Unlike most students in Year 2 Visual Communication this was my first Communication Technology brief. Having moved from advertising I hadn’t experimented with much technology so far. My main interest has always been photography however at the start of this year I became intrigued by the video production process. This then became my main group for this brief. I hadn’t used video in a few years and therefore felt that I needed to renew my existing skills and built some new ones too.
I initially chose to go down a documentary route and collaborated with other students in my group to create a short film with a subject matter that we were all interested in. The IOU campaign was something that effected me as a student and this was important to my work as I had a strong interest in the project. I have learnt from this brief that when creating self-directed projects I must choose something I am very interested in as I will loose attention quickly. Unfortunately this project seemed initially to grab me however the technical aspects of it were not what I wanted to be experimenting in.
After feeling quite lost from my interest in the technical side of documentary film making becoming obsolete I decided to take on Christian’s idea of ‘How to make a cup of tea’. This was not one of my own ideas however I feel I created something that represented some of my interests in the editing process. I was able to learn filters used within Final Cut Pro and about frame rates, all of which will help me in future projects.
Much of what I learnt in this brief was not centered around the tutorials I attended but more interaction with computer technicians. For instance throughout this entire assignment I have received much help from Matt in the AV suite and have learnt Final Cut Pro, After Effects and filming techniques, which is much more than I leartnt in the Photoshop or Final Cut Express tutorials I attended.
Filming itself on this brief came back to me very fast as I have used DV and AV cameras before. However the most trouble I had was getting to grips with the software involved. From this I have learnt that a main factor in a brief where you will be literally throwing yourself into things you’ve never done before is to use time management effectively. This is something I have always struggled with, this brief proves that as my final piece wasn’t at the standard I would have wanted it. I feel I underestimated the lengthy processes when using advanced software like After Effects.
Within this brief I was able to play around with other areas of technology like the use of the different lenses available on still film cameras and very basic web design. The web design came as a out of college brief. I set myself to create a homepage for my blogs however when I realised how much I had learnt from it I though it appropriate to connect back to the Comm Tech brief.
Research within this brief was extremely helpful and as a person who has always disliked this aspect of a project I found that researching around self-directed briefs was much more interesting as I was obviously already involved in these ideas. I felt learning was almost sub-conscious as the briefs I set myself were centred around my interests already.
Within each of my briefs that I set myself I got something wrong and at times it could be quite frustrating, however earlier into the project I was able to go back and correct myself. Although as my time management skills were not nearly up to scratch the last week or so before the deadline I found myself making big mistakes that would involve much work to correct, work that I didn’t have enough time to do. Therefore unfortunately I am not at all happy with my final piece, the idea was changed a lot and was only filmed a week before the deadline, I’m glad that I waited long enough to get the idea and storyboard perfect as this meant that the filming went much smoother. However I had completely underestimated the time consuming editing process. Having not used After Effects before I would leave myself much more time for such an intricate program in the future. Despite all these disappointing experiences of slipping up and getting things wrong I have learnt not to make the same mistakes again, which I think was I fundamental learning curve in this brief for me.
I feel much more educated in the field I chose and am able to understand the processes of many things much better. This has been a very helpful brief in learning things. When I started this assignment I felt I would have things to put in my portfolio at the end, this unfortunately did not happen and I feel that the final pieces created in the Comm Tech brief are not up to the standards I wish them to be. However what I have gained from this is much more important that a final piece as I am able to, in my own time, bring my ideas to life through the medium of video and this, in my opinion, is a much valued talent. Overall with the disappointment of my final pieces I am happy that I am now competent enough to go back and do what I need to do to make them portfolio pieces.
FINAL BIORHEOLOGY:
My final piece isn't up to the level I wish it was and the main reason for this is due to my time management. I completely underestimated how time consuming masking was and for a 10 second clip the masking took me 4hours solid working.
Therefore I will keep working on this piece as I would like to put it in my portfolio when it is up to the right standard.
I attempted to cover up my defeat on the masking shot by using filters and effects on Final Cut. I don't feel that it looks very good and I would not say I was proud of it, however I am extremely proud of what I have learnt.
EDITING/MASKING/TIME:
The editong for this piece was unbelievably time consuming.
I learnt so much from it however the actual process was laborious. I uploaded the film into final cut and created a rough timeline. This was when I realised that one of the shots iI filming twice to mask I needn't have done that as his hand wasn't going into the TV, this was a total stupid moment and so I attempted to edit this however realising how long it was taking I decided with the impending deadline it would be more productive for the video to just cut the first shot.
This is a rought draft of what the first scene would have looked like. It was a big mistake whilst filming however turned out to be a good practise session for the hand in TV shot.
The masking for the shot was beyond difficult. I had to mask every frame and having a standard of around 24 FPS this was obviously a task I hadn't fully prepared myself for.
