I believe that I have found a suitable set of titles for my film. It will most likely be one of the following, those marked with an asterisk represent ones with which I think are the most suitable:
-Killswitch
-Charge.exe
-Extension*
-Internal Server*
-White Wire
The other slight difference that I may implement, is that I could change the story so that he is a man that is caught in a chemical explosion which disfigures him and leaves him with the need for digital enhancement, Which was given because of society's plunging into a new electronic era.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Monday, 23 September 2013
Shots Project Review
Shots Project Review
Earlier in the month I completed and uploaded my Basic Shots Project. My overall opinion was that it was sufficient in helping me to train my abilities with camera operation. I would like to look at certain individual aspects of the piece on their own in order to see where I stand with my abilties.
Distance Shots Project 2013 from David Smith on Vimeo.
First off I would like to discuss the positive aspects of this project; this will include both the production of the piece and the end product itself.
Positive aspects
1. The piece itself was actually completed relatively quickly, the shots for the piece only took about 45 minutes to shoot and so I actually had plenty of time to spare which I could utilise in a number of different areas, namely editing and footage review. With this time that I was given I managed to locate a couple of different issues with some original footage. The shots shown weren’t the only shots that I had, for example, there are approximately 3 different versions of the first piece of footage because of where I was looking to start Anthony from in relation to the frame.
2. In terms of editing, the addition of music to the scene was a nice touch and it makes the viewing slightly more interesting. One interesting thing about the piece is that it was originally incredibly bright and so I edited the light levels with Premiere Pro with effects like Luma key which helped greatly to remove a large portion of the glare.
3. Each scene has a nice Swap Transition that really helps to carry on the scene without a very jagged and rough effect commonly found in a simple cut. The use of this transition in particular helped with training in the use of effects as the Swap effects requires being set to start between the two clips instead of the default of starting at the Start of the footage.
Negatives
There are just as many issues with this as their are positives
1. Some of the shots could be interpreted as being labelled as incorrect and I am fully aware, this is a simple slip up on my behalf. The other issue connected solely on the shots is that the day in which I shot gave the camera a monumental amount of glare at times which caused me something of an editing requirement.
2. One of the shots in particular was taken, but was too short and as a result, I edited it to a freeze frame as opposed to being in motion, the issue here is that this one shot seemed out of place and it really causes something of an issue with the overall flow of the piece. It really appears mechanincally edited here and it shows a mess up on my part with the use of the recording itself.
3. The piece is just a simple selection of shots, given that last year I did the same, I'm thinking that with a full years recording experience, I should have attempted something a little more difficult or interesting.
I will take this into consideration for later pieces of work.
Earlier in the month I completed and uploaded my Basic Shots Project. My overall opinion was that it was sufficient in helping me to train my abilities with camera operation. I would like to look at certain individual aspects of the piece on their own in order to see where I stand with my abilties.
Distance Shots Project 2013 from David Smith on Vimeo.
First off I would like to discuss the positive aspects of this project; this will include both the production of the piece and the end product itself.
Positive aspects
1. The piece itself was actually completed relatively quickly, the shots for the piece only took about 45 minutes to shoot and so I actually had plenty of time to spare which I could utilise in a number of different areas, namely editing and footage review. With this time that I was given I managed to locate a couple of different issues with some original footage. The shots shown weren’t the only shots that I had, for example, there are approximately 3 different versions of the first piece of footage because of where I was looking to start Anthony from in relation to the frame.
2. In terms of editing, the addition of music to the scene was a nice touch and it makes the viewing slightly more interesting. One interesting thing about the piece is that it was originally incredibly bright and so I edited the light levels with Premiere Pro with effects like Luma key which helped greatly to remove a large portion of the glare.
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| Luma Key has been a very useful tool, both here and in previous pieces. |
Negatives
There are just as many issues with this as their are positives
1. Some of the shots could be interpreted as being labelled as incorrect and I am fully aware, this is a simple slip up on my behalf. The other issue connected solely on the shots is that the day in which I shot gave the camera a monumental amount of glare at times which caused me something of an editing requirement.
