#film301
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I still plan on using front projection as a big part of my work, but the projector I have works by using a lens to project a phone screen, and although it can be seen with the naked eye the light is too subtle to properly show up on camera. Once I have access to a more powerful projector I’m going to redo some tests and experiments.
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Research & Experimentation : Location Scouting (29th December)
Today Sam, James and I visited Wembury to scout a location we had in mind for my film. The area has an old fort and large grassy surroundings. It also includes a fantastic view of the sea. This scenic location would fit my music video because I am looking for interesting and lovely looking places I can have my actor perform in.
As can be seen in the photo above, golden hour really adds to the beauty of the place. If I shoot here, I will make sure it is in the afternoon.
We also took the Blackmagic Pocket camera we had booked out from the ERC. This was the first time testing it so it took awhile to get to grips with the interface but we managed to shoot some footage that turned out really great. We used a 14mm lens that gave the image a very wide appearance.
I made sure to shoot Some BTS of the trip that I can use in my mini doc compilation.
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Video Games and Game Design
[FILM301]
Games have obviously been around for less time than cinema. But it’s scope and range of audience has grown exponentially in the past 20 years. As of recently, society has placed games on a higher pedestal of importance in comparison to Hollywood’s films.
Due to the increase in people wishing for more individually stimulating experiences, services such as Netflix have become more popular. Cinema’s are absolutely not failing (not until COVID-19) but they are finding a decrease in the volume of moviegoers since such film and video streaming services have become more widely available and more attractive for the larger audience.
In more recent findings, games have out-earned films by plenty. With a gross global revenue of $159 Billion coming from the game industry, and $100 Billion in the film industry. Now, this money is usually from larger MMO’s and Triple A studio games. But the indie crowd of games is beginning to become more popular with time. Especially with audiences growing a newfound love for games such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons and the mobile game Among Us. Simple games with little to no actual plot or story have become important to people as there is an influx of people playing games for the sake of playing games for a sense of escapism.
Video games are just as important to me, I have grown up playing all types of games and simulations for the fun of a new world to explore and a new set of characters or NPC’s to enjoy. These are a few of the games that have been most influential for me over my time.
BioShock / BioShock Infinite
Okami
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Death Stranding
In the idea phase of this project, I knew I wanted to make a game. What type of game or what story or the way it plays I did not know. I’ve always loved character and creature creation, so for me, this was going to be a good usage of my passion and skills, whilst also developing my level of knowledge of game design, game theory and bringing further insight into media-making for me and my art.
Upon the initial idea stage, I knew that a game would require a lot of extra work compared to a film. Not saying that films aren’t a lot of effort to make, however games have proven time and time again to have a new level of world development and expectations. Games have to be enjoyed separately by a huge audience and have to be taken in at the players pace. Rather than the way a film is digested by the audience at the filmmakers pace.
I looked into the different types of game genres to begin with, listing which of them would be most ‘able’ for a small team on a shoestring budget.
Then looking into the programming options available and their prices. It was brought forward that Blender would be needed for 3D modelling at any stage, it occurred to me that a mix of 3D and 2D art styles could be intriguing.
I knew from the beginning that the art style and concepts would be down to me. I thought about my personal preferences of art in game and what I thought I could try.
At some point, the idea of a visual novel came into play. Now, visual novels have an awful name for themselves, as they are, usually awful. This depends on the creators of the game as visual novels are easy to be low-effort and easy to distribute even if they are horrible. A lot of modern visual novels take the form of a ‘dating simulator’ in which the player plays as a (usually male) main character who converses between multiple girls or women characters and they all fall to their knees at the thought of being able to ‘date’ the main character. They are gross representations of the way that people in general converse and an even worse attempt at showing how women think and act.
The example below is probably the worst one I can think of. It has it all. Terrible, uncharacteristic writing that feels like a 13-year old’s wet dream. Atrocious character art that is borderline depressing...
I did warn you.
This will NOT be happening in the event I do make a visual novel.
