Week 9

On Monday I went to the library and borrowed a four more books dealing with digital photography and visual effects. The books I took out are:

Basic Photography: Michael Langford
Digital Photography: Katrin Eismann, Sean Duggan, and Tim Grey
Digital Moviemaking: Scott Billups
The Visual Story: Bruce Block

As case study I watched the following films of thriller/horror genre:

Psycho 1960: directed by Alfred Hitchcock (horror)
Shrooms 2007: Paddy Breathnach (horror)
Cape Fear 1991: directed by Martin Scoresese (thriller)
Cape Fear 1962: directed by J. Lee Thompson (thriller)
Grudge 2004: directed by Takashi Shimizu (horror)
Splice 2009: directed by Vincenzo Natali (thriller, horror, sci-fi)


This week I have primarily been working on my Digital Imaging project. I am trying to get it done quickly so that I can concentrate on finishing up my report and go through my pre-production materials, tying up any loose ends. I will also need to start working on my Motion Graphics project using After Effects.
I prefer to complete one task rather than jump from one to the other because I like to fully focus on one subject before moving on to the next. I find the Digital Imaging very relevant learning for my honours project. It particularly helps me learn about the DSLR photography and how to improve my camera skills.

Supervisor meeting

My supervisor suggested I should challenge myself a bit more using this project to experiment with more techniques. I was already developing my ideas and deciding to make the sequence in black and white, which will help to mask a little imperfections due to my novice DSLR skills. I would also like to key in important colours such as red (a colour of blood, passion and anger) as it can be seen in a film called Sin City.

I was also encouraged to post and comment on any photos I take and explain what are the positives or negatives about each image and perhaps explain what I would do differently the next time.

HDR Technique

I researched a new photographic technique used for enhancement of images. It is called HDR or high dynamic range. This is achieved by taking three photographs often one is underexposed, one is overexposed and one photo is of average exposure. This is the minimum of photographs you need to create HDR image. These photos are then combined using appropriate software such as Adobe Photoshop or Photomatix and the final result is an HDR image that achieves high dynamic range of highlights and shadows. We can see the photo was enhanced but it results in a very attractive image. I find this very intriguing and have attempted to create my own HDR photos.


http://www.littletimemachine.com/hdr-guide/

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/high-dynamic-range.htm

See examples below:

New York at Night HDR - Wikipedia

Below is an HDR image I created from four photos.




These photographs were used:








Except the first the photos are very underexposed. The first photo's inbalanced with too dark areas (sofa) and too light areas (windows).

Cinemek Storyboard Composer

I have discovered a new solution to creating an effective storyboards and animatics. I purchased the Cinemek Storyboarding software that is a very handy tool for filmmakers, directors but also film students who can’t draw very well. It is an iPhone, iPod app available from the Apple app store. This software is amazing and allows you to create effective storyboards and animatics using just your photos of the scenes. The completed storyboard can be then saved as .pdf or quicktime movie, which can be then stored on your computer.

http://www.cinemek.com/storyboard/


I have tested the software and I found it easy to use. This will be a great help in visualising my project using this very useful tool. I do not have iPhone but I can use it on my iPod which I got recently so that I would have access to the Apple platform as I have only a PC available at home.

Week 8

This week I spent most of my time doing my literature review. I have begun writing my Week 12 Report. So far I have completed sections on Digital Photography, Opening Title Sequence Overview and most sections on the Pre-production which comprises of about 2500 words at the moment.

I have created a short questionnaire on Survey Monkey to help me identify what constitutes good opening title sequence. See link below:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WMRRWKQ

Click here to take survey

The survey will be emailed to other students and potential audience once I will be able to access my email. There have been an issue with the University portal which is not always accessible off campus.

Last week I had to cancel my meeting with my supervisor due to a doctor appointment. He was notified via email on my progress and a new blog update.

Next week I plan to continue with literature review and report writing. I will also have to get all my pre-production documentation to review and get it ready to be added to the appendices.

Week 7

This is my new favicon and poster for this project.








Research

I visited the library on Monday and took a four more books out. Two of the books from last week I had no time to go through, therefore I will have to do this now as they are only a weekly loan.

The books I took out this Monday are:

Sound for film and television - Tomlinson Holman

A technological History of Motion Pictures and Television - Raymond Fielding

Painting with Light - John Alton

Cinema and Technology: Image, Sound, Colour - Steve Neale

Project Progress

On Saturday 15.10.2011, I went out to the Tarvit and took the shots I needed. However, it didn’t go very well because;

1: The actor brought his dog (although told not to). This resulted in the poor animal whining all throughout while tied to the table leg causing more stress and lack of concentration.

2. Actor was not very co-operative and didn’t bring the planned attire as instructed; overalls and working boots, in order to compliment the scene. I don’t know what you do with people who refuse to co-operate but if this was a real life situation he would most likely be dropped from the production team. Unfortunately, I have no replacement and unlikely to find suitable person to travel the distance on short notice.

