Evaluation for my Final product.

After all the hard work of staying up all night waiting for the fill to render and export, and the awful time filming in the wind and rain, fighting with an umbrella, and trying not to get the equipment wet, AND looking like a weird person crouching and crawling the streets by my home, Its FINALLY DONE.
Overall, I've definitely enjoyed creating this, even though there have been a lot of set backs with quality and weather and the lack of skills i have within editing and technology, which seems to hate me recently.

The presentation however, to my relief was alight, I'm not a huge fan of speaking publicly, even though it was in front of two people, I tend to get distracted by well nothing, and lose were i am. However, I went in with no nerves whatsoever. In fact I think I did talk an awful a lot.
One thing I got form the feedback of the presentation though is that I need to start being to negatively critical about my work, as the majority of the points on my Prezi and speech were amount what went wrong, and what i didn't like about it, and what i could have done differently.

Which is actually quite a shame as I do in fact love what i have produced. I am a bit of a perfectionist, and I have possibily too many ideas, and that could probably be my downfall when it comes to projects like this.

My Prezi for example, I do spend a lot of time with presentation, and how it looks, as If i have that right, I feel like I can relax and focus more on what I'm talking about.

Here's my Prezi.

Looking back at my presentation, I want to fully evaluate my overall product and presentation.

During the editing, I did decide to use a programme that i was comforable with, although its not something i have the best skills in, as I'm not a huge fan of filming and editng. Although I did, after all my research into tutorials and looking at other films people had created on Youtube, it really did inspire me to be a lot more creative, and too push myself to do things, I'd normally stray from.

I know its only the beginning of what I'd like to accomplish later on, however, looking into different alements in Premiere and After Effects I'm more encouraged to keep experimented with lighting, and colour grading, and working with other filters and presents.

Another thing was the equipment. I'd used a Canon 600d, purely due to the fact it allowed me to accomplish the desired affects i wanted for the overall look of my film, which featured a lot of shallow depth of field shots, and long exposure shots(which was a nightmare) which i do not think i could have succesfully done to the quality i;d wanted on a Sony Z1. Also because it was much more compact and lightweight for the low angle shots and POV tracking shots i did. It was great to get to develop my photography and filming skills, because I wanted to approach the film with an open and creative mind.

I wanted shots that looks visually captivated, which due to the weather, however annoying it was, it allowed me to shoot ome beautiful shots of the rain.

For exaple, these two are my favorite within the film..

With the weather being so bad it was difficult to get the majority of original shots I wanted, however, I think the rain actually created a nice tone to the film. With the music, it was as if it captured the lonely feeling of a cat, on this dull night, however, with some scenes it captured the beauty of the small things we often overlook.

When it came down to editing the film, I did enjoy experimenting with the Light leaks too which are featured during it. I think the colour grading as seen in the two images above, though it being quite unnatural, the natural hue of the lighting from the street lamps when filming was actually quite a warm orange colour, so I only added a purple gradient to the clips. The colour sort of adds to the mysterious and mystical tone it has in my opinion.
It took about 2/3 full evenings to get most of the filming done, I was limited, due to it being night during the film, however the weather did contribute to the problem a lot, but i compromised!

If i did develop it more, which i would love to do, I think the problem being is that some of the POV shots of the cat wondering around, would be better suited with a still framed clips, as it wouldn't be too much for the viewer to look at so they could concentrate on the one frame, as I feel that the jittery clips of 'the cat walking' ruins some frames.

Another element would be the sound. During the first development stages of my idea I really wanted to incorporate ambient sounds as well as the 'Nocturne' track music to enhance what was happening in some major parts of the sequence. As the story involved being able to hear distant sounds like a cat would. However, when i t came to it, the sound quality just wasn't very good with the camera i had used, as well as the rain being extremely loud it dulled out the sound of the leaves blowing in the wind, and cars in the background, which was a real shame as i Think the sounds would have improved the story, and the audience would have maybe understood more of what was going on. So I did just decided to use the music track, which does however creates the tone I wanted which was the mystery of a cats journey of a night.

After watching many films, especially this one, its encouraged me to want to learn more about editing and effects, because as of know i'm only in the beginning stages of creating something as complex and visually stunning as this pieces. I especially like how you know, at the point of the colour burst she has gone into a dream, which i tried to create using a light burst. So I think if i was developing my film, I would use graphics to accompany the idea of something happening so the audience is more aware of the narrative and also gets them intrigued.

My experience in making this whole project has definitely given me a lot of confidence in myself to come out of my comfort zone and try new things, and work with technology i don't normally use, as its evident, that when i put my mind to it, I can produce a great product. I've also learn that I should definitely not leave things till the last minute, as things can go wrong, luckily with this i was able to compromise and had no issue with contributors pulling out or being unavailable for the times i had to film.