A visual novel that pretty much parodies this trope of awful male-serving female characters is Doki Doki Literature Club, that is, on first glance, another gross example of women characters being simple objects for the male player’s fantasy. However, upon playinig further into the game. You realise that something is wrong, very wrong. One character ‘Sayori’ is absent from school, presumably ill, the player goes to visit her at home. Only to be visited with the sight of Sayori hung by her neck in her bedroom. It’s horrible and startling. But the game brings a great commentary to the way that mental health should be approached and that it is no joke. The game plays out as a horror after this point and the tables have been turned onto the player. As one of the girls in the plot decides that she ‘Monika’ wishes to have the main character ‘to herself’. She then refers to the player by their name (or at least the name that their PC is called).
The main menu turns into this after Sayori’s death. Which shows a great usage of the game UI and a phobia of glitches called Verzephobia.
Other visual novels that have humble stories and characters can be very successful, such as Ghost Trick, which has visual novel elements with some gameplay attached.
The style of Ghost Trick’s art is extremely bold and cuboid too. For the character portraits they have used big blocks of bright colours and thick outlines. For the ‘models in the game. They were initially 3D models that have then been rotoscoped in a pixel style. It is a gorgeous example of experimentation with game style and it works beautifully in this game as the characters feel full of life and equally stylistic.
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Film301 - Digital Horizons: Studio Composites
This week we looked at the use of: Green screen, blue screen, front/back projection, pre vis, and simulators used for this.
I’ve used green screen a couple of times in the past and it definitely isn’t without its issues. Especially with a low budget it can be a struggle to match the lighting within the studio to the lighting of the scene that will be in the place of the screen. I’ve also experienced issues with shadows creating an inconsistent shade of green which makes it difficult to mask it with the footage. However this being said it is so beneficial when you don’t have access to film with the location or background that you want, and can save a lot of money and time if you can use this as an alternative. There are also variables which you have more control over such as weather, daylight (or lack thereof), and any unwanted intrusions that can appear on set.
I hadn’t before contemplated the use of front projection/ back projection but after seeing the use of this it got me thinking about how I may incorporate it into my own projects. I have now advanced my grad film idea to incorporate this, if I have the availability of my desired location. I may, with permission, be able to film within a cinema, using the projection onto one of the screens as a primary addition to my idea, which I will go into further detail, within an upcoming blog post. I like that the images from this projection will then light the set in a way that will incorporate it.
Looking a little into pre vis and simulators for this such as cine tracer, it really shows the benefits of being prepared and the planning process. From a producers point of view this role and software could end up saving a lot of money, you would already know which kit you would need for the planned scenes. As well as this, the time saved setting up would be drastically reduced, already knowing where cameras will need to be placed, and what lighting is needed. I can also see this being useful when communicating with multiple departments, being able to share what has been produced using this type of software, which incorporates information useful to everyone, they will know what they need to do and how they need to work with the other departments to successfully produce this. I would definitely like to utilize this as part of the pre-production schedule in future undertakings.
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playing around with the exposure settings, i created some cool effects. (I used an orange/brown filter)
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To introduce my 'sizzle reel' I wanted something that would convey some of the deeper meaning of my theme so I was not just showcasing pretty pictures, and hopefully creating the sense of a deeper meaning that the viewer can interperet. So I created a short stop motion clip that conveys a braod idea for people to interperet differently. I think with my work I want everyone to have a different interpertation from it based on how the visuals interact with their own thoughts and experiences.
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All these used the same flash and colour gel, but different camera settings
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The flash bar and the ring light had very different levels of light outputs; the flash bar was much brighter and washed out the colour from the ring light. Moving forward I’ll have to choose one or the other depending on what level of colour I want.