I initially had to cut around the TV with a pen tool, then place it in the scene i had filmed with out the TV, then cut around my subject everytime he crossed over the TV.
This whole process taught me things I had never learnt before on a quite advanced level, this was the first time in comtech I had learnt something I could never even get my head around doing before. Which was really fulfilling.
I learnt so much from it however the actual process was laborious. I uploaded the film into final cut and created a rough timeline. This was when I realised that one of the shots iI filming twice to mask I needn't have done that as his hand wasn't going into the TV, this was a total stupid moment and so I attempted to edit this however realising how long it was taking I decided with the impending deadline it would be more productive for the video to just cut the first shot.
This is a rought draft of what the first scene would have looked like. It was a big mistake whilst filming however turned out to be a good practise session for the hand in TV shot.
The masking for the shot was beyond difficult. I had to mask every frame and having a standard of around 24 FPS this was obviously a task I hadn't fully prepared myself for.
I initially had to cut around the TV with a pen tool, then place it in the scene i had filmed with out the TV, then cut around my subject everytime he crossed over the TV.
This whole process taught me things I had never learnt before on a quite advanced level, this was the first time in comtech I had learnt something I could never even get my head around doing before. Which was really fulfilling.
BUYING BRAINS AND FILMING:
As my storyboard indicates my subject pulls brains out of a TV and they turn out to be his.
So the day of filming I had to go to a butchers and buy pigs brains, and was able to get the pigs head and a bottle of blood for free...lucky me.
When it came to filming we decided it would be inappropriate and messy to do it in my living room, so I chose to film in my bathroom, for the practicality but also because I feel it connotates the idea of TV being waste, as it was sitting on the toilet.
I had to write myself as list as some of the shots I used were needed to be filmed twice because of the masking effect I was going to use with them.
The stars represent shots that I will need to film twice to mask them.
Filming was hard with the double shots as I had to take a TV in and out of the bathroom whilst keeping the camera on a tripod in the right place.
it was also messy.
But other than that (and the clear up) filming ran pretty smoothly.
I also created a short stopframe from the photographs my flatmate took that night.
So the day of filming I had to go to a butchers and buy pigs brains, and was able to get the pigs head and a bottle of blood for free...lucky me.
When it came to filming we decided it would be inappropriate and messy to do it in my living room, so I chose to film in my bathroom, for the practicality but also because I feel it connotates the idea of TV being waste, as it was sitting on the toilet.
I had to write myself as list as some of the shots I used were needed to be filmed twice because of the masking effect I was going to use with them.
The stars represent shots that I will need to film twice to mask them.
Filming was hard with the double shots as I had to take a TV in and out of the bathroom whilst keeping the camera on a tripod in the right place.
it was also messy.
But other than that (and the clear up) filming ran pretty smoothly.
I also created a short stopframe from the photographs my flatmate took that night.
IOU CAMPAIGN FINAL:
Unfortunatly the IOU documentary has taken a back seat to my other projects. We've had many problems with this with loosing footage on the computer (which has taught me to always save on my own external hard drive). So for the end of this project I took all the footage we had left and cut together my own version of the documentary which I'm not happy with as it was quickly done in the midst of planning other projects and I was not focused on it. However this was a really appropriate project allowing me to get familiar with the equipment and software again and learn a few new things. This helped a lot in my future projects as I was able to make mistakes in the IOU documentary and learn from them for the rest of the brief and also for other work I choose to do in video these next couple of years.
THE MATRIX EFFECT:
Watch for the part Neo pulls his hand out of the mirror (0:22).
A similar effect to what I want to create.
A similar effect to what I want to create.
PROBLEMS WITH MY IDEA:
After showing Matt my storyboard it seems I have taken on a little too much in the time constraints that I have. I've decided to cut it down, in-keeping with the media/society theme I have kept the hand in TV however removed the first part. The video now has a slightly different message but one that is still appropriate for my concept.
MARK COLLETT INTERVIEW:
As the comtech brief comes to a close I realise I never really followed through my Mark Collett BNP interview, which in my opinion had so much potential. However after speaking to Christian about the concept he advised me to do more research, then my mind drifted into effects and away from documentary. I will keep researching and pursuing this idea and hope to have it on my blog in the next month or so.
But for now Marky, you'll have to wait.
But for now Marky, you'll have to wait.
HOMEPAGE FOR MY BLOG:
With all the separate lessons we have been taking part in and all the blogs we have been asked to create for each of these subjects, including the work that I do outside of college I decided to set up a homepage for all of my blogs with links to each of these separate blogs therefore you are able to access one page and through that all of my degree work.
I considered different blog hosting sites to do it on such as wordpress and tumblr however having learnt blogging on blogspot and it was one of the most simple i decided to use that site. I then had to decided how to set out my blog page. I chose to have a main image and links underneath this, these links are put into an untitled post as to set them out on the page neatly.
