Xmas Project

Jury Service: Gone Girl Review

Jury Service: 100 Year Old Man Review

Jury Service : Explanation

I am anxious as to how my studies will continue while on Jury Service - as I can't do anything practical while there. I hope that I will be given a research project, if not then hopefully it won't last long and I will be back to normal soon.

UPDATE: I've been picked for a long trial (expected to finish 15/1/16)

Who Are You? : Final Piece & Evaluation

Who Are You? : Artist Research

Who Are You? : Ideas

Who Are You?

1 Day Project

Twins presentation from Synflame

References

Samme references from Synflame

Samme Final - Reflection + Feedback

(Insert final cut)

I found this project difficult. The group would unnecessarily make the shot types and shooting more difficult than it needed to be not listening to my instructions. People would move the camera + tripod when we still needed shots and were more excited to get home and be finished with the shoot. I don't think we got enough of a variety of shots, and we also forgot to record an atmos track as a result of this. My group refused to take aboard my thoughts and problems with shooting at night - which I was right about as banding was a problem and it became too dark. I think it was difficult being in a group that didn't listen to all aspects that group members had problems with. One group member was unable to attend the shoot - and as a result of this, contributed the bare minimum to this project - even having the cheek of asking me if he could say he wrote the screenplays and shot lists I wrote. I think the sound for this project was extremely last minute, and I don't particularly like. I think the abstract sound is too much for throughout the track and should only be played at certain parts of the short film and to add foley sounds. The editor of the group I found hard to work with, as he refused to accept any criticism and only reluctantly cut down shot types and extended others from 3 minutes to the required minute when asked by a lecturer. To improve I would add foley sound and change the track, I would change the colour grading to be more orange to blue. I would also reshoot during the day and edit the shots so they are tighter, lingering on a few shots.  

Sound

2 days before the deadline and we still have no sound recorded. Issues with software and editing have taken up most of the time for this project and have left sound to last minute - I'm worried that as a group we won't be able to give feedback and won't have heard the sound before showing it to the class and dislike it or have errors that could've been easily corrected.

The Sound Designer for the group has told us that he plans to use metallic long exaggerated sounds, changing the pitch so it's deeper and is more eerie. The references for sound are:






Both pieces sound abstract - I think that this sound should only be used when Samme's double is seen or suggested on screen, and not throughout the entire short film to contrast normality and what is in Samme's head.

Samme - Rough Cut

• Too long
• Shots are too long or not long enough
• pace of edits isn't tense enough
• colour grading - needs to be from Orange to Blue
• Too dark
• Lines from street lamps (not matching camera's shutterspeed - banding created)
• No sound
• Incoherent 
• Shots aren't consistent with screenplay + storyboard

Locations

 These are the locations we have decided to use:

They are narrow in places to suggest a trapping environment for the character and diegesis for the audience. But the alleyway is wider in some places to make is easier for shooting.

Possible problems:

• Too dark?
• Trains go overhead often
• Common alleyway for the public
• Too narrow - shows shadows of crew?

Film Technique

Gallery Visit 21/10/15

Photos from The Photographers Gallery are here

- I loved the photos from this Gallery, I think that forensic photography is fascinating. In my spare time I enjoy watching Medical Examiner shows (Dr G Medical Examiner) and other crime related TV shows. I think that death is an interesting topic - as we are all alive there's not much that anyone can say about death has they haven't experienced it first hand - there's something about peace and the last final vulnerable state that leads me to feel a connection with the pieces I viewed at the photographers gallery.

ICA photos can be found here

- I didn't enjoy all of ICA. I liked the photography showing intimate parts of peoples lives, perhaps representing identity. I didn't like the sculptures as they were extremely abstract and didn't make much sense to me.

Tate photos can be found here

-I didn't really like much from the Tate. The only piece I enjoyed is the woman with 1 eye and 3 hands as I like the style of the piece.

Storyboard + Screenplay (version 2)

Samme Storyboards 2 from Synflame

Samme screenplay 2 from Synflame

After changing a few issues with incoherence of the script and storyboards, I have rewrote the screenplay to make it clearer for the editor and sound designer in post production as well as an aid during production for the cinematographer and the direction of the film. 

Storyboard + Screenplay (version 1)

Samme Storyboards 1 from Synflame

Feedback

• Do not fall into obvious
• Audience - no ambiguity to know exactly how it ends
• Keep it Simple
• Successful + Failure
• work on how physically showing conflict of two
• make it more visually intriguing

Samme (brainstorm)

Storyline:

• Samme ignores friends
• Drops his phone
• Sees himself
• Follows after
• loses him 
• walks back fatigued and sluggish 
• coughing up blood?
• dies
• 2nd version leaves?

