Project 1: Storyboard

Focus:
-I am thinking of my project at Greenwood Conservation Area in Ajax Ontario, through a dog’s perspective (as seen in class photos of my girlfriend’s cute dog), and contrasting this with my personal emotions attached to the space (cold feet, loneliness, somewhat haunting, etc.)
-contrasting the idea of coldness with beauty in the space

Words to Describe Video:
-haunting
-abstract
-emotional
-repetitive
-use of layering photos/sounds
-fast/slow movements
-personal
-lonely
-cold
-beautiful
-textures
-form of escape

Sound Ideas:
-wind
-nature
-animals/silence
-water flowing
-heavy breathing
-camera noise when photo taken
-people talking in distance
-trees rustling
-sound of dog chain
-footsteps on different surfaces (dirt, gravel, snow, ice, etc.)

Greenwood Conservation Area

Exercise 1

For the first class (as a group) we were asked to perform some video camera exercises to get more familiar with the 3 different cameras available. This exercise was beneficial as it allowed me to handle and learn different functions about the different types of cameras. At first, the exercises seemed to be very simple to accomplish, but I found it particularly difficult to hold the camera in a steady position while keeping the camera in proper focus while moving. I found the manual settings on the camera difficult to use because I have not used an HD camera before. Also, digitizing the video was frustrating for the reason that I was not aware there were different firewall cables used for computers. I have not used firewall before so I was unaware. However, although this introductory exercise was new and our footage did not turn out well, it was very beneficial as it allowed me to play with the cameras and get a feel for the various functions, and how it actually works.

View Video Link: http://vimeo.com/8706047
View Video Link: http://vimeo.com/8706265

Time Based Communication II

The following posts will be for Time Based Communication II. Enjoy!

Take On Me

This video, “Take On Me” is a song by Norwegian pop band “a-ha” and was released in 1985. The video is very well executed and different from many other videos because it uses a pencil-sketch animation/live-action combination called rotoscoping. The use of rotoscoping in this video impressed me a lot because it’s interesting to see how animation/drawing techniques can be used in a final graphic design motion piece. I also found the contrast between hand sketches and live action was very effective and enhanced this video greatly. After carefully viewing this video, I noticed that there were shifts between rough and detailed sketches, and this was interesting because it helped create shifts in motion, and this was interesting to see that there was care taken in the drawings. Each sketch is unique and has a real human quality to it because each stroke is different and representative of the artist. The various strokes of the pencil give the viewer ideas of speed and can really be exaggerated using this medium. I felt using pencil for this video was very powerful and unique. As well, the romance narrative was simple to follow, and this worked well with the more complex visual treatment. lso, I found the sketches to be very dynamic and professional. I can’t imagine how long this would have taken to produce but it looks as though it was well worth the time. The use of various types of shots (close-ups, medium shots, longs shots, etc.) and camera shifts was carefully constructed and served enhance the story line and bring the viewer into different segments of the video. For example, the shift from the comic book characters shifting to the woman’s eyes helped lead the viewer through the narrative much easier.

“Take On Me” works very well with and without sound, however, I felt that I could focus on the visuals easier when the music was muted. When I watched the video without sound I could focus on the visual much more attentively and understand the story more clearly. Because the song is very catchy, I found the video was more comical when the sound was on, but I was not able to fully take in everything at once. I had to watch the video more than once. Non-the-less this video is very well done. I still would like to experiment with this technique of rotoscoping because it is very effective.

The video won six awards at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards—Best New Artist in a Video, Best Concept Video, Most Experimental Video, Best Direction, Best Special Effects, Viewer’s Choice

Project 3: Infestation of Mosquitos

This project is a personal expression of my hatred and paranoia for mosquitos. I started having this negative fixation for mosquitos since going to my girlfriend’s cottage for the past three years. I really enjoy going to this place, but I have never been bitten by so many mosquitos in my entire life. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of my girlfriends cottage are the hungry mosquitoes; not the lake, very delicious food, fishing, bonfires, boating, etc. Literally, I cannot stand the stupid insects. The idea of having a swarm of mosquitos land on my body for the purpose of drinking my blood totally disgusts me. I will continually move around as much as it takes to prevent them from biting me. I think the reason why I can’t stand mosquitos is because I associate them with diseases, and being very dirty.

My methodology for this project was to create an experimental motion piece that utilizes original photos and sound scape, and animated text. I wanted to capture the emotion and mindset I am in when I go to the cottage, and the experience I have when I’m placed into a mosquito infested environment. In my video, the viewer is lead through a series of negative experiences that I associate with my girlfriend’s cottage, the foremost one being my negative fixation towards mosquitos. I thought it was interesting to focus on my negativities about the cottage (mosquitos, the long drive, the very hot weather, the spiders and hangovers, etc.) because I tried to make the viewer question why I like going to this place. Because I present the material in such a negative way, it is somewhat difficult to understand why I continually return to the place, and I found this idea quite interesting.