2. One of the shots in particular was taken, but was too short and as a result, I edited it to a freeze frame as opposed to being in motion, the issue here is that this one shot seemed out of place and it really causes something of an issue with the overall flow of the piece. It really appears mechanincally edited here and it shows a mess up on my part with the use of the recording itself.
3. The piece is just a simple selection of shots, given that last year I did the same, I'm thinking that with a full years recording experience, I should have attempted something a little more difficult or interesting.
I will take this into consideration for later pieces of work.
Saturday, 21 September 2013
The Effect of Camera Framing : AMC's Breaking Bad
Recently I have begun to notice more and more special recording techniques used in modern media, I see them most often in the form of television and earlier I noticed something very interesting. The following picture is from Breaking Bad Episode 5 Season 3.
At this point in the story, Walter (Pictured Left) is currently undergoing a pending divorce from Skylar (Pictured Right). The framing here clearly shows a form of separation from Walter and Skylar as well as Walter Junior (Pictured Middle) due to Skylar trying constantly to keep Walter away from his son. This framework is a clear example of how shot style can not only help to make a scene look proper in various ways, but also to tell the story in another, I.e. A visible separation to express the point. In addition to this the lighting as it is also helping to tell a story as Walters side of the table is a lot darker than the other side, which in turn can be used to further express the issue of Walters depressive state, both due to the divorce and also due to the problem concerning his lung cancer.
I just thought this could be useful to note down because it represents solid proof that the set and the camera can be used to tell a story of their own alongside the main dialogue.
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| The framing of the scene is formed by the column of the patio door |
I just thought this could be useful to note down because it represents solid proof that the set and the camera can be used to tell a story of their own alongside the main dialogue.
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| Get Watching This Gem |
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Types of shots that I would include in my idea for the prisoner project.
There are a number of things that I would love to include within my film idea that I mentioned a small while ago. For clarification it was the post about the Film idea, in which a man sentenced to life becomes a military experiment. One particular type of shot has caught my eye from the trailer for the upcoming film by The Bandito Brothers. The Prototype. The concept is similar to my story and I very much like a number of shots shown in their trailer. One particular shot has caught my eye though, and indeed in that aspect, the similar ones as well.
The reason why I like this shot is the use of CGI to show retinal enhancement. We can also directly see what the character is going to do by the indication that the subway is a safe option. These enhancement carry along this particular section of the story, when things are tense and rapid like this scene and characters wont have the time to talk, this is perfect in keeping the audience in the know. The Colour choice is also very good, the green hue is reminiscent in its own to the style of the Matrix Trilogy, another film which also ground in the connection between the colour green and technology.
Another aspect of my story, the dark and covert actions of a man on the run, can sort of be seen here as an example, the main character wears a hood to cover his head, thereby masking his identity. The main difference between this and mine is that my character will more likely represent something closer to a long jacket and sunglasses to mask his eyes.
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| This POV shot shows us how The Prototype sees things with his Digital Retina Capabilities |
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| The Prototype has added a specialised title style to the film to add to the idea of a situation filled with digital advancement |
I also very much like the style of the title, the deep digital blue and the interference really solidify the atmosphere of a rogue program. |
| The tone of the film is very dark and shady from what we can see in the trailer. |
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| The Glasses cover the eye lenses I hope to be wearing in the scene |
For an example of what my character will sort of look like, Adam Jensen from Deus Ex is about the closest thing I can think off, of course it won't be as spectacular. |
| Adam Jensen: The Augmented People Person |
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Previous Attempt at the Prisoner Project
Last year my attempt at the prisoner project was fairly amateur in its execution, this year I can use this as a reference to see where I went wrong, and avoid certain mistakes found in the video. The video can be found below. Below the video should be a series of issues that I have found and how I can use this to my advantage in trying again.