Film 19/10/15

16/10/15 Final Piece - Feedback + Reflection

Elliot

We didn't finish the project - which I felt really let down by my group. Some group members done more than others, and some none at all - I learnt from this project to not work with your friends. I think that messed our group up was time management - we spent a lot of our time organising the style of our piece - therefore our narrative suffered. To improve I would make sure that this piece is finished to the quality of the first 25 seconds.

Feedback:

• I love the style and mood
• Art style is smooth 
• looks fantastic
• fit
• professional - sleek
• looks complete
• narrative suffered - rebalancing thing
• effective visual language 
• collaged - enough texture to tell story
• don't make piece longer than 3 minutes

14/10/15 No Colour Bar visit

Photos of this visit can be found here.

I found this task extremely difficult.  I took photos of the only two people that went to the gallery while I was there. As a white female I felt uninspired by the artwork I saw to create a more effective response. While I understand what BHM means to others - I think it may be my upbringing that makes it difficult for me to identify with the artwork I had seen. I don't think my final piece works well as there is no representation of black culture. It really surprised me that I had no ideas for this project - I think to improve in general as well as other projects I may encounter, I need to research more if I don't feel inspired. What I have learned through this project the importance of research as I could have made a more successful piece.

 

13/10/15 Black History Month brief

To create an original visual response to your visit to the galleries in postcard format. 

I am currently finding it difficult to come up with ideas for this task - I feel very uninspired and blind in this project - I know what Black History Month is and what it means to the black culture - personally I do not identify with BHM which makes it difficult.

12/10/15 Animation Workshop Piece

Here I used After Effects to create this animation. I liked the technique, I think it put me and ease and calmed my stresses about animation to see how simple I could put an animation together - which had surprised me. Previously when creating animations it was usually a stressful process with no pay out to the quality of the animation. The only difficulty I found was that sometimes the animation would loop back to the beginning although I hadn't moved it, perhaps due to the fact I tried to cut corners putting the markers in place first. I would use this process again to create little animations for future film projects and while not put it off due to thinking I can't create animations.

10/10/15 Group Roles / Update

Group Roles: 

• Will: Sound Design + compositor 
• Me: Animator + storyboard artist/ animatic 
• Victor: Producer + Animator
• Fran: Character Design 

While discussing what techniques to use to create our animation, Victor suggested to use rotoscoping, which is drawing over live action footage frame by frame creating a stop motion of movement. We will also use paper cut outs and the stop motion technique for the legs/taller people walking beside him. 

An example of rotoscoping can be found in this music video: 

9/10/15 Updated Storyline Storyline + Animatic

UPDATED STORYLINE:

• Elliot is small and is therefore unnoticed
• Someone drops a purse
• Elliot know he needs to return this important object back to the person
• Elliot is knocked about on his journey, is nearly stepped on and it rains stopping his search
• Elliot finds person and returns purse
• Elliot is noticed by person
• Receives whistle for returning purse
• Elliot uses whistle next time he is nearly stepped on, avoiding death and is noticed by the taller people around him
• Elliot is content

8/10/15 Feedback from Pitch

Feedback:

1.  Logic in diegesis doesn't make sense (people should grow taller if Elliot does)
2. Protagonist doesn't work for anything 
3. Don't rely on chance for change

Story = (character + wants) x obstacles 

To do: 

• Rethink storyline
• Redraw storyboards
• Create animatic reflecting new idea
• Plan sounds 

6/10/15 Storyboarding, Moodboard and Animatic

Storyboards can be found here.

7/10/15 Influences

I enjoy watching short animations for comedic effect. What I like about animations such as this one I found while browsing tumblr, is that anything can be done - the characters are tortilla crisps that bleed nacho cheese. Animation is radical and audience's tend to believe anything the diegesis throws at them.




I decided to look into paper cut out animations and stop motion animations to get inspiration as to what we could do with our own animation. I found this animation to be very simplistic and lacking in story arc. I liked the various layers of movement within the animation.




I liked the amount of detail in this animation, however I felt the animation itself was choppy in some areas. I liked the style of the paper animation and feel as if our own animation could take inspiration from this style.




I had watched this animation a few years ago and enjoyed the story arc of this piece. I think this could also present a variation of different styles of animation we could incorporate into our own piece by drawing digitally or something similar.

Personally I love the animated feature films produced and created by Studio Ghibli - particularly the animations by Hayao Miyazaki


I studied him in A2 last year and his films for my own extended project. I rewatched the latest and last of his filmography - The Wind Rises. Not my personal favourite. Howl's Moving Castle is my favourite animation due to the extent of the animation - particularly in awe of the different movements of the castle and the detail gone into it.

I also rewatched The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness - a documentary following the production of The Wind Rises, and briefly re-read Miyazaki's biographies Starting Point and Turning Point.

6/10/15 Animation Introduction

Honda "Paper" from a52 on Vimeo.