Because my negativities outway the positive aspects about the cottage (being around family, laughing and talking, fishing, drinking, etc.). It is interesting to understand that something as small as a mosquito can have such a big impact on my overall experience about going to this place. It is somewhat frustrating because I actually enjoy going to my girlfriend’s cottage, but the mosquitos drive me insane.

I used many shots to create this video, some of which are abstract and others very literal, creating a nice contrast. The main photos I focussed on were of a beautiful sunset I photographed from the lake, as I was swatting mosquitos. These pictures were repeated were my timeline and I played with scale to create a sense of motion and frantic movements. This state of paranoia is evident in my video. The fast and repetitive mix of photos worked very well in capturing the ‘buggy’ feel for my video. I also use other photos to express the content, which I was trying to convey.

My video uses looping elements as shown by the constant repeating elements (sounds and pictures, text appearing in the same position, clear beginning and ending, pauses, overlapping of elements, etc.). The juxtaposition of the opening segment of driving to the cottage, to the disturbing experience with mosquitos and then driving back allows the viewer to understand this experience takes place at a certain point in time. Furthermore, the audio is a sound scape composed of many sounds. As the video progresses, the mosquito sounds and images intensify creating utter paranoia and distraught. The video ultimately becomes more intense as time goes on, and eventually leads back to the beginning segment of driving which is much calmer.

Project 3: Rough Cut

Here is my rough cut for my video. I am focussing on my negative fixation towards mosquitos. I still have to include the written text and work on the video some more, but you get the style of my video.

Link to Video: http://www.vimeo.com/8113778

Fixations

Computer
I rely on my computer on a daily basis: for school work, leisure activities, communicating with people (emails), etc. Computers have been with me 3/4 of my life, and I utilize them in various ways: store pictures, play games, and it promotes my own design work. I am fixated specifically with my Mac computer because they are designed, produced and work so well. It also. The computer is an obsessive interest to me because I use it so much, and my life would not be the same without it. It will basically form my career. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as “computers”. I am also fixated on new technology, advancements, and their versatile.

Time
Now that I have more responsibilities, I have to follow the time very closely. (being on time for classes, time-management etc.). Time is more of a negative fixation which although it keeps me on track and busy, the idea of time can be very stressful. Nonetheless, I am very interested about time and how it shapes my life (when to wake up in the morning, what to do with my time, etc.).

Home
My home is a place of familiarity, security, and where I have spent a better part of my life. My family lives here and it’s the place I always come back to. I am fixated with my home because I am very attached to it and it’s where I grew up. It has become a part of my history as a person, and I have many memories from this place. I have formed great relationships from being at this location and it is a very personal space which only I can really truly understand, but others can relate to.

Girlfriend
My girlfriend, Kayla has been a huge part of my life and I am very attached to her. Because we have been together for almost five years now, she has become someone who I speak to on a daily basis and confide information to. Being with her has allowed me to think ahead about my personal goals and achievements that I wish to embark on. Also, she is a person whom I am attached to because I feel comfortable in her presence.

Music
I am very passionate about music, and it has been a large part of me my entire life. I studied music for two years and I eventually got a tattoo showing my passion for it. Also, with great technology advancements, this has allowed me to listen to music on the go (ipods) and has only aided in my obsession.

Digital Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping: The technique was invented by Max Fleischer. Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame, for use in animated films. In the visual industry, the term rotoscoping refers to the technique of manually creating a matte for an element on a live-action plate so it may be composited over another background.

Example: rotoscoping was in the original three Star Wars films, where it was used to create the glowing light saber effect.

Title: After Effects Rotoscoping Tutorial
A very helpful video in explaining what rotoscoping is and how to actually go about doing it.

Title: The White Board, Stop Motion
This video is interesting because you can begin to understand some interesting things that can be done using rotoscoping. This type of animation takes extreme patience and a fine hand to draw these images. I was inspired by this video because it combines live footage where you can see the subjects in the video go behind the white board and they transform into cartoon characters. This video has personally given me inspiration to try to create this effect.

Title: Rotoscope, Rodney Mullen (Amazing Skateboarder)
This video is interesting because although the illustration style is fairly weak and simple, you can understand clearly what was happening in the original footage. The sound works quite nicely because it is synced up so well. It’s interesting what you can do by taking video footage and tracing over it frame-by-frame. It creates a very interesting result.

Light & Lighting Techniques

Summary of Take Home Reading

1.) QUALITIES & CHARACTERISITICS OF LIGHT (AND SHADOW)

Intensity: the ‘strength’ of a light. Good rule of thumb: the more intense the light, the brighter the object will appear. Intensity is also dependent on how reflective the object are. For example, black jeans appear brighter in sunshine than shade. Also, white objects appear brighter under light because they reflect more light.