Here's my final product! Which I'm incredibly pleased with, after watching it a hundred times over...

Developement into media Artifact

I have started looking into films on Vimeo and Youtube which use split screens and the Triptych style. Its become quite popular recently with a new feature called Split Screen X for Final Cut Pro X, which easily allows users to create this layout, as well as using diagonal cropping, unlike in After Effects and Premiere Pro which have to be done manually using a cropping tool and other features which i'll be researching tutorials later in the week.

I loved the diagonal cut and wanted to include that into my film, rather than the typical rectangular shapes i would have normally used as I didn't want it to be too repetitive and ordinary. As instead of just 3 screens I want to experiment with numerous clips playing on one screen, and interchanging the layout throughout.

Looking back I remembered I'd seen a music video which used the same split-screen effect -Hey There Delilah- which I'd used as inspiration in the mini brief when i did my Autumn Triptych.

However looking back at it, the colour and tone is what I liked most about it, as its quite dull and saturated, which I prefer to sharp strong contrasted colours as it connects with the tones of the music, which is exactly what I want for my film.

******UPDATE******

So I've just downloaded a free Trial of Adobe Premier Pro CC, and i love the layout compared to the norm. I also chose this instead of After Effects or Final Cut as I know the basic tools and effect i need to edit my film, especially within the time limit we have.

I have just watched some tutorials on Youtube about different cinematic effects and colour grading, and I'm in the middle of experimenting now.

I've noticed a lot of the footage i have already captured have quite different colour tones to them, as in some clips I have used the orange filter clip in the LED light, and then some parts i had to use natural lighting, and candle light to get the correct affect i wanted as a silhouette of my cat against the outside window, and then ECU's of my eye, and a slug outside.
For example below, the two shots are extremely good quality and the colour is quite contrasted and normal, whereas, the two images below it have a lower quality as there it no source of filter light.

Due to the different qualities and different lighting I will have to experiment with using colour grading, adding noise/blue, and saturation and contrasting for each different clip to have the same consistent look and tone too them.

Colour Grading - I'm using the Fast balancing colour tool and changed the hues of the clips to give it more a a purple gradient. I've had to adjust the contrast and saturations to all the different clips as a lot of them are very dark, some extremely in focus and sharp. 

In some cases (EYES CU above) I had to add noise and a blur to it, to try and make them all similar

Adding Colour Leaks- I LOVEE these light leaks. I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with these and So far i have added a couple of them to the clips one where the cat opens his eyes, just to create a notion that something has happened, and a starting point, as you will to the film. and then I will use it during the end of the film, as well as superimposing the clips changing the opacity and blend modes. Again just experimenting, because I love the idea of using the blend modes to overlap different clips, especially out of focus lights.

Knowing I wanted to use diagonal cropping, I watched a 10 minute long tutorial in German to try and understand how to do this, It was difficult, but I think i've sort of grasped it.
I added the Eight-point Garbage matte effect onto the panel, and after to fiddly and very time consuming effort with figuring out which angle is where I've finally succeeded in creating a diagonal crop, though it doesn't actually have the little white frame between the two clips, which i did originally want, but i think i'm far too irritated by this effect alone to even try and change it again! Here's the overall look, which i love!

Proposal for Final media artifact.

I have decided upon creating a Triptych as during the mini briefs, it was definitely my favourite to work on, amongst the others, and wished i had more time to finish and develop it with more time i could have filmed so many more clips and been more creative with locations. 

My original idea, which i posted about his morning, well last night, I don't think will work, I get very confused with the Production Project and this, and which was which so, I think that confuse me a bit.

But now that i'm on the right track its inevitable that I definitely won't have the time to complete a Triptych Youtube narrative, especially to pull off my idea within two week, as getting contributors within the time frame would be impossible, and with the weather being so bad lately there would be a lot of risks within it.

SADFACE

SO, finally I have come up with my final concept, inspired by my favourite composition at the moment called 'Nocturne' 

I'm actually unsure of the composer, after researching for months, i'm still unsure, however here is the full track.

. It follows the journey of a cat, who only ever goes out of a night- hence the name 'Nocturne'- as soon as his owner goes to sleep. 

I do have another concept that, when I fell asleep, and my cat does, That when I awaken, I am in my cats body, and the journey would be me experiencing everything for the first time, such as the sharp lights and distant sounds, that humans cannot hear.

I'll use a Canon 600d and an LED, and probably a tripod, however as most of the shots, will be shot from a low angle I won't be needing it the majority of the time.

Clips i want to include:
POV shots of 'the cat' on his travels, such as walking out the house, and looking around,
crossing a road,
hearing distant sounds of birds,
or leaves blowing in the wind,
hiding under a car,
observing people walking,
waking up/going to sleep,
looking out the window.