Issues and Solutions
I= Issue
S=Solution
1. I- The shots of the mobile phone are incredibly blurry and hard to read.
S- Try to refrain from recording electronic devices with digital screens, The result is almost always very blurry.
2. I- The Framing on some of the shots is particularly unbalanced and characters often lean out of frame, or stand up out of the frame. I.e. Jack standing up, Me outside before the ending shot.
S- Run through a scene a couple of times before doing it to make sure that the actors can properly work in the room that they were given, I could even make markings on certain areas of the floor so that actors are perfectly clear about where to stand.
3. I- The first time my character gets out his phone, the way that he pauses and just stands there, seems so robotic and forced. There is no fluidity to his actions and it ruins the immersion in the scene.
S- In future I would try and run through the scene with a number of attitudes and styles. This way I could see from the pick which one is the best to use in the situation.
4. I- The scene in which the camera zooms forwards is noteable for its poor regard for the position of the sun. The sun itself casts something of a fuzzy glare to the scene, throughout the shoot, I remember having to move constantly because of the glare.
S- Consider the movement of the sun, East to west. from here it should be possible to see where the sun will move and move the camera accordingly, There is no scientific aspect to this as I can visually interpret where the sun will be and in fact where it currently is.
5. I- Bags with filming equipment can clearly be seen in the background of some shots. Namely the shot in which my character first puts the phone away, and again in the scene where Jack gets out of the building, in which a bag is clearly visible by the step.
S- Bags should be placed behind the camera at all times to ensure that they never bcome part of the scene. There is a real sense of lazy recording shown with their appearence.
6. I- There is essentially a plot issue with the film, after my character puts his phone away, there is a brief moment of him walking, then suddenly he is running in the next shot, the change in pace has no relevance to the plot as he simply walks into the building all the same and doesnt even run that far anyway.
S- Stick to the story, Making a few minor alterations here and there is okay from time to time but one should be careful to avoid creating issues with the plot, as I evidently did here.
7. I- In the story, My character goes to see Jack in 'Containment room 5'... Which is in a school for some reason. Only after I shot this does it become clear that perhaps this seems a bit ridiculous.
S- Since a number of shots show the place to be a school, then perhaps the story would fit better if we simply said that he was being held in an unlikely area. Not an established 'Containment' Facility. The key thing here is that plots can become fairly silly rather quickly if they arent looked at thoroughly.
8. I- The random child that walks though the scene, has no reason to be there. If it was a school scene, then surely there would be many more children to enforce the point, but there is but one.
S- Dont Record Random people walking around, in most cases the indivuduals will attempt to mess up the shot, but sometimes you capture unwanted pieces of information.
Issues and Solutions
I= Issue
S=Solution
1. I- The shots of the mobile phone are incredibly blurry and hard to read.
S- Try to refrain from recording electronic devices with digital screens, The result is almost always very blurry.
2. I- The Framing on some of the shots is particularly unbalanced and characters often lean out of frame, or stand up out of the frame. I.e. Jack standing up, Me outside before the ending shot.
S- Run through a scene a couple of times before doing it to make sure that the actors can properly work in the room that they were given, I could even make markings on certain areas of the floor so that actors are perfectly clear about where to stand.
3. I- The first time my character gets out his phone, the way that he pauses and just stands there, seems so robotic and forced. There is no fluidity to his actions and it ruins the immersion in the scene.
S- In future I would try and run through the scene with a number of attitudes and styles. This way I could see from the pick which one is the best to use in the situation.
4. I- The scene in which the camera zooms forwards is noteable for its poor regard for the position of the sun. The sun itself casts something of a fuzzy glare to the scene, throughout the shoot, I remember having to move constantly because of the glare.
S- Consider the movement of the sun, East to west. from here it should be possible to see where the sun will move and move the camera accordingly, There is no scientific aspect to this as I can visually interpret where the sun will be and in fact where it currently is.
