Illusions - Animatics

This is my experimental video, in the pre production stages. These images were taken from my storyboard, then put into movie maker to use as my animatics.

Project Evaluation

I started my Experimental video just over 8 weeks ago and exhibited my work to the public on December 2nd.

At the beginning of the 8 weeks, it was all about the preparation and the paperwork that I needed to fill out to be able to begin filming. I had never done this part of the work before so it was all new to me, but got the hang of it eventually. First I had to come up with a concept for my video, and then I could work from that and begin to have a final idea. Once I had decided to work on the concept of dreams, I had a concrete idea which meant I could begin the paperwork. I started with the storyboard for my work, which didn't take as long as I thought it would.
Once that was done I had to write up the health and safety sheets for when I would be filming, also this did not take too long so I was able to start my filming as soon as college started after half term.

When we returned I began filming on Tuesday, November 3rd at a house. This filming process took between 90mins to 2 hours. This was due to distractions from those not in my filming. Though once I had filmed the shots I needed, I was happy with the results as they looked quite similar to how I had imagined them and how they were written down.
Next I had to film in my next space which was in Crawley towns, memorial Gardens.
This was filmed on Wednesday, November 11th during the day. The only major issue that day was the weather. It kept raining throughout the day, so I knew when it stopped I only had a few takes to shoot my scenes, in the end I managed about 5 takes in 20mins and got what I needed for my video.

The next part of my project was the editing. It was all going to be done on the Macs and I had never used one before, but once I had a lesson looking at the applications, I was confident enough to begin editing my work. I didn't think this would take me 2 weeks, however I needed every lesson in those 2 weeks to edit my work. Each lesson I was either editing my clips or testing out different audio clips to add into my video.
At the end of those 2 weeks I had edited all my work; added transitions, sounds and the final credits.

The last part of my project was to exhibit my work in front of the general public, which included, friends, family and strangers. I chose the college restaurant to show my work in, and I did that on December 2nd at 7pm with 2 other Media students. I gave each person a questionnaire to fill out after they watched my experimental video.
The only issue with the exhibition was that we had to ask security if we could use the college late at night, and we also had to talk to those in admin, so we could use the car park for our quests, free of charge. We managed to get the all clear with security and admin. The restaurant manager agreed to let us use the restuarant as long as we were not going to be serving food and drinks, as well as moving around the room too much.

The concept of my experimental video is about dreams and how real they can seem, and even though you can't remember much when you wake up, it somehow feels very familiar.

The feedback I got was positive, and the criticism was very constructive.
Many people had said the continuity in the house was very good, so it connected the video well, I also found that the majority liked the audio and thought it fitted well.
Many of the people liked the video clips where I had the 2 people run through the trees with the country music playing, however some did not like how the character went from being in the house to being in the gardens. Though I got positive feedback about the way I edited the clips together.
The country sound was what the public enjoyed about the audio in my video, however not all of them enjoyed the laser sound, which I used to get my character to go looking around the house.
The audio was my favourite part of the experimental video, because it was strange enough that I thought it worked well with the concept of my video.

Overall I found the paperwork the most difficult as I had never had to do any pre production work since I started Media 3 years ago. I also found the experimental video idea, hard to come up with, but I decided to write up a mind map to help me with ideas. Once that was done the plan just came to me, and I had a solid concept to work with. I feel I achieved quite a bit in this project, as I learnt new skills through the editing process along with learning how to plan out a video through pre production. I learnt how to use different applications on the Macs, and have managed to come to terms with what I am able to do and what I need to learn a bit more on.

A Copy of my Questionnaire

Illusions
Rebecca Fisher

This questionnaire is about the Experimental video “Illusions”. Please answer the questions as honestly as possible, as these will be used in my evaluation.

1 – Did you enjoy this video? Why?


2 – From watching this video, what do you think the concept (story) was about?


3 – Which elements of this video most caught your eye?


4 – What did you think of the audio/sound effects used? Did they work well with what was happening in the shot?

5 – Which parts of this video did you not enjoy?


6 – Do you think anything could have been improved?


7 – Did you like the way I edited the shots together?


8 – Which scenes were you favourite?


9 – What do you think about the settings for my video? i.e. - house and memorial gardens?


Any additional comments?

Exhibition/Installation Plan

I have decided to exhibit my work in the college restaurant, with 2 other students. I thought this was a way of connecting my video to the exhibition space. My video is about how dreams are so vivid and real. But also how completely random and different they can be. So what could be more different than showing a video in a restaurant. To me, it just doesn't happen everyday.