Procrastination from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

Dad's Dead (2015 Remastered Version) from chris shepherd on Vimeo.

New York Times - Modern Love from Freddy Arenas on Vimeo.

Les talons rouges / The Red Heels from Olesya Shchukina on Vimeo.

Revolver from jonas odell on Vimeo.

5/10/15 Ideas

Feedback from Sound Design work

Feedback for Sound Journey:

Add more sound spots

Like the gradual build

End should be louder – more chaotic finish

Not obvious what is being listened to

Good progression so sound moves smoothly

 I agree with these comments, I think that I could've improved the foley making it more obvious what was being listened to. I think I could also improve by building the end up to be more chaotic

Feedback for Film Clip:

Beginning of piece is similar to sound journey

Add lightning effects

Low piano music to add dark effect

Comical take on dramatic scene – subverting the genre and works

Add more sounds to actions – example Jason getting out of coffin

Like that own recordings have been used

Add more heavy breathing and steps

Syncing could be more accurate

Wind sound – feeling of dread

Felt a bit empty

Very well mixed & synced

Knife sounds fit well and increase intensity

Sound spots are almost perfect

Could do with some reverb

More foreground sounds needed

To improve my film clip piece I could change up the beginning of the clip not repeating the same sounds, add lightning effects synced up to the lighting of the screen. I also need to add more action movement sounds and more dialogue to the scene. I could also add a soundtrack to create more of an atmosphere in this piece, and add reverb to some of the audio clips within my sequence. 

Foley to movie clip: Friday 13th - Reawakening of Jason

 I really enjoyed this task, so much that I completed the whole scene rather than a minute. I enjoyed the experimentation of sound choices to decide what sounded more like, for example, a footstep squelch in mud while raining. I think that this piece was successful, however I think I could've continued layering more sounds and therefore making it more descriptive, for example adding thunder, heavier rain and a variation of breathing patterns to match characters. To improve I would also use actors to voice the character's dialogue rather than my own voice. I learnt from this task that a range of material to choose from is best, as sounds that are recorded sometimes don't really sound like what you want them to, so it is good to have a range to fall back on and layer sounds if needed to. I think that I would definitely use foley sound in future film projects to exaggerate sounds.

Foley to an image: Nighthawk

I decided that in addition to creating a foley piece to a movie clip, I would also create foley to a still image, I chose the painting Nighthawk - this is a link to the painting.

Seb and Andrew discussed the option of creating sounds to a still image instead of a film clip. To further myself in this project I decided to create both.

I think the sound in this piece represents this painting well and the atmosphere it creates. I don't this piece was very successful, I think I made the audio sound too busy in comparison with the image. To improve I think I could've added a soundtrack in the background of music playing in the diner. I think I could have also used some sort of sound that suggests a problem or changes the atmosphere - perhaps using dialogue.

feedback? how did this help develop work? So far I have no feedback, to improve my piece I would ask others for their opinion and add to it according to the given feedback.

From this task I have took away the experience of creating foley sounds and that I enjoy this process. I think with a range of items I could create a larger range of foley sounds. I think I might use foley sound in other works to further emphasise the sounds used.

Sound Journey Piece

This is the piece I have created through my own foley sound as listed in the previous post. I layered the noises over each other and played around with the loudness and pitch of each audio clip. I used the lighter audio clips at the beginning and built up, using the louder foley sounds towards the end of the clip. I was unable to use Auditions to edit due to an issue with licences, therefore I edited this audio piece on Final Cut Pro. To improve I would use Auditions and create more foley to have more of a build up.

History of Foley

Foley sound from Synflame

Creating Foley Sound

Foley Sound ideas to recreate Thunderstorm:

• plastic bag - wind/thunder
• batteries in plastic box rolling around - thunder
• rice moving in metal box - rain
• pots and pans banging together - lightning
• foil shaking - thunder/rain
• shower water - rain
• shaking a leather jacket - thunder

Sound Design 22/9/15

Sound Design HW

The cinematography in The Conversation, is shown from above whereas the sound is captured from below and in the van as shown in the clip.

I think that the distortion is effective with the audience - because you don't really know what is going on until you have seen the ear pieces, microphones and vans. I like the juxtaposition of the sound being captured from below and the cinematography from above in the first few seconds of the scene.

If I were to recreate this I would use white noise instead of the digital distortion heard throughout the extract as I don't think it makes it obvious to the reader what is happening - I would also include a distortion similar to when a microphone gets too close to a speaker when the spies are too close to the couple. I think the white noise would slightly confuse the audience as the image would not be distorted. I would also use more ambient noises such as people talking, breathing, walking in the beginning - I understand that the music is very loud, but I don't think that a busy street would not include people talking while music is being played. I think I would also include sounds of fabric touching fabric and muffling when the couples touch each other or are close to each other to show that one of the pair are wearing a microphone. I would cut the music completely when are protagonist that gets into the van when he does not have on the earphones to hear what is being said, highlighting that he is the protagonist and who the audience should be following, also creating a sense of mystery. I would also not use the piano at the end of the clip, instead replacing it with ambient noises and picking up on some key sounds when passing certain parts in the extract, for example hearing parts of a conversation when passing a group of people.