5. I- Bags with filming equipment can clearly be seen in the background of some shots. Namely the shot in which my character first puts the phone away, and again in the scene where Jack gets out of the building, in which a bag is clearly visible by the step.
S- Bags should be placed behind the camera at all times to ensure that they never bcome part of the scene. There is a real sense of lazy recording shown with their appearence.
6. I- There is essentially a plot issue with the film, after my character puts his phone away, there is a brief moment of him walking, then suddenly he is running in the next shot, the change in pace has no relevance to the plot as he simply walks into the building all the same and doesnt even run that far anyway.
S- Stick to the story, Making a few minor alterations here and there is okay from time to time but one should be careful to avoid creating issues with the plot, as I evidently did here.
7. I- In the story, My character goes to see Jack in 'Containment room 5'... Which is in a school for some reason. Only after I shot this does it become clear that perhaps this seems a bit ridiculous.
S- Since a number of shots show the place to be a school, then perhaps the story would fit better if we simply said that he was being held in an unlikely area. Not an established 'Containment' Facility. The key thing here is that plots can become fairly silly rather quickly if they arent looked at thoroughly.
8. I- The random child that walks though the scene, has no reason to be there. If it was a school scene, then surely there would be many more children to enforce the point, but there is but one.
S- Dont Record Random people walking around, in most cases the indivuduals will attempt to mess up the shot, but sometimes you capture unwanted pieces of information.
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Possible Concept for Upcoming Film
For my next project I have a particular concept that I am particularly excited about trying. Essentially the concept is based around a man being forced to have his body mechanically altered in order to work for the government.This is an alternative to life imprisonment, at the hands of someone who framed him for the murder of his family during a robbery that went awry. The police find him covered in blood and mistake his sense of grief as guilt. Eventually the man will escape his holdings and escape into society. The video will hopefully end with him walking down the street hooded, While the narrater of the story speaks over him with a speech that is currently being prepared.
This is going to be a real test of strength on my part. It will test my effects skills and my script writing abilities. I am currently in the process of purchasing a variety of props and items that should make the character appear more synthetic.
This is going to be a real test of strength on my part. It will test my effects skills and my script writing abilities. I am currently in the process of purchasing a variety of props and items that should make the character appear more synthetic.
Film Logo Creation
I am going to start creating a film logo to put at the start of each video to give a bit more of a personal touch, it should also help me practise my after effects skills. Because of this, By blog will occasionally showcase some videos of my testing with the software and any interesting effects that I will be trying to use in later videos
Camera Operation: A personal style
WARNING: BLOOD, VIOLENCE AND BAD LANGUAGE
During my time searching the web through a archive of prize winning projects and film festival shorts. I suddenly remembered one particularly interesting piece. During one particualr lesson this week, the concept of shot style and editing came up. I think that this is an incredible piece. The Facecam-esque style to it is only backed up by the fact that each scenario plays on the strength of what is seen directly as it can be experience better, with more immersion to the situation, e.g. Falling down an elevator shaft. The video itself is the official music video for the biting elbows song 'Bad Motherf****er'
Biting Elbows - 'Bad Motherfucker' Official Music Video from Ilya Naishuller on Vimeo.
During my time searching the web through a archive of prize winning projects and film festival shorts. I suddenly remembered one particularly interesting piece. During one particualr lesson this week, the concept of shot style and editing came up. I think that this is an incredible piece. The Facecam-esque style to it is only backed up by the fact that each scenario plays on the strength of what is seen directly as it can be experience better, with more immersion to the situation, e.g. Falling down an elevator shaft. The video itself is the official music video for the biting elbows song 'Bad Motherf****er'
Biting Elbows - 'Bad Motherfucker' Official Music Video from Ilya Naishuller on Vimeo.
