Thursday 5 May 2016

Evaluation


I am happy with the end result of my moving image project, as it includes all of the skills I have learnt up to this point. The camera and lighting techniques section was especially useful, as I was filming in low-key lighting for my final video, and I otherwise would not know how to use lighting in the way that I did in my final project. The ISO section was also useful, as I had learnt that using a higher ISO would create more grainy footage. In my initial shoots for my final project I forgot to configure the ISO properly, but I later configured it so there was a higher aperture and an ISO of around 300 - 400.

Despite this, some shots later on in the film I feel are too dark, and it is difficult to tell what is happening. I was playing the main character in the film, and I wanted to keep my identity hidden throughout the entirety / most of the film.  I wanted to do this because I wanted to create some form of mystery throughout the film. I did this by never having a light source directly shone towards my face, or not having it in shot. A downside of this was that I would often blend in with the background, as I was mainly shrouded in shadow, as well as the background. This isn’t so much of a problem earlier in the film, but in the later shots the lighting was significantly worse. I could have fixed this by having the background well lit to contrast with myself, which was in shadow.

From my artist research I had learnt about using long-winded shots in order to build tension. This use of cinematography and editing builds tension. However, on reflection, I feel like I could have used this technique more, as I often didn’t leave the shot long enough on screen for tension to build, and I would usually cut to another angle. Upon watching it again I felt like the pace of editing did not suit the style of film I was aiming for – which was horror and suspense. I also think I could have designed shots to be more unsettling and uncomfortable. While I am very happy with the shots I managed to execute for the film, I feel as if the shots were not specific enough to the horror genre.

Overall, I am pleased with my final film and the project as a whole – though I could have made the cinematography apply more to the conventions of the horror genre, as well as improve the lighting to increase visibility of the shots.

Post-Production Techniques & Final Video


Post-Production Techniques:


While editing this video i had to make atleast one change to every shot. I most commomly used the 3-Way colour correction tall, to decrease the abundance off yellow lighting and help it to look more realistic. I also had to use the brightness and contrast tool for the later shots in the film, as i had filmed them in an environment that was too dark. The contrast helped to make the image look less flat when I added brightness. I also used the Warp Stabilizer tool to get rid of minor camera shakes in some shots.

Project Timeline



Three-Way Colour Corrector

 


Brightness & Contrast



Warp Stabilizer



Final Video


Tuesday 3 May 2016

Evaluation

My initial aim was to create interesting photographs using water in various ways, for example reflctions in puddles and water droplets on windows. I wanted to use it in ways that they could be seen naturally, rather than manipulating water too much myself. Despite this, in some cases i had to manipulate it as my work depended on the weather. For example, i had to spray water nto a window in order to get the water droplet effect, rather than waiting for it to rain.

I think my photographs were mostly successful in being interesting and relatively unique, although in some cases i feel that they could have been more interesting and unique. I also think i was successful in mostly using water that was placed naturally despite the one case in which i sprayed water.

If i were to reshoot my fnal images i would make sure that the images were more in focus, as there are some areas which were intended to be in focus but weren't, although this is often hard to notice, and in a way makes the photo look slighty more interesting.

One of the issues i ran into was the rain, as rain was required for one of the photos i needed, but it didn't and so i needed to place water manually. Another issue i ran into was the camera lens not focusing on close up objects, which was something needed for these shots. Due to this the photographs were not as close as i originaly wanted them to be.

My shots were inspired by my artist, Alex Saberi, and are similar to two of his bodies of work. Although i feel i have differentiated my work enough from his, for example, where he focused of citied and urban areas, mine were set in moe rural environments, and focussed on trees and puddles in mud, than buildings and pudles on pavement.

Overall, i think my project worked out well, and i accomplished what i set out to do for the most part. Though i feel some areas could have been done better had i managed my time better and also shot in a variety of locations. I could also have produced more visually interesting photographs had i incorporated better use of colour and experimented with different light sources. A variety of lenses could also have allowed me to get the amount of close-up detail i originally wanted.