We have each invited our friends and family. As they enter they will be handed a questionnaire to fill out at the end of each video. This will help us with our evaluations and it will also be great to see what our friends and family think of our work and see what can be improved when we have our next projects.

Our videos will be shown on December 2nd at 7pm. We will have introductions to the evenings events, along with a quick brief on what our videos are about and who inspired our work.

The room will be dark, I hope, which will help the audience understand it's about dreaming, as the darkness you can often associate with sleeping.

Post - Production Diary

Day 5

I didn't have to do much today, except add in a title and credits to my video.

This took around 10 - 15 mins. The main trouble was finding a name for my experimental video, after looking up different word associated with dreams, I found "Illusions" and thought it fitted in perfectly with my video.

Once this was all added, I had to export it onto a DVD which would then be used on the night I was going to exhibit my work.

Post - Production Diary

Day 4

I had trouble finding my footage at the beginning of class, so that took 30mins out of my editing time. However I managed to find the video in time to add in my sounds.

This didn't take long, as I had to just import these sounds, then add them to the right part of my video.

Though before I did this, I had to remove the noise that was on the footage already. I didn't know how to do this, but after it had been explained, it was simple.

I deleted those sounds and added my own in. I played it a few times to myself then to a few classmates who thought it looked quite good, and said the audio went very well.

Post - Production Diary

Day 3

Today I was looking at which transitions would look good with my clips. I had a few straight forward fade to black choices, however some clips I thought would look good with a more obvious transition that just a quick fade or cut.

Each clip and transition choice didn't take too long, though today I decided I was going to try and find sounds to add into my video.

I had the "benny hill, theme tune" in mind, however I was unable to use that as it would be classed as copyrighting. So I looked for a sound that was pretty close to that theme. I managed to find one that was already edited and cut together, which sounded very good with the video, but also saved me some extra time.

With that being found, I just needed a banging sound to add in, however I thought it was a bit bland and boring, so I thought I would make a different sound. I did this by using Garageband.
The sound is quite weird, but does actually fit in with my video. It's almost like a laser sound you would find in a sci-fi programme or movie.

Post - Production Diary

Day 2

Today I organised my clips in Imovie HD and put them in a right order. I also edited my clips to choose which ones I was going to use in my final piece and then edit out the parts which were not needed or I was unable to use due to lighting, noise or shadows.

One of my clips had some sound, however it was echoed and didn't sound quite right, so I would need to look for a different noise, or create my own sound.

Each of my clips had been edited and I had put them into the slideshow which would create the Experimental video.

I decided that next lesson I need to look at what sounds I would be using.

Post - Production Diary

Day 1

Today I imported my footage from the camera to the Mac computers. I had never used a Mac before and was trying to get used to what certain applications did and how I would be able to edit my work.

So once my footage had been imported, I uploaded it into Imovie HD and was testing out different effects, transitions and speed.

As I was getting used to the applications I was unable to do much editing work today, however I had an idea of what I needed to do the next time, to start the editing process to get my final piece.

Production Diary

Day 2 - Wednesday, November 11th.

Today I filmed in the Memorial Gardens, next to town, with 2 actors today. I had a female and a male in my scenes.

I chose this space as the trees made it possible to give the effect I had wanted to put across, to the audience.

The same issues occured today as they did at the house last week. Obviously I had members of the public walking around, making noise, distracting those in the scenes and causing shadows on the floor, which I had not wanted. However the sound would be edited out so that would be ok, and I just had to film a few extra times to make sure no shadows or reflections were not caught by the camera.

If I could of changed one thing, it would be the lighting, however as it was outside I was unable to work around that, so the filming is quite dark.

Production Diary

Day 1 - Tuesday, November 3rd.

Today I filmed at a friends house in Horsham. I had the help of another student, who was the actress in my filming today.

The issues I came across was the lighting and the space for where I would place the tripod. I managed to get the right angles when filming, so my only other issue was the lighting, as I had taken no lights with me, and it was starting to get dark out. However my friend has a bedside lamp, which acted as a spotlight almost.

The other issue was the people in the house, who thought to mess around whilst I was filming, so those in my shots would start laughing, or would be distracted. After a few shots we were able to capture each scene, with about 4 or 5 stops between.

The only other issue was I was unable to get the final shot at the door correct, as the hallway was not long enough, however I will edit this shot once I have all my footage, to make this work.

