were: 

To develop a comic book themed website that gave viewers the illusion of reading an open comic book on-screen, to place as much content as possible in the constraints of comic book style boxes to reinforce the idea of reading an open comic book. Through using the themes of comic books, superheroes and hand drawn art, I was hoping to represent myself immediately as an animator, creating a contrast between the rawest form of animation ‘traditional’ and the more modern 3D computer animation in which I specialise in. To create a website which had a creative design flare and was aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but which also maintained simplistic elements in terms of an easy to use navigation, understandable language, good communication and a constant layout. Finally the main aim was to grab the attention of future employee’s, to represent myself as ‘not just another designer’, using taglines, logos, biographies, blogs, portfolios and suggestive buttons to hopefully impress viewers enough to contact me for possible future work.

The methods I use to develop my ideas were: (brainstorming, , visual research, storyboards etc)

To begin with I analysed various online portfolios to gather inspiration, there were two search categories, simplistic and creative. This allowed me to understand how online portfolios work; on one side I gathered ideas for making my portfolio unique and interesting while on the other I learnt how to keep my site understandable and easy to use. Next I went about deciding what elements my portfolio would incorporate; I found an interesting online tutorial entitled ‘The 10 golden rules of successful portfolios’, which I followed closely, I selected features from this tutorials which I could use, features such as using taglines, logos, blogs and biographies. Later I created a mood board of my interests and feelings at the time, this provided me with recurring themes, colours and fonts I would use to create the main concept for my site. Next I decided to compile a board of popular logos and taglines to see what stood out and made a lasting market impact. As I was going with a comic book theme I had the idea of researching existing comic book pages for layout ideas, I would use the comic boxes size and positioning to create my own custom layout for my content. Once I’d decided everything I wanted to include In my site I created a wireframe to visually represent these ideas, I used this to reference while producing, so I didn’t go off track. Finally various other online tutorials were used along the way, varying from Photoshop effects to Online hosting.

I took a risk by trying something new. (Explain):

Well basically everything about this project was new to me, I’d never used Dreamweaver properly before and had very little web design knowledge.  But if you’re talking about the most daring thing I attempted which deviated from the lecture basics, I would have to say using JavaScript for my pop-up video gallery. I had to use code found on the internet and customise it to my requirements, It took some time to develop and before long it had become a large part of my project and I was unable to turn back. Luckily I fixed some errors in the code and was able to present my pop-up gallery as I desired.

Some of the unexpected problems I had to solve while working were:

I faced varied problems throughout, these included; I couldn’t find suitable pictures to use on the internet, div tags going out of position on different browsers and monitors, custom fonts not working on other computers, internet explorer not displaying my website and the positioning of content in an unconventional way. 

The decisions and choices I made to help solve these problems were:

For not being able to find suitable pictures to use on the internet, specifically an open comic book for my background image, I decided to collect multiply comic books and magazines to scan into my computer. There was a lot of trial and error but ultimately I got my custom desired look. For my div tags positioning wrong, I had to research a solution on the internet, I finally discover that I had to use relative positioning on my container tag to correct the problem. Likewise with the internet explorer problem, I found information online to correct it. I had to replace the custom fonts with web-safe fonts for accessibility. As some of my content is positioned using absolute I had to change certain values you wouldn’t usually have to, I improvised and used extra padding to display background images.

The things I have learnt from this particular project were: (Specific examples should be cited.)

I have learnt that it is extremely important to actually realise what the code means and does, as Dreamweaver did a lot of the coding for me, It was difficult to understand what’s actually did what, It was especially bad when I encounter a problem and had no way of knowing how to identify it. That creating an online identity is crucial in today’s society; getting yourself out there and branding yourself will get you noticed and open up possibilities for future work. I have learnt some core design skills in visual language, including the importance of repetition, contrast, colour and similarity. Finally I now understand the Dreamweaver software at a beginner’s level, I am more confident in creating and working with web.  

Areas for improvement , If I were to do this project again I would change or do differently:

To use a more conventional way of positioning, my method is unstable and may not work on all monitors and browsers, I would have researched wright from the beginning to avoid this problem and discovered the proper way in which to achieve my desired positions. To add some kind of mailing features, so the user can simply click on my email address or a section and be transported straight to a text box to send to me, this would eliminate the need for a viewer to copy and paste information. Finally I would reduce some of my image sizes and change some file types to increase download speeds.

A new project that might grow out of my experience maybe:

I am thinking about developing a business website for my Dads building company.