I am hoping I will be able to change the actor’s clothes colouring in After Effects as it is done on www.videocopilot.net by Andrew Kramer. Let’s just hope some of the shots will be salvageable.

Last week I completed the storyboards. This means I have documented my ideas well in detail. My pre-production is now almost complete, although there are a few loose ends to tie up. Proof-reading is one of them.

Overall I am making a good progress. I just wish I had more time to do the research and will have to jump into it the next week full-steam ahead.

There’s also work in other classes such as Digital Imaging project I need to do which involves going out and taking 10+ photographs merging these and photomanipulate to create a painting. I plan to do this in week 8, so that I can then concentrate more on my Honours project which icludes learning After Effects.

Meeting with Supervisor

My supervisor went over my storyboards with me and agreed I have made good progress. He said I have done a lot of work and advised to add the document to my appendices of the 'Week 12 Report'. He would like to know if I would have done anything differently once I had my research done.

The next week I will have to make more of an effort into reading and start writing my week 12 report, which will include the literature review.

Week 6

Example Poster for Candlemaker

I was working on character description and created a little poster for the film titles. It may change later on, however this would be one design to consider. I have noticed I use two versions of the spelling for my main character. Brunel vs. Burnel I really like Burnel because it could be turned into Burn-in-hell, which is what all his victims would wish for.


Literature Review

I visited the library on Monday and took a number of books related to my project. A few books I wanted were out on loan so I will have to return for them.

I have taken out the following books:

Setting up your shots: Jeremy Vineyard
Nonlinear Editing: Patrick Morris
The DV Rebel’s guide: Stu Maschwitz
Lighting by design: Brian Fitt & Joe Thornley

I have also been working through the following books that I own:

Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects: Trish and Chris Meyer
Digital Storytelling: Carolyn Handler Miller

The Plan (for this week)

The plan for this week is to complete some of my Pre-production documentation, and go through the books and start writing. I have been kept busy with other work this week from other two modules so I am going to try and write about shot composition and editing. I am currently working on a presentation for one of my other modules, Motion Graphics about a father and a great genius of motion graphic and title design Saul Bass. This should help to fill the history pages as I find researching the subject on Saul Bass’ work very interesting and beneficial to the nature of my project.

I should start getting handy with the camera because I plan to do the filming at Tarvit tomorrow, which is on Saturday. I really need to get the footage before the end of October as the property will be closed for the winter and re-opens just in April 2012 which would be too late for me.

Saturday 8/10/2011 update

I have just discovered that the SD card I have in my Canon 550D camera will not record in full HD, therefore my plan to go to shoot at Tarvit laundry needs to be put off till the next weekend. Now, I am off to Ebay to order a Transcend Flash memory card - 32 GB SDHC as it has great reviews from people that used it in Canon 60D. Fingers crossed it will arrive on time.

New Inspirations

While researching more into the subject of movie titles I have come across a great title sequences for a further inspiration that has achieved fantastic results using the After Effects. The first was done by French designer Kook Ewo who did the titles for a suspenseful sci-fi horror called 'Splice'. I just consider the work extraordinary in how he managed to create images of various skin types and combined it into one big piece of hybrid embryo floating in amniotic fluid. It is a perfect example of a title sequence setting the mood for the movie. I must admit the titles are better than the film. See below an interview with Kook Ewo and the title sequence in question.

Splice: Interview with Kook Ewo a title designer

Splice opening titles: Kook Ewo



Another fantastic title sequence I noticed while watching the movie The Grudge. I am not into horrors as the Grudge but I was very impressed with the title sequence.
See below.

The Grudge opening titles: Picture Mill (design company)



And finally one of my true inspirations is the Se7en by Kyle Cooper. He is also called the Saul Bass of today's title sequences.

Se7en: Kyle Cooper



Just I should add a couple of title sequences from the master Saul Bass himself.

The Man with the Golden Arm was a defining moment for Saul Bass and it established him as a sensational and thought after title sequence designer. He worked with great movie directors of his time such as Preminger, Hitchcock, Kubric, Scorsese and others.

The Man with the Golden Arm: Saul Bass



Anatomy of a murder: Saul Bass



Hitchcock's Psycho opening titles: Saul Bass

Hitchcock's North by Northwest opening titles: Saul Bass

Little Champ: a short documentary about Saul Bass

Week 5

Scouting for Location

Last week I went looking for suitable shooting locations. I came up with the idea of filming in the woods where the killer, Neil Burnel, would drag his unconscious victims into a secluded location, where he would torture them before killing them.
The Tarvit area in Fife is such location. It features a forest and isolated Edwardian laundry that would be perfect in order to create the foreboding feel. It is also within easy reach from where I live.