Review - Muto

Muto was created by Blu in May 2008. It's heavily crafted, based on a series of wall images around the world, created by stop frame animation.
The concept behind this experimental video is unusual and quite hard to figure out in my opinion. From this video, you can get different ideas from watching it, I had to watch Muto a few times before I had a proper understanding of what the story was.

I thought it was something about a life cycle as the artist tends to draw the images being eaten, or being reborn. The idea of life ending, but it carries on or the idea of rebirth and what can become of it.

The craft behind it took quite sometime; having to create a design then change it slightly to make the images move smoothly together to complete a craft driven piece of art/video.

Chapter 2 - The use of Technology, Techniques and Styles.

If you were to compare technology from now to technology in the mid 50's you would notice that it has come a long way. From movies being filmed in black and white, as that was the only way possible, to directors editing their filming for it to be black and white, as they have the ability to do that now.

If you think about John Smith's "Girl Chewing Gum" it was filmed almost 30 years ago with less technology than today. It was a simple camera zooming in and out with the public walking past, and a voice over which was added a few weeks after filming had taken place. Now think about Andy Huang's "Doll Face" which was created in the last 5 years, it is edited completely on a computer, using high quality technology.

Each year technology for films have become more improved and updated, which helps create the effects of what we as the audience, see on the screen. Not only is it the camera equipment, it's the editing programs that have been invented, the types of back screens, the equipment used for the cameras, the lighting, it has all improved over the past 10 - 15 years and it's not stopping anytime soon. With new technology being improved and created it will only add to the best of the videos that are yet to be made.

If you were to watch a film now, with only 1 camera angle, no edits, no transitions and no effects, you would be disappointed majorly. But with each of these being used, it just adds to our amazement as an audience and a producer how technology through the years have made a huge impact on what we see on the big screen.

Chapter 3 - Narrative and Non Narrative

Doll Face has a concept of media and perfection behind it, and the video shows that easily and people understand this by the way the video has an narrative. The film starts out with the mechanical girl appearing from the box and staring into a television, wanting to look like who is on the screen. This gives the video its beginning and middle, with a complete narrative understanding. Coming to the end the mechanical girl goes to the extremes and causes herself to destruct. This video has a structured narrative, with a beginning, middle and an end.
This helps the audience understand what this video is apart, and becomes clear of its concept.

Whereas a video such as Koyaanisqatsi it doesn't have a structured narrative. You understand the concept about destruction, however the video shows way of a beginning a middle or an end. Just as Muto doesn't have a storyline, it's just alot of stop frame animation with a highly crafted idea behind it.

Though with some films; short or long, you don't always need a narrative to understand what is happening. It can be quite obvious or our minds are just able to pick up pieces and place them together, without the film telling us outright. Experimental videos test the ideas of narrative and non narrative videos as it gets the audience to make their own interpretations of what is going on.

Chapter 6 - Audience Interpretation

Why do we all have different opinions towards these pieces of art? Is it important to have the same opinions? Does it matter if we feel different about the art work?

Each individual has a different view on a piece of art. To me a piece could represent life or past memories as a personal opinion. Whereas to another teenage girl, the art could remind her of a different memory compared to mine, or not even feel a connection.

I think each person has a different feel when it comes to art, some people have no interest so if they were to enter an art gallery they are more likely to take less notice, than to someone who has a love of art.

Certain videos can cause different reactions aswell such as Muto or Gisele Kerozene. Many people looked at Muto and thought it was confusing and had no concept at all, however if you look carefully it's all about rebirth and life cycles, so different understandings can have different views.

Review - Eulogy For Things Left Unsaid

Eulogy for things left unsaid is the most recent video I have seen, from 2008 and was directed by Rob Chiu.

This video is made up of video sequences and photographs. It's concept is the idea of loss and sadness, and how these make us who we are today. It's how things are sometimes never said, but should have been mentioned to someone, or some people.

It also shows us how emotions and memories guide us to where we belong, and how as a child these are what will help us grow and become the adults we are destined to be. It seems this short film is about the journeys we all take as individuals, the things we are left with at the end and how we sometimes regret not taking certain chances.

Review - Gisele Kerozene

Gisele Kerozene is an experimental video created by Jan Kounen in 1989.

This video is about a group of witches who are seen to be worshipping an object that seems important to them. Another witch on a broomstick, steals the object so they fly after him to retrieve what is theirs. During that time one of them is badly injured as well as members of the public. In the end, the witch who stole the object gives it back to the other 3 witches.
The video doesn't have much of a concept other than don't steal, you may get hurt.