To improve this extract in Blade Runner, I would exaggerate the sound of the fan rotating above the man, as it is a close object to him, but that is not reflected in the sound. In class we debated as to whether or not the exaggerated heartbeat was diegetic or non-diegetic. I would argue that the heartbeat is diegetic, as it is in the film world. There is also nothing to suggest that it is a heartbeat, it could be the rotating fan above the pair. One of the characters speaks while the heartbeat is exaggerated and the voice slightly echoes, which the character's voice hasn't echoed before and it is only at that point - so if the heartbeat is non diegetic so is that voice, but the other character in the scene can hear the voice - the voice is only echoing to him, which means that he is feeling disorientated and hears specific key sounds that are to him, including his own heartbeat - the close up of this character also shows that we are only concentrating on this character and what he can think, feel and hear. I would make the first gunshot sound more like a gun shot instead of it sounding like something from Star Wars guns.

Sound Design 21/9/15

Sound is immaterial. Perception of sound relies on sound. We recognise things through sound information by the sound they make. Sonic information - imbued in objects + events, especially when we see them. Sonic information - more subjective visual information. You can picture an event by hearing key sounds.

Sound Journey:

• No non-diegetic music
• No more than 1 minute

1 minute extract of film scene:

Think about:

• Sound/feeling
• film sound
• diegesis
• the mix

John Cage 4'33'': When viewing this it felt very surreal. I constantly felt like I was waiting for something to happen. Similarly to the exercise in class where we remained silent and focused on what we could hear - although there is supposed to be no sound - there still is sound - people breathing, fidgeting, coughing - it eventually becomes very irritating and annoying as you want to complete the silence. 

Similarly - this song The Ballad of Richard Nixon by John Denver does the same.

The Architecture of Films Soundtrack:

1. Background - atmosphere and ambience
2. Foreground - sound spots and dialogue (including music payed in diegesis)

Spot sounds - specific sounds played in foreground

Bibliography

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Shirin Neshat: Art in exile | TED Talk | TED.com. 2015. Shirin Neshat: Art in exile | TED Talk | TED.com. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.ted.com/talks/shirin_neshat_art_in_exile?language=en. [Accessed 23 September 2015].

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Life Drawing 23/9/15

Today, a model posed for us and we drew him - here are photographs of my drawings. 

I liked the experience of drawing a model - I have drawn plenty of fruit bowls, skeletons and skulls in the past life drawing lessons I have experienced, so it felt new and interesting to draw a person paying extreme detail to human anatomy. I think I found the quick drawings more difficult as I like to spend time on my drawings adding as much detail as possible. I also found the movement pieces harder as the model didn't remain still - to record the movements I ended up creating a circle of sausage style people, which I didn't really like. I also found it difficult to drawing with charcoal as I don't enjoy getting my hands too dirty, which you do with charcoal. However it surprised me when I found that the charcoal drawing was one of my favourites - I liked the simplistic style with only slight detail. 

14/9/15 Other Artists

Shirin Neshat Interview:

14/9/15 - Identity photos

These are a selection of photographs I have chosen to represent my identity.



Bradley - He is the person I've known the longest, with Bradley there wouldn't be Lauren. Bradley was my womb mate and is my twin brother. Every childhood memory I have is with Bradley. We have been with each other through every step of the way, GCSE's, A Levels. Attending University, this is the first time we've really ever been apart.

 Nandos - After researching into the social identity theory and discovering that we create social rivals in order to make ourselves feel better, it was after this that I had the thought that experiences can also define our identity, experiences with overcoming illness or drugs, climbing the Tower of London - but also the things we haven't experienced. I have never been to a Nandos, and most people think that it's weird. It's a part of my identity, but an example of something that can easily be changed.

 The Apple brand to me, represents creativity. I think I am creative, through art and film. But this picture of my macbook also represents how hard I work to get something I want - it shows how determined I am to get something and further my career in film - I saved up months worth of Mcdonalds wages to buy it.

My Nike Scar - This photograph represents my imperfections, there's alot of imperfections that couldn't fit into one photograph hence just this photo. I burnt myself (at Mcdonalds) with a fry basket that formed this scar in the shape of the Nike symbol. I also convinced that if I tattoo 'Just Do It' next to the scar that Nike will pay me for advertisement space.

Sky - This is the view outside of my bedroom window, which I see everyday. I have spent 16/17 years in this house, in Welling. Welling is where my mum grew up so it's very much a part of my identity.