I took generous amount of photos to show the mood of the sequence and created a short slideshow video with brief descriptions of what would be happening in the area.

This slideshow was created using online editing software Kizoa and is attached to this post below.

http://www.kizoa.com/

I used Kizoa because it allows you to create a sophisticated representation of your ideas quickly and efficiently. I thought this would work well for the purpose for which it is intended. The free account has its limitations, but in spite of that, I have created a good example of what can be done with the software and to communicate on others what mood and feel I would like to convey within my opening title sequence as well as why I have chosen this location.

It is said that a picture speaks a thousand words; this is another reason, why I felt this would be a very effective way to show the atmosphere I would like to later recreate using the AE and Premier Pro.

Click on the link below to view the video slideshow on Kizoa:

Click here to watch 'Candlemaker Location Scouting' video

Candymaker Location Scouting - making a free slideshow

To hear the sound click on the sound icon.

Photographs and descriptions:

Photo 1
This location was chosen because the killer chooses to take his uncouncious victim into a secluded location where he can torture and kill. Forest is also a good burial ground for the killer.



Photo 2
Another photo showing the secluded area in the forest where killer would take his victims to an old Edwardian Laundry he owns in the forest.



Photo 3
This photo shows the killer's body dumping ground.



Photo 4
Another potential location where bodies could have been kept or buried under the pile of wood.



Photo 5
House of torture and death. Killer would bring his victims to this location where he would torture and kill them.



Photo 6
Enter at your own risk.



Photo 7
Perfect location to hide his evil: an abandoned old laundry in the forest.



Photo 8
Body would be dragged in through the doorway.



Photo 9
Edwardian sink: scary enough to drain the blood of his victims.



Photo 10
Ceiling lamp.



Photo 11
This is where he could hide the bodies before dumping them in the forest.



Photo 12
Edwardian window well compliments the scene.



Naming the Film

As for the movie name I am considering to call it the 'Candlemaker' because the killer is a candle shop owner and adds blood into the candles in order to select his next victim.

Another option would be to call it 'Waxed', nevertheless, it has a more of a action movie ring to it. 'Candlemaker' sounds more mysterious as to what the movie is about. I just like the feeling of 'uknown' which this word represents better than 'Waxed' which is more suggestive.

Next week I plan to go and shoot some of the outside footage in the location in Tarvit, weather permitting.

Gantt Chart

In the week 5 I have also completed the Gantt chart review and added a few more tasks as suggested by my supervisor. I had to abandon the idea of Smartsheet because my free trial expired and I was not going to pay for the software as it is rather expensive. Therefore I have resolved to making my own Gantt Chart in Microsoft Excell. Below you can see the embedded version or click on the link below it to view the full version.



Click on this link to view my full Honours Project Gantt Chart

Meeting with Supervisor
My meeting with the supervisor didn't go too well as I had not printed the blog so I couldn't have talked about it. In fact, I left the meeting room in tears. Because of my underlying circumstances and health issues I don't think I'll be able to cope.

Tasks to complete the next week:

Shoot the footage in Tarvit (weather permitting)
Create detailed storyboards
Review all pre-production documentation
Start research and reading 'shot composition'

Week 4

Learning Contract

During the week 4 I have spent most of my time working on the Learning Contract. The process was quite long and tedious but I managed to email the document to my supervisor within specified timescale by 23.9.2011.

Dr. Hetherington then forwarded the document onto my second marker. Once the second marker gets back to us there will be a meeting to discuss the contract and whether any changes should be implemented.

Pre-production

At this point I have begun the Pre-production stage, which involves writing treatment and other preparatory tasks. I sketched my initial ideas into a brief storyboard. I have also created a Gantt chart that aids to effective project planning.

Smartsheet

I discovered a free online software for project planning and collaboration online that supplies various templates that aid recording the progress on your project. Nevertheless, I have just found out it's a free trial not for indefinite use. This means I will have to re-do my Gantt chart altogether.

For more information and to sign up for a free account visit the link below:

http://www.smartsheet.com/

Supervisor Meeting

My supervisor was pleased with the initiative and gave me a few ideas how to update and review my Gantt chart regularly. I am to further define individual tasks under the research topic.

My supervisor and I have further discussed my Literature review. I need to plan on how I will review the individual books within my Week 12 Report.

Because the Production stage falls into the winter months in January, most of the outside shots should be done now while the weather is still good. I will plan to achieve this within the next few weeks.

Tasks to complete this week:

• Plan on how to include literature review in the ‘Week 12 Report’
• Search for books and begin researching cinematography shot planning and learning AE software.
• Start learning how to use the DSLR camera Canon 550D that will be used in the production stage.
• Location Scouting: search for appropriate location for shooting and post the results on your blog next week
• Review the Gantt chart