Design Practice 2: Film: Work Submission

My main ideas and intentions that I was trying to express in the project were:

Our main aim was to create an interpretation of the script ‘shift’ that was uniquely distinguishable from the other groups, through alteration of the visual style, time period and mise en scene. We set to incorporate our script into the ‘film noir’ style of filming, the main story which already had many conventions and tropes associated with film noir, such as conspiracy and crime, could easily be converted to match the style. To produce a film that audiences could instantly associate and relate with film noir (shadows, high contrast, city scenery, detectives), but at the same time not be restricted and have a unique postmodern twist. For example mixing black and white with modern scenery, old props alongside modern items and the use of electronic music creates an interesting hybrid film. The idea that it has 1920’ film noir elements but is set in 21th century Britain let’s audiences experience mixtures they usual wouldn’t. The main mood throughout the film was intended to be a fast past, thrilling and suspenseful using a lot of varied angles alongside fast cuts, rarely allowing the viewer to relax; we wanted the story to unfold gradually, keeping the audience guessing constantly. Through the use of a flashback at the beginning of the film, I was hoping to develop an interesting equilibrium, the non-linear structure was intended to hook the viewer from the start and allow them to piece together the events for themselves. I intended the tile sequence to set the genre instantly and be able to form a mysterious mood on its own, to become a part of the film and be instantly recognizable and unique to the film, like a brand. Finally I aimed to use light and shadows to create symbolic meaning, in and out of darkness for madness, half face lit for mystery, white flashes to show past and present.

The methods I use to develop my ideas were: (brainstorming, , visual research, storyboards etc)

We began by assigning each other roles within our group, determined by what we wanted to do and the level of experienced we had in the area, I was appointed the editor. Within our first group meeting after reading the script I suggested using film noir. Firstly to get my creative juices flowing I began analysing existing top rated film noir movies for editing influence, I wrote a long list of transitions, effects, shots, cuts and brightness/contrast levels that were familiar throughout the majority of clips, I later collaborated them into a brainstorm board which I used as a reference for editing. Next as I felt quite restricted to what I could actually do being an editor pre-production, I started creating mock-up videos, testing out various effects and techniques, I did this mainly to get better acquainted with the software before the real edit. Next I was assigned the task of finding suitable fonts for the title; I put together a large list of fonts that were found through searching for words relating to the mood of the film, and showed them to my group. For ideas on title animation I analysed existing films and shows from the crime/adventure genre. To develop ideas on lighting I had a practical session experimenting with different ways to create the film noir look, through researching and watching online tutorials I learnt how to create varied desired effects. Finally through viewing recorded material in-between shooting days I was able to create a list of extra shots and angles I desired, this allowed me to improve the continuity of the film while filming was taking place, I could work out which shots worked best together in on the day, before filming ended.

I took a risk by trying something new. (Explain):

I took a risk by taking on an acting role in our film; I usually stay behind the scenes. I was cast to play the part of Kyle, a rough-looking gangster who is trying to apprehend our main character Chris. As I had no prior acting experience I was vary about acting as It can be harder than you think to display emotions and believable reactions on camera, It is usually evident who has had training and who hasn’t, so I didn’t want to ruin the film. After tips from my group and practicing looking mean in the mirror, I started to make my character look believable and ultimately I am happy I took on the challenge.

Some of the unexpected problems I had to solve while working were:

The footage shot by my group when I was not present on set was all twenty second long shots and I needed more varied camera angles and shots to work with, to create a more interesting and understandable story to the audience. Some scene were taking too much time to film, we were in jeopardy of not finishing for the deadline date. Not planning out the continuity of the bag in the film properly and lastly people not contributing to their role.

The decisions and choices I made to help solve these problems were:

For my group producing the long 20 second shots, I presented them with a long list of possible shot and angle additions to incorporate into the scenes, once we had re-filmed these specific scenes with my new purposed camera shots and angles in mind, I was able to piece together the footage much more coherently and create a more desirable fast-paced effect. For the time issues, I decided to help out in both the directing and cameraman areas, I worked alongside my director and camerawomen, telling our actor how to move/what to do and managing/positioning the camera in order to get better results and speed matters up. For the continuity issues with the bag I had to re-evaluate the structure of the story, editing and adding a clip where our character removes the bag from a safe, to ensure it made sense when it reappear in later scenes. Finally I had to make the decision of taking on the role of sound as our sound woman did not contribute any of the required sounds.

The things I have learnt from this particular project were: (Specific examples should be cited.)

I’ve learnt many new techniques in premiere pro which I didn’t know before, these include title key frames, the vignette circle, the colour pass effect, layers and opacity and colour correction.
I learnt that you need to leave a longer time to edit in a production schedule, editing can’t be rushed, it’s more complicated than you think to produce a decent film that flows. I learnt that within a film crew, you need to stick to your roles and take them seriously, the more in-depth people take their role the better organised the set becomes. Finally that it all depends on team work, everyone has to express their opinions and keep up-to-date with each other’s progress, conflicting ideas will occur but you have to work towards the ‘happy middle’

Areas for improvement , If I were to do this project again I would change or do differently:

Defiantly should have planned out the use of time more effectively and been direct about what we wanted each other to do, I would have encouraged people to conduct more role-specific research and planning before filming commenced. Ideally filming could have started a week earlier, allowing more breathing room for feedback and improvements. In technical terms of the film, I would incorporate voice-overs to various clips to create a classic ‘film noir’ style narration. This would add extra substance to the film and help in establishing a more understandable story for the viewer to follow; It would also be used as a device to develop the main characters personality and emotions further.

A new project that might grow out of my experience maybe:

A black & white film noir themed music video for a local band