I will also need an ECU of my eye closing, and then another of my cats eye opening, and using a light burst effect in Post production, it will give the effect as if I've woken up in his body, or if using the first idea, just a chapter point that a journey is about to begin- if that makes any sense.

I do want to incorporate sounds into this, so you get the notion of what is happening; hearing distant sound, and quick sharp movements.

I think until I get out and film, as well as not knowing what the weather will be like, knowing my luck it'll rain, but until then, I don't really want to story board anything. I know exactly what i want it too look like, however, with not filming and editing an awful lot, I would like to experiment different shots, such a shallow depth of fields with lights, and CU's of things we as people don't normally recognise, which cats do.

Ideas for my Final media Piece

The Triptych mini brief was by far the most enjoyable, however having missed the opportunity to create an interactive narrative through Youtube annotations I want to combine the two together.
Most of my ideas around split screen are based around the idea of two people meeting through two different times, or lifestyles and then coming together. During the session a few weeks back we watched a Triptych video called 'Love Story' which i loved, because It was two peoples lives contrasted, but the way they were filmed was identical, and very refined, and at the end of the journey they met.


I remember seeing a short film called 'Signs' (Link Below), It is a 12 minute film with no dialogue, about a lonely guy, bored with his repetitive job who starts communicating with a woman in next building across form him using written signs and eventually they met each other.

I loved the whole concept around this, and thought I could use this as inspiration to create a Love story between to people, who write notes to each and send gifts through a mail box, however, to make it interactive, you can choose which items they sent, and what they write to each other, and in each path will come a different scenerio.

My idea is greatly inspired by the Film 'The Lake House' too, where two people connect and communicate wih eachother through letters, who are in two different time zones, being 2 years apart, but happening at the same time, but she uses her letters to rewrite his fate, which is exactly what I'd want to do using the interactive narrative on Youtube.

Although id this doesn't turn out, seems though It is A LOT of work, and a lot of people who i'd have act are going to be busy, it could create a big risk in the production. However, I know I do still want to create a Triptych.
  

Youtube Annotations

Having not been in for the actual lesson introducing us to the topic and brief, it was difficult for me to understand why there was a brief set about this, as from my knowledge Youtube annotations are just pop up comments used by people who do vlogs and videos to just add to their own comments at certain points to the video or simply to expand or comment on something that they mentioned during it. In most cases they are used for linking its audience to other videos in relation to the video itself or link to advertisements or video responses that other users have made and have linked to the video. 

However, once i'd looked at the prezi on blackboard I started using the links to research the different kinds of Interactive Youtube videos. A lot of them, such a the Jamie Oliver 'Give me a slap' video, primarily just for Play seemed just completely pointless. There were quite a lot of these examples listed, which i don't understand the purpose for them. I think most of the time Youtube users switch off the Youtube annotations button off, I know i do, because a lot of the time they are useless and annoying pop ups that get in the way of videos.

However, When looking into the Story element of Annotations I seemed to be less pointless, and more intriguing. The video below of 'Choose a different ending' was a really great concept to look at especially as i personally didn't think this could be achieved on Youtube(shows how much i know about recent technology) but I thought it was a great idea, considering how many people nowadays use Youtube, and bring in a more profound element of interactivity, instead of just comment and video responses, its audience can inevitably choose how the story unravels, using numerous outcomes and paths using these annotations within each chapter of the story. 

I really like the idea of of the story unravelling, but after looking at a few examples using this notion of letting the audience being the decision maker, it was apparent that a lot of these involved a moral dilemma, and really questioned peoples morality, such as in this interactive story, about a Zombie Apocalypse, where you are asked to either let a man in, or leave him to die.

I think If I was to create a narrative using annotations i would use these as inspiration more than i would a campaign using then for advertising and links to further inspiration, because i love the fact stories are becoming more virtual and interactive. 

Having looked at the whole horror aspect producing this based around that theme would be the best route to take, however, if i wanted to be more creative I'd want to expand the idea from an old fairytale, however, mixing it up a bit to change the stories path into several different outcomes.

Isadora

Well, Isadora, I knew from the start of hearing the names I wasn't going to like, or understand this software. 

The concept around it is mainly a graphic software which manipulates media to create stunning real-time interactive visuals, sounds and environments. Although this is a brilliant software, i think to me if is mostly relevantly used within  Dance shows, concerts and festivals.It brings Audio and visuals and brings them together to interact with each other to create sequences. I was looking through Vimeo for inspiration on the software and came across this video, which i think demonstrates just how effective the software is for using it sided with music .

Study for a shadow from Annalisa Terranova on Vimeo.