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Lighting experiment
There aren't many places in my house where I was able to set up and not be disturbed/get in the way to other people; but one place where I could was the attic stairs. Originally I just wanted to use the corner of the walls, but as I was setting up I realized that because of the angle of the stairs it was going to be difficult to photograph sat on the stairs, so I incorporated more of the wall and the actual stairs into my set up so i could shoot from the open space at the bottom of the stairs
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Ideas and Inspiration [FILM301]
Unfortunately, the beginning stages of this module have become overwhelmed by a constant barrage of news and information regarding the recent outbreak of COVID-19. Most of which is highly necessary news, however it’s hard to decipher what the world is going through and how it is going to handle it. So far, many things have had to be postponed due to the lockdown in order for an effort to handle the outbreak. However, should these measures not bear fruit, it will be a good idea for me to think about coming up with some initial ideas that would likely follow all the necessary health and safety precautions that we currently have outlined. Better still, if the production could be fully remote from campus and other people, that would be the safest environment and outcome possible.
Although this distancing will mean a tough punch to the general idea of filmmaking and will definitely harbour some struggles later down the line regarding equipment and the like. I wish to take this as an opportunity to stretch myself further in subjects of art that I love and want to see myself grow in. For this reason amongst the current social climate, I hope to find a focus on my art, specifically drawing and digital art. Through film, I have found many ways to be able to communicate my ideas in different media, and also how to develop bridges between different crew roles. Though pen-to-paper creation hasn’t always been at the forefront of my mind, it does wriggle into my thoughts every so often as a path that I should be taking. I’ve always been passionate over creating weird creatures and art of the surreal variety, and though I definitely won’t say I’m a professional in the craft, I do feel comfortable in my skill and I know that with the right development and experimentation, I will come to learn the skill to a higher standard.
So far, the only ideas I have been able to muster that keep as close to the COVID-19 safety guidelines as humanly possible are as follows:
2-4 minute hand-drawn animation regarding real-life experiences that feel surreal or psychologically tormenting. (would require a change in the submission requirements).
A short documentary covering the effects of lockdown on certain members of society (disabled, children, mentally ill, elderly) - this however feels that it may be overdone by the end of lockdown.
A very short game? visual novel? RPG maker style game? focusing on escapism and fantasy. (might be too high-maintenance)
‘Telling Lies’ 2001 Short film - style short film. No camera visuals. Just audio and simple animation or subtitles that work with the plot.
As for inspirations. The only media I’ve been able to consume for the past month and a half is TV shows such as Futurama and video games such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, (and BoTW). I’ve a newfound love for the escapism that such media brings during this time. Being able to binge-watch all eight seasons at once is also great. Games have a profound effect of also being at the player’s own pace and the player usually digests story, characters and information dependent of the way that they interact with the game.
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Documentary
Because my project is in the style of a fashion editorial, I decided to create a fashion magazine style for my research into ethics of model representation
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Statement of intent and presentation
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ztyV1b4zLShYu-pfV3yuV-twkxTrM2FSKewcmiojWrg/edit?usp=sharing
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Lighting refresher
Some of the pictures I took during todays session
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Digital Horizons: Studio composites
Back projection
Theorized in the the 20s, but was initially used in the 1930s once camera and projector motors advanced, continued to develop and include multiple projectors to create a brighter background.
Used by Alfred Hitchcock in the famous crop duster scene in North by northwest, and less successfully in Marnie.
Ray Harryhausen developed a variation of the technique in the 50’s and 60’s, on miniature sets with stop motion creatures and inserted live action people into the same scenes.
(Clash of the Titans 1981)
With the advance of technology in front projection and green/blue screen effects back projection became less practical
However it was still used by James Cameron in several films (including Aliens).
In 2001: A Space Odyssey the modern version of back projection was developed; it was mainly used in the opening of the film in order to avoid on location shooting but was also used to show the outside of windows of spacecraft and computer screen effects.
Rear projection was also successfully used in Oblivion for the cloud effects, with so much glass and metal a blue screen would have reflected onto almost all the surfaces whereas back projection meant in camera reflections of the clouds did not have to edited in.
In my own work I don’t intend to use back projection, however I plan to experiment with front projection and textured backgrounds. I need to take into consideration how specific textures reflect light and appear on camera.
Some tests:
Links used
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/film-studies/medusas-creation-in-clash-of-the-titans-film-studies-essay.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1U2VsCnLg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwe4Fan41Is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rear_projection_effect#:~:text=Rear%20projection%20(also%20known%20as,of%20%22distant%22%20background%20motion.
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