Though this video is heavily crafted, due to the time and work that was put into this piece. Jan Kounen's experimental vision of stop frame animation has made this piece very fun and enjoyable.

The way the witches were able to fly was to jump mid-air and take a photograph and connect them through speeding up the time, to create the stop frame animation video.

Chapter 1 - Past and Current Artists and Their Work.

John Smith and Andy Huang both send out the same message through a piece of their own art; "Girl Chewing Gum" (1976) and "Doll Face" (1998). The message is about the Media's influence and how it can control a person, or a whole group of people. Doll face's main media focus is how we let the media control our looks and how we show ourselves to the world, whereas Girl Chewing Gum is how we are tricked into believing the nonsense of what the media tell us, from magazines to television. Each have an effective meaning about how to explain how the media is warping the future with what they are telling us. Though both of these have the same concept during the production, the crafts are very different. Girl Chewing Gum is quite simplistic, being that John Smith filmed a London Street, with a voice over. Whereas Doll Face was highly crafted and technical with the way the video was created, and what was shown in the video.

Godfrey Reggio and Rob Chiu have two very different videos, however they both send out very personal messages to individuals and/or groups. Reggio's video is "Koyannisqatsi" (1982) which is about the chaos and control of the world. Whereas Chiu's "Eulogy for things left unsaid" is about the emotions posed by the individuals. Each of these have powerful meanings of life.

Review - Girl Chewing Gum

Girl chewing gum is a short video of about 12 minutes, which is directed by John Smith, this piece was created in 1976, on a busy London street. This video is about the influence of media in society during the 70's, which is still the same in modern society.

In this short piece a voice-over is directing what is going to happen, within seconds of the voice making the statement a person or car would pass by exactly how we had just been told it would.
The concept in this experimental video, is very demanding, which gives a sense of direction and order of control.
During the beginning of this piece, we automatically think the voice is someone directiong the scene, almost like a narrator for this film, as they have the obvious knowledge of what is happening, or going to happen next in the scene.

However it becomes evident that the scene is not being directed by this voice, but vice versa. The Street was almost directing the voice.
This London Street had been previously filmed from afar and once the footage had been stored, the "directing" voice was added on top of the video.

By doing this John Smith is able to manipulate the audience into thinking the voice is giving order, or that these events were being predicted. Does this mean everything on television is trying to manipulate us, or is it just how we; the audience, interpret what is being told through the media.

Though in a way, it's not all of John Smith's work which has made us believe what was shown. The audience could have taken another understanding which would have been the truth.
With that being said, is it easier to believe what the media tell us, rather than question society?

My view on this video is what we understand about media and how it's not how or what they tell us, but what we make of what they tell us.

Chapter 4 - Table and Four Chairs

Table and Four Chairs - By Robert Therrien

As you enter the Tate Modern Art Gallery and go up the first flight of stairs; the first room you enter is quite large, but as you walk in, you're overcome with a "wow" feeling. As you walk in, you are able to feel the room has an airy feeling, though the room makes you feel automatically cold and chilly.

The art piece towers above your head, though the art piece may be quite large, it does not make the room seem small. You would think that such a large table, surrounded by 4 large chairs would fill a room, however it doesn't make the room seem any smaller than if it were an average table, in an average sized dining room. The only thing that seems small in the room is the people; you feel as if you're the odd object. The art makes you as a viewer feel small and inferior.

The room itself is bright, from the white walls and bright lighting. This is another thing that makes you focus your sights on how the large art does not stand out, with the brightness off the walls, and the darkness of the arts material; it makes you think the art is meant to be there.

However if this piece of art were to be placed in the middle of a field, I don't think you would have the same response, as you would, with it being in an art gallery.
In the gallery it's a work of art, something that matters to people. If it were placed in a field, it would be more of a climbing apparatus, for children to play upon, than something to respect and appreciate.

Chapter 5 - Experimental Video

My Experimental Video

The first ideas for my experimental video were based on emotions and effects they have on everyone. The main idea came from teenagers; their friends, families, school, peer pressure and relationships.

I was going to base my video on a Dear Diary entry and have a young girl sitting by a tree writing a diary; however I would have a voice over, with the girl speaking out the words, rather than them being read out loud.
However I found that this didn’t have much of a concept behind it and started thinking over new ideas.

The next idea I thought about was kind of weird as it didn’t make sense which made me think about dreams and nightmares. How they rarely make sense and even when they do something out of the ordinary tends to happen.