For our mini brief we were asked to create an Isadora Project inspired by Halloween. Right up my street!
It didn't take my group- Mark, James, later joined by Emma- to come up with ideas for this. We finally decided that we wanted to play on the idea of how somebody was in charge of somebody's fate, sort of like the concept around the film of 'The Cabin in the Woods'. Where somebody was in charge of controlling different outcomes of a 'paranormal experience' which was shown through the effect of a CCTV camera.

Using the software we were able  to create a sequence where by pressing the number keys on the keyboard, you could control numerous videos showing this experience. During filming we used one camera positioned quite high up in the corner of a room, to create the angle of a CCTV camera, and then filmed different scenarios of paranormal behaviour such as; a door slamming on its own:

Lamp switching on and off (this was quite funny to create, as i was crouched into a tiny corner behind the coach with a sheet on myself switched the lamp, it took a few shots as the lamp kept falling over onto my head(not fun) as it was balancing on the arm of the sofa) 

A flickering clip of myself(the ghost in the corner) appearing and then disappearing.
and other clips of the sort. Mark was kind enough to edit the CCTV footage effect on after effects.

I watched the tutorials that were linked from the download website, however, watching them all, I was still confused about the whole thing, I experimented with some of the videos, but every time it just wouldn't seem to work for me, however Mark and James helped me understand the concept and how to link them together, which i was grateful for, even though i still don't fully grasp it all.

It seemed easy enough and our layout was quite simple for the sequences to be connected

I mean, although this is a wonderful software to create amazing visual performances, I do feel like, with me fully not grasping the concept for what I want to create in the future, I won't be wanted to use it in the future.

Here a DropBox link to all the videos we created

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tfkts8wawl4dg87/kCRQk3PYk9#/

QR Coding

For Creative Media Practice, we were to create a short QR code storytelling experience. I'm not a huge fan of QR coding. Though mainly being used as advertising and promoting, i think a lot of the time they are being misused. Not to mention they look ugly and personally I think lack creativity. They seem to be popping up everywhere increasingly. Having said this i still do not think they are extremely popular with people as i do not feel they are inclined to use them most of the time. Usually people are more compelled to use them if they see 'Free download' or for getting more information on thins such as bands or links to competitions.

Having said this QR codes, aside form used as adversing can be used creatively in producing more visual information. I loved the idea that a Polish Museum came up with using QR codes in their campaign. People that visited the museum could use their phones to scan the codes on the paintings, a visual story could appear on screen and act out scenes from the paintings and bring the whole museum to life. This is a lovely example of using the codes to engage people into something people would normally find boring, but bringing it to life, gives a whole new element to the paintings, making people more intrigued and excited to learn more about it. Its a great way for children, who are very technology driven to be more involved within art.  

Having looked at more unique examples of using QR codes on the prezi, the idea of of QR codes on Tombstones, yep, tombstones came up. I was a little bit thrown by the idea, because I;d never imagine having something like that on anybody's grave. Having said that though, looking into some of the examples, I think its quite a special way of honouring somebody through a websites for example.It gives visiting loved ones’ graves a more rewarding and satisfying experience, especially as these websites could be updated regularly,. As well as the fact these memories would never fade. I guess a tribute to a loved one would be quite heart warming, however I do think an ugly qr code on a headstone would sway me off the idea.

 From this idea myself, Becca and Gemma formed a group and started looking at idea to form an idea of creating memories. At first our idea was to create a family tree, where people could use the codes to get more information on a person. However, for obvious reasons this may have proved difficult to do within a few hours.

Our second idea was to make a photo album. I personally loved the idea, as instead of images presented within a book, it was QR codes which would link you to images, video and music in relation to certain moment in ones life. We decided to go for 4 different 'big moment' in somebody life, which would usually be featured in a photo album/ life album; Birth, First Kiss, Wedding, First Child, Retirement,

For each of these we deciding to use a couple qr codes relevant to the life memory.

For Birth, we linked the code to a Google map location of a hospital, where our character (Lizzy Parker) was born.

For the first kiss memory, a link to a photo of their kiss, as well as a link to a spotify music track that reminded her of it.

For her Wedding chapter, a code that took the audience to the wedding video, uploaded onto YouTube; and another code that spoke the vows the couple took ( though the voice did sound a bit like Dracula)

For the First born baby memory would link to a calender event of the due date of the baby, with another code linking to the ultrasound scan on Youtube!

Finally for the retirement code, am adorable video of the couple in retirement. playing the piano together.

I really wish I'd taken a photo of the book we created, however, I did forget, so I included some of the codes here to remind you of a few that I'd had saved. Overall, I do think the idea of using QR codes as getting more information and using them as permanent memories are a brilliant idea, especially in this modern era, where photo albums and books are becoming less popular. Even though i'm quite traditional and love looking as photographs in front of me, and not uploaded onto the internet.