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| The effect of vertigo can be achieved much nicer in this point of view. |
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| The Action is much more intense from this point of view |
Monday, 16 September 2013
CGI and the integration with story "ABE"
I was watching this piece earlier, It is a short sci-fi piece by Rob McLellan and while the CGI is insanely brilliant, I think that it shows how incredible of a story can be made by enhancing the situations atmosphere with CGI. While ABE himself is simply an AI unit, his character development is superb and personally I really find it rather emotional. I think of this very much as a perfect example of a story coming together with the special effects to enhance the product to an incredible degree. SIDE NOTE: This is a rather creepy piece.
Shots Project Link
Here is the completed and edited shots project.
Distance Shots Project 2013 from David Smith on Vimeo.
Distance Shots Project 2013 from David Smith on Vimeo.
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Shots Project Update
I will upload my distance shots projects in due time. it just requires rendering and maybe getting a touch up or two. The Video Itself is simply a shot by shot of the required types. I have refrained from trying to add in any additional storyline or effect because this may take more time and at this point while working on something that wont necessarily be marked it may not be worth the time risk. It would be worse to miss the deadline and potentially make a sub par piece anyway rather than keep it safe and give what I need. In the future I will add more things into my piece by utilising the additional time given to each piece.
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Induction Recording...
This Induction recording of mine was done last year... There are a serious number of problems with it.
Instead of saying what's good about it, I have instead decided to try to explain why this isn't a very good small piece of media.
Meida video from Induction Task from David Smith on Vimeo.
So. Lets Begin...
1. The title is misspelled due to a lack of checking the video properly before releasing it. This shows one important thing about the concept of filming. If you rush your efforts you will make mistakes, and they will appear in any area.
2. The Choice of using black and white was placed in here to both mask the appearance of any visual blemishes in the video and also to make the video more edgy, Or at least that's what I thought it would do. I was much more naive when this was made and I took the simplistic thought that Black and white equals an artistic piece. It doesn't. It needs to have a relevant point and strong tone with a good strong grasp of story to fill the space where the colour is removed.
3. The camera isn't set up correctly and as a result, you can see that the shutter is actually stuck almost 3/4 of the way open, this can be seen in the top left and bottom right most notably. As a result it damages how professional the peice looks. It looks downright amatuer. This shows that planning is key. Cameras need to be checked and configured properly before use.
4. The script is extremely cliche and dull. It really shows how little effort I put into it. The actual sound here is improv and it shows that its impossible to be good with all aspects of media. sometimes its about working to your strengths and building from there. For example, Someone who is extremely good with camera movement, but has issues with scripting the dialogue. Could choose to try a more silent approach where the shots illustrate the point.
Instead of saying what's good about it, I have instead decided to try to explain why this isn't a very good small piece of media.
Meida video from Induction Task from David Smith on Vimeo.
So. Lets Begin...
1. The title is misspelled due to a lack of checking the video properly before releasing it. This shows one important thing about the concept of filming. If you rush your efforts you will make mistakes, and they will appear in any area.
2. The Choice of using black and white was placed in here to both mask the appearance of any visual blemishes in the video and also to make the video more edgy, Or at least that's what I thought it would do. I was much more naive when this was made and I took the simplistic thought that Black and white equals an artistic piece. It doesn't. It needs to have a relevant point and strong tone with a good strong grasp of story to fill the space where the colour is removed.
3. The camera isn't set up correctly and as a result, you can see that the shutter is actually stuck almost 3/4 of the way open, this can be seen in the top left and bottom right most notably. As a result it damages how professional the peice looks. It looks downright amatuer. This shows that planning is key. Cameras need to be checked and configured properly before use.
4. The script is extremely cliche and dull. It really shows how little effort I put into it. The actual sound here is improv and it shows that its impossible to be good with all aspects of media. sometimes its about working to your strengths and building from there. For example, Someone who is extremely good with camera movement, but has issues with scripting the dialogue. Could choose to try a more silent approach where the shots illustrate the point.
Monday, 9 September 2013
New AS Media Blog For 2013
This blog will be dedicated to showing my progress in my AS Media Production. The blog itself should eventually contain a wide variety of media pieces that will properly illustrate my progression through this course.
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