Final Pieces





Tuesday 12 April 2016

Artist Research

For my final film i'd like to take inspiration from the work of Guillermo Del Toro such as The Devil's Backbone and Crimson Peak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhPayvENCX4

In the scene above, the devil's backbone uses a shot that lasts longer than all other shots in the scene in order to build tension before a jump scare. Close ups are also used during the shots inside the cupboard in order to make the situation feel more claustrophobic. One of the main themes of Del Toro's films, however, are his creature designs (Pans Labyrinth is a good example of this) - which is something i wll not be able to accomplish in my work, and so it will be based around only using shots to create tension & horror.

Due to this, Guillermo Del Toro may not be the best artists to look at, seeing as his creature and monser designs are so important in his films.

 Another director i looked at was James Wan, who has directed the Insidious films aswell as The Conjuring. These films also use shots which are long and build tension, which can bee seen in the clip below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOgC_YUyTYs

The camera tends to linger on something that is not in the foregound, gining the feeling that they're not safe where they are and the camera is hinting at what is putting them in danger. Rather than cange the shot it will zoom or pan. In this scene there are only 5 shots, the initial one lasting almost 50 seconds. The shots tend to decrease in length as the charcaters realise they may be in danger and the atmosphere becomes more intense.

 Unline Guillermo Del Toro, James Wan focuses more on the cinematography to create horror and tension, meaning he would be a better source of inspiration and reference for the film i have decided to make.

Planning for final project

- Horror.

- Slow panning / zooming shots.

- Long lasting shots to add suspense.

- Low key lighting.

- Electronic humming when near light source.

- Close up and long shots.

- Camera glitch effect.

My final film is to be focused on building atmosphere through the use of long shots and low key lighting. I plan to use low key and high contrast lighting, creating shadows. Characters will be absent for most of the film, and it will focus more so on the environment.

The film is to be more subtle, with the horror coming from the cinematography and lighting rather than monsters or gore. I have not yet decided whether sound will be an important part of the film, as i may make the film silent, or i could have sound be essential to the atmosphere.

I may also use a song as a backing track, making the film more akin to a music video, though this depends on the footage and how i feel it would be best edited. If i were to do this i would use a mostly ambient and slow paced song.

Post 3rd shoot:

-Closed eye

-Cooker flame lights

-Eye opens

-Leaving room

-Turns off flame + looks around

I am still unsue as to whether i will show any other being in the house or keep it
 in mystery. Showing something could break thetension i have built throughout the film.

Unsuccessful Shoots

While shooting my final film I had various issues. The first major issue i had was with the camera lens. Due to me wanting to use low key lighting, it meant i had to alter the cameras settings to accommodate for that environment. My first attempt filming resulted in the footage being too dark, and due to the aperture not being able to go any wider than it was, i had to increase the ISO. While this resulted in the right lighting, the footage was very grainy, with the whole film having an orange hue. This was using the Canon 600D's default lens, so i had to instead use another lens which had a high enough aperture that it could film in the environment.

The second lens i used was a 50mil, and while able to shoot in low key lighting, it's default zoom was too tight that i couldn't get the required shots. Due to me filming inside a house with relatively small rooms this made filming difficult. Another issue was its size. I didn't have access to a tripod at the time. and i was finding it difficult to execute steady shots hand held. These factors resulted in the footage being too zoomed in and also shaky.

Thursday 11 February 2016

Test Photos


These photographs are tests i produced when trying to capture water droplets on a window, though due to there not being enough water droplets i instead experimented with the reflections, and tried to create images tat combined the outside environment and the nside environment reflected in the window.









Artist Research - Alex Saberi

Alex Saberi's 'Rainy london Windows' consists of photographs taken through windows with the focus on the water droplets on the windw, and colourful cityscape in the background. They have highly saturated colours which are produced by lights in the background. One of his series of photographs is called London Reflected in the Rain, which features photographs of puddles which show reflections of other people walking and recongnisable buildings such as the London Eye and Big Ben. Another body of work she has is named London Windows, which consists of photographs combining the reflection in the window and also what is n the other side of the window, ceating an almost ghostly effect..

London reflected in the rain

image1

This photograph features various colours and looks very vibrant, despite appearing to be photograph at night. It gives the impression that London is always active, whatever the weather and time of day, due to the bike being featured, and the colours which make it seem full of life. the focus is also on the shadow, jiding the idently of the bike rider, giving a sense of mystery around the photograph, aswell as feeling welcoming due to the use of colour. This is a theme thoughout this body of work, as we never see a persons face, with often a distorted body though the reflection in the water. It almost feels like a portal into another world, in the sense that everything is turned upside down, and looks more colourful than what we usually see the world as.