The heading image I used:
I considered different blog hosting sites to do it on such as wordpress and tumblr however having learnt blogging on blogspot and it was one of the most simple i decided to use that site. I then had to decided how to set out my blog page. I chose to have a main image and links underneath this, these links are put into an untitled post as to set them out on the page neatly.
The heading image I used:
By having the image without a blogger border meant that the whole page flowed much better.
I then went online to look up html that would allow me to hide the blogger header and change the page icon from a blogger one to my own image.
And finally on all my blogs that were linked I placed a widget box into which I inserted html to create a link back to the initial homepage, which you can see on this blog in the top right corner just after my heading image.
A few years ago I learnt quite a lot of html through using myspace and I think it's important how you present your work so I used my html knowledge and just adapted it to blogger and created my own homepage.
I then went online to look up html that would allow me to hide the blogger header and change the page icon from a blogger one to my own image.
And finally on all my blogs that were linked I placed a widget box into which I inserted html to create a link back to the initial homepage, which you can see on this blog in the top right corner just after my heading image.
A few years ago I learnt quite a lot of html through using myspace and I think it's important how you present your work so I used my html knowledge and just adapted it to blogger and created my own homepage.
THE BECKLIN CENTER:
I spoke to a volunteer organizer for The Becklin Center, a psychiatric hospital in Leeds about volunteering for the send an receive brief, I will be sent an application form ASAP.
I think this choice of people and places to work with is important to me, mental health patients are constantly tabooed by our society, "lets put them in a home and forget about them", people don't know what's going on right on their doorstep, the soldiers in Afghanistan fighting for our country is blasted through the media in your face everyday, and I do support them, but I think maybe sometimes there is suffering right here that we just sweep under the carpet. I want to try and understand the patients experience and perception of the world, and I want to care.
General view of the island Neveranger, 1911 by Adolf Wölfli a mental health patient who suffered from psychosis and an 'Outsider Artist'
I think this choice of people and places to work with is important to me, mental health patients are constantly tabooed by our society, "lets put them in a home and forget about them", people don't know what's going on right on their doorstep, the soldiers in Afghanistan fighting for our country is blasted through the media in your face everyday, and I do support them, but I think maybe sometimes there is suffering right here that we just sweep under the carpet. I want to try and understand the patients experience and perception of the world, and I want to care.
General view of the island Neveranger, 1911 by Adolf Wölfli a mental health patient who suffered from psychosis and an 'Outsider Artist'
LETS TAKE IT FURTHER:
I'm going to make a short film.
A very short film.
And I'm going to go as far as I can with effects in the time that I have.
I want to create something around the media and it's influence on society.
I'm going to attempt to create a scene in which a hand goes through a TV screen.
I've spoken to Matt in the AV suite about this, and there are a couple of ways I can do this, using a green screen, or, post production masking.
Now to the drawing board...
A very short film.
And I'm going to go as far as I can with effects in the time that I have.
I want to create something around the media and it's influence on society.
I'm going to attempt to create a scene in which a hand goes through a TV screen.
I've spoken to Matt in the AV suite about this, and there are a couple of ways I can do this, using a green screen, or, post production masking.
Now to the drawing board...
PHOTOSHOP FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS:
I went to this tutorial thinking I would know it all and thinking that it was possibly going to bve a waste of time. However having mainly only ever taught myself photoshop, yet being able to be quite literate, I learnt some really useful things, so I'm very glad I went.
The liquify tool:
And combining images:
The liquify tool:
And combining images:
NOTTINGHAM EDL PROTEST:
Yesterday I went to Nottingham to take photographs of the EDL protest. This was not only something I felt strongly about, as I disagree with the EDL's ideologies. But this was also an opportunity to get some really interesting photos. I would like to do my visual language project around protests and the collections of people and their different beliefs.
VISUAL LANGUAGE INTRO:
I feel there's a lot I can do with this brief. The collections theme is so wide.
Initial ideas: PEOPLE
You can do so much around the subject of people...they are split off into so many different collections.
PEOPLE --- POLITICAL VIEWS.
Initial ideas: PEOPLE
You can do so much around the subject of people...they are split off into so many different collections.
PEOPLE --- POLITICAL VIEWS.
A CUP OF TEA: FINAL
Finally uploaded to my blog.
This project taught me a lot of things. I know I was able to do basic editing, just cutting things together because of taking part in the Final Cut workshop. However cutting shots from different angles together was something I'd never done before on Final Cut, this turned out to be a relatively easy process once I leant how to zoom into the timeline and edit it frame by frame, so I was able to get the cuts perfect. Another thing I learnt about was all the effects that were put on the video, I learnt where to find them, what they did and how to use them for appropriate impact. And finally I learnt about exporting, specifically how to do it in different frame rates. This was a good project to set myself at this point as I had played around with Final Cut Pro but now I was able to familiarise myself with it completely as well as learning new effects and tricks that will become handy in the future.
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