That’s when I came up with the idea of how nightmares and dreams are supposedly made to reflect on what’s happening in your mind. Though your mind ends up playing tricks on you, as you can’t control your mind when you’re sleeping, so my idea was to show how nightmares and dreams can seem so real.

The video was to start of with a teenage girl sat on her bed reading a book when she hears a noise, sort of like a bang but not quite loud. She turns away from the book, but just thinks it’s her imagination. But when she keeps hearing the noises she sets the book aside and walks downstairs, but slowly, as to not disturb what’s making the noise. As she steps onto the bottom step she can’t see anyone around, but hears the noise out the front of her door. That’s when she opens the door; this is when a bright white light takes focus on the screen for a moment.

As the light disappears the girl is in a fielded area with trees all around. For that moment she seems dazed and wonders what has happened, but at that moment she notices a guy near her, by another tree. As she begins to hide from him, she starts appearing from different trees. As she goes behind one, she appears from another. As does the guy, who begins following her, this is when I will have the theme track playing. When they both end up behind the exact same tree they lean around the front, so they have their faces parallel to one another and scream!
At that moment the bright white light appears and the girl wakes up in her bed quite shocked, shaking this feeling off thinking it was a dream, she picks up her book, only to notice a leaf on top. The last image shown will be zoomed on the leaf sat on the book.

Review - Koyaanisqatsi

Koyannisqatsi was created in 1982 by Ron Fricke, Michael Hoenig, Godfrey Reggio and Alton Walpole, with Director and Producing also by Godfrey Reggio.

It's name comes from Hopi Indian language and means "Life out of balance".

The video shows destruction and chaos throughout the world, by showing a series of clips from chaotic streets, to rubbish filled roads, to busy new yorkers. It gives off the impression that the creators of this film, are trying to send the audience a message, that if the world doesn't help one another out now, then the future will become more crowded and damaged.

The name of the film is almost exactly what you think of, when you are watching Koyaanisqatsi; Life out of balance. The way in which life is making no sense and has confusing connotations.

The audio in this film is made up of non-digetic sounds mostly, with music composed by Phillip Glass.

Questions posed by this film is why? Why is this 86mins of footage so important to us? Why does this all look familiar?

The editing in this film is made up of photography, by using both slow motion photography and time lapse photography.

The slow motion photography is used to get the audience to really take note of what is happening in that clip. It's where the filming or photography is grouped and the timing is slowed down, so the clip itself is stretched out in time, and has more of an affect on the audience. With the clip being slowed down, the audience are able to understand the effects of what is being shown to them.

Review - Doll Face

Doll Face is an Experimental video produced by Andy Huang. This short film is animation based using technology.
The ending of this short video really made an impression on me; the face smashing against the floor and breaking into pieces. It shows how some people will go so far for perfection, that they could potentially injuring themselves so far as to causing death.

In the beginning the mechanical girl is plain and grey, showing no facial expression. This is when the television is switched on and she tries to copy what is being shown on it. This is when you get the first sense that the media (the TV) is making her want to change her appearance. The mechanical body could also be interpreted as the media itself; how she has no body and the clogs and wheels are controlling her.

When the television is then switched on and sees the image, that's when you see how the girl wants to look like the person on the screen. As she puts the make up on she smiles, but for only as second. When the TV pulls backwards, a more human face is shown, with a whole new look, however the mechanical girl swaps her smile for a sad look and again changes her appearance to match the one on the screen. You can see from this that she is not happy herself, but will change her looks anyways.

As the TV pulls away again, the girl pushes herself to see the screen again, until the box she is in locks the wheels and she can not pull herself closer. At this point, she is forcing herself to move when sparks begin to fly from the metal and locks her tighter. With one last push she ends up pulling apart from the box, causing her face to crash down onto the floor; her face is smashed with parts no longer attached to her.

The last image is the TV screen playing a video which is the mechanical girl lying on the floor; when the TV switches of, you can see a reflection of the box in which the girl was primarily attached to. The box is empty, which could be interpreted to mean that if you try too hard for perfection nothing will be left!

How far will someone go for perfection? This video shows exactly how far! To death of themselves is how far they would go to make their look immaculate and perfect. The media is a huge contribution to this happening. Allowing teenagers to have surgery, magazines branding people overweight, underweight and even commenting on how celebrities look awful with no make-up on. With all this being advertised to young girls, they are more likely to keep up to date with fashion in case they get teased, wear too much make-up so they don't look different to their friends and even go to the extreme of surgery so they can change their personal features!