Rainy London windows 

image4

This photograph follows the theme of rain and unidentified people which the previous photograph has. The main differece being that this is not  areflection, but rather taken throug a rainsoaked window. Rather than getting the impression of another world turned upside down, if gives a feeling of being trapped, looking out onot the world through a window. There is less use of colour in this body of work, and instead puts more focus on the macro details that are the rain droplets. We instead get the feeling f looking out at our world but behind a barrier, restricting us from seeing it the way it really is. Whereas 'London reflected in the rain' gives a sense of a more vibrant world, this body of work makes the locations seem less pleasant.

London Windows

image3 

 Unlike the previous bodies of work by Alex Saberi, this body of work does not focus on water or rain, but instead the reflection created by windows. The photographs cmbine the world on the other side o the window, and the reflection. This creates a ghostly effect to the photograoh, in the merging of the two worlds.

Thursday 28 January 2016

Brainstorm Of Ideas


Water doplets

Wetting photograph

Running ink

Drawing over water

Wet ripped paper

Water over drawing

Low shutter speed

 

Tuesday 26 January 2016

Mood Board

Photographs collected from the internet based on the type of photographs i'd like to create.


Friday 15 January 2016

Filters

These photographs were taken as part of a homework task, in which I had to use filters to distort or change the colour of the lens / photograph. Below are my four best photos along with the objects i used as filters.



Curved Plastic


Window


Bottle


Wine Bottle

Thursday 7 January 2016

Digital Experimentation

Tilt Shift



Montage





Experimental Title Page


Evaluation


 

My final piece for my documentary project is my video which includes a small portion of the photographs taken while on my trip to Birmingham. I am happy with most of the photographs that I took, though I only wanted to include a small amount in my video.

 

Overall I think the video turned out well. The intention for it was to help the viewer be immersed in the environment that I photographed, using sounds that are appropriate to that environment. I used a large amount of sound effects, some of which I recorded myself and some I used from various YouTube videos. This is one of the weak points of the video, as I would have preferred to record all of the sound effects myself, though I found it hard to get some specific sounds and so this is when I had to use other sources instead. Aside from this, I think the sound effects work very well, and do help immersion.

 

I am also happy with the photographs that I selected. I wanted the video to have 3 sections – city, market and outskirts. The city would show more build up areas and roads, while the market shows the busy streets during the German market and the outskirts showing the more run down areas filled with factories and litter. I feel that this was shown fairly well, although I could have included more photographs of the market, as there were very few, and for some of them it is hard to tell that they were taken during the market

 

I feel that the editing for the video was appropriate to the environment. Most of the video is fairly slow paced with each photo fading into the next, though for the photographs inside the shopping centre, I instead used cuts which were in time with the loud noises heard in the background audio. I think this is appropriate as in the shopping centre people were moving a lot faster, and so the pace was faster. Other than that, I think some of the timings for the photographs could be improved, as some were on longer than they should have been, and others were not on for long enough.

 

In conclusion, I am happy with my final piece and the unique way it was conveyed - via the use of audio. There are small issues with the timings such as some images being shows for too long or not long enough, although these are things that are quite difficult to notice unless you’ve watched it multiple times. I am also happy with the photographs that I took, in terms of the composition and lighting. My favourite of these photographs are the one taken on the ‘outskirts’ where it is a lot dirtier and run down. This is because I find this environment a lot more interesting, and so there is a lot more I can do with it.


Wednesday 6 January 2016

Final Outcomes






My main aim for this video was to give the viewer immersion into the photographs though ways that photographs can’t convey. I decided to use sound to accompany these photographs which would reflect the events portrayed in the photograph, as well as sounds that I heard while taking them. Most of the audio was recorded by myself, although for some areas where I needed more sound or more specific sounds I used some sound effects from YouTube instead. The audio reflects the subject matter of the photograph, and so where there are less people more ambient and natural sounds can be heard, though while still being set in a very built up location, cars can still be heard driving by.


The best way to view this video would be with headphones, as it will give more of a sense of the sound being around you - therefore increasing the immersion.

Short Story








Main Image











Action Shot












Establishing Shot











Close Up





Close Up