Fig. 1: for most purposes physicists still think of light as an electromagnetic wave traveling at 186,282 miles per second! The different colors are just waves of different frequencies (most frequencies are invisible to our eyes).

Fig. 2: when light is shined onto a metal plate, its energy is transferred to electrons in the material, giving them enough velocity to fly off of the plate. This is called the photoelectric effect (Einstein).

“Fall-off”: how quickly a light decreases in intensity. Further away the light source from an object from a light source, the more gradual all-off.

The “throw”: how far light travels before falling off completely. The less intense a light, the sooner it falls-off completely. The photo above shows that the intensity of light is less in areas where light is not reaching as significantly (sides).

Hard vs. Soft Light: how gradually light turns into its shadow.

Hard Light: distinguishable , sharp, hard-edged line between the light and its shadow. Comes from specular, or small, point-like sources. Example: the sun on a clear day, casts sharp defined shadows. Hard light brings out the reflectivity.

Soft Light: shadow is less clear where the light stops and its shadow starts. Comes from large, or broad sources. Example: an overcast day, sun is diffused, soft source.

Colour: rgb light combined will make white light (made up of three additive colours). Our eyes accept a broad range of light sources. In contrast, the video camera is not as flexible and does not adjust colours unless we tell it to read white (white balance).

Kelvin Scale: system to measure the colour of light (mid-day is approximately 5600-6500degrees Kelvin, and 8000 degrees Kelvin is the sky is overcast).

Direction: where the light is coming from in relation to subject.

Contrast: measures the separation of tones in an image. (High-con: images have little to no mid-tones. Low-con: images are full of mid tones)
-Higher Contrast: greater separation between tones.
-Lower Contrast: lower separation between tones.

 

2.) LIGHTING STRATEGIES

Four Point Set-up (Positioning of light sources)
1.) Key Light
2.) Fill Light
3.) Back Light
4.) Background or set light(s)

The Key Light: main light in a setting.
The Fill Light: fills in the shadows casted by dominant ‘key’ light. Often softer, less intense than key light. Also referred to as bounced light.
The Background Light: used for walls, surfaces, and set pieces behind and all around the subject. Can create depth to a scene.
The Back Light: add three-dimensionality (depth) to a scene, distinguishes subject from background.
The Front Light: a light coming from directly in front of the subject (6 o’clock), and is shadowless and makes object appear flatter, texture-less.
Top-Light: a light shining down from directly above the subject, and casts shadows in the eyes of people.
Low-Angle Light: coming from below casting a shadow upwards. Makes faces seem peculiar.
The Back Light: a light coming from directly behind the subject. Subject rendered as a silhouette, no detail shown, outlines the shape of the subject. Adds three-dimensionality, distinguishing subjects from background. A back light can be brighter than a key light.
The Side Light: a light coming from either 3 o’clock or 9 o’clock. Renders subjects half-lit and half in shadow, texture is brought out in surfaces.
3/4 Front Light: a light coming from a direction half-way between a front light and a side light.

Her Morning Elegance: Oren Lavie

Title: Her Morning Elegance/Oren Lavie
First of all, this video is incredible. The perfectly executed stop motion coupled with the dream-like style music works extremely well. This video is particularly successful because it has an evident beginning, middle, and end. The video begins with establishing the main frame (focal point) which the viewer will see throughout the video, and then the camera cuts to closer details of the woman sleeping in her bed. When the music picks up, the stop motion really takes a form of its own, and brings the viewer through a series of events, all of which happen in the confines of the single mattress. I found it very empowering to see this take place because we can clearly understand what is taking place as the woman “walks” through an abstract space. Also, the video relates to the music because the lyrics symbolize what is taking place. For example, “she looks at the rain as it pours,” the lighting changes to symbolize the lyrics. Also, the use of a violin was interesting and related to what was happening in the music. Furthermore, creating movement by using ‘falling’ pillows was very dynamic. Lastly, the video has a clear ending as the camera cuts to the woman as she opens her eyes. I really enjoyed this video and allowed me to further understand the power and effectiveness of stop motion.

Interesting Facts:
-The video was shot all stills – roughly 3225 still photos for the entire video, using one camera, hanging from the ceiling for the main body of the movie.
-It took 4 weeks before shooting to create an animated computer generated storyboard for the video, with 3D dummies for the characters.
-It took only 2 days of shooting for the live actors on set to re-create the 3.5 minutes computer sequence, frame by frame.
-Each of the wonderfully talented people above have worked on the video for a fraction of their normal rates (except Oren who worked for his normal rate of zero).