Tuesday 29 April 2014

Viral Advert Treatment

Characters -

Actor: Shaun Wilding
Height: 5ft 8in
Age: 20
Character: Alex

Actor: Mitch Slack
Height: 5ft 11
Age: 19
Character: Swarovski

Actor: Robert Dunsden
Height: 5ft 9
Age: 17
Character: Larry Lockheart

Actor: Reggie Menzies
Height: 5ft 11
Age: 19
Character: Henchman/follow on villain

Viral Advert Synopsis:

My Viral Advert will start off with a shot of Alex looking up at his guardian who has just walked up to him. then it cuts to some text fading in saying "one mans destiny will change".then it fades out to a clip of Alex and swarovski fighting and then Alex gets a clean hit to the side of swarovski's face. Then another text fades in saying "this will shape the world", this then fades out to swarovski struggling to get up from the hit around the face but when he gets up he has a glowing red patch inside his face. Fade in text which reads "a savior will rise". Alex then lands outside of swarovski's UK headquarters. Title enters GUARDIAN.

Viral Advert Shot List

Shot List

1. Title - one mans destiny will change.

2. Mid shot of Alex looking up towards his guardian.

3. Title - this will shape the world.

4.Close up of Alex punching Swarovski.

5. Swarovski turns from being punched with a red glow from inside his face. mid/long shot

6. Title - a savior shall rise.

7. Alex lands outside of Swarovski's UK headquarters. wide shot

8. Title - GUARDIAN

Corporate Video Evaluation

For my corporate video i decided to work in a group with shaun and reggie and do a video advert for northwood uk, we all decided on a written brief because w thought this was the best option for our group. Having a written brief meant we could photocopy it and each have a brief ourselves wherever we go especially if we are college or home, also we can track what we need to do a lot easier instead of having a verbal brief. This is because we had a verbal brief before for the perry mccarthy ident and i found it hard to keep track of what i had to complete for the task because it wasn't physically in front of me, also we don't have to worry about meeting the client which will save costs from not travelling for meetings so emails were a lot quicker and easier.
As a team i feel we worked very well and efficiently together, we got the video filmed an edited in plenty of time. We used each others houses to film and one member had final cut pro X so we could edit outside of college. We had no legal issues as the company act as landlords of homes we were legally allowed to take pictures of properties as advertisement for the company. Due to the properties being in the local area as well it was easy to enter the properties and take pictures and gather footage.

In our final video for Northwood uk it came out really well, the pictures and transitions flowed nicely and it didn't look like it had been thrown together in a few minutes. The dialogue used is not to cheesy it sounds professional too. The transitions where one of my favourite parts as the lens flare swipe looks really clean and crisp.

Another part of the video that looks really good is this shot of the hallway i like this because the shot looks professional and really crisp it works well with what we are selling in the video.


The final shot of or corporate video, was a picture of the actual shop the picture looks really crisp anyway but the lighting could have been a little bit better. the original image was taken by northwood uk we didn't have time to take one ourselves.

Once we had finished the video and we sent it of to our client northwood uk, they gave us feedback really quickly they were very pleased with the final out come as they told us on numerous occasions. they said that all the images used were well lit and nada  high quality to them, also with the duration of the video they said that the message is delivered across quickly and in a good way. as a group we were very pleased with our feedback as it has built our confidence and has helped us grow as a company and will give us the skills to make other corporate videos in the future.

Tuesday 22 April 2014

FMP Pre-production - Alex Character Tree

FEET
what does this person look like?
Long brown hair slicked back, rough facial hair, green and blue eyes, average height and average build.
where do they live?
London.
where did they go to school?
just a normal comprehensive school.
do they have tattoos? why?
no.
who is their best friend?
no has no current friends.
what is there occupation?
he is homeless and has no job.
GUTS AND GROIN
what does this person want?
he wants to know where he is from and why he is on earth.
how does their sexuality manifest itself?
it is not a big drive in the characters life.
how do they feel about traditional 'sins'?
traditional sins do not have a great impact on him.
HEART
what does this person need?
normal needs
what would make them a more functional character?
someone who can help him find himself and show him his true potential
do they need more self confidence?
yes they need to find self confidence to help people and make quick decisions
do they need to find humility?
no
do they need to provide for their family?
no he is an orphan
THROAT
how does this person sound?
mid range voice
how do they project themselves?
deep and bold when he wants to be
how do they try to come off to other people?
how do they actually come off to people?
LEFT CHEEK
what is there intelligence?
he is very intelligent but not in a theoretical way but a practical way
how does this manifest itself?
how practical are they?
very practical that is his intelligence
how do they solve problems?
RIGHT CHEEK
what is there artistic capability?
in what ways are they not practical?
what is there spirituality?
CROWN
do all parts make a sensible whole?
yes he is a whole character where every aspect of him makes sense.
what are the characters defining memories?

what will this character overcome things to behave in a different way?

FMP Pre-production - Proposal

FMP Research - Log Diary

FMP Research - Focus Groups

I had a focus group with my peers shaun and reggie, who are also part of the production group as me forest light pictures. we sat down to discuss my fmp short film 'Guardian' and its genre being super hero. we spoke about the recent success of the amazing spiderman 2 and captain america: the winter solider. everyone agreed that both films were equally good but captain americas story was a lot more advanced and whoever wrote the script really did an amazing job.

FMP Research - Ideas Sheet (unfinished)

Film genres -

Horror,
Fantasy,
Comedy,
Drama,
Thriller,
Romance,
Film nior,
Action,
Adventure,
Sci-fi,
Psychological thriller,
Foreign and
Animation.

Chosen genres -

Action,
Fantasy,
Sci-fi,
Thriller and
Film nior.

Film ideas for each genre -

Action -

Fantasy -

Sci-fi -

Thriller -

Film nior -

FMP Research - Mind map


FMP Research - Audience Research (unfinished)

FMP Research - Bibliography

man of steel
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0770828/?ref_=nv_sr_1
dexter
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773262/?ref_=nv_sr_1
the dark knight
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/?ref_=nv_sr_2

FMP Research - Questionnaire Summary

i handed out my questionnaire to 20 people to fill out these were my findings.

1. what is your gender?

male(10)               female(10)            other

2. how old are you?

16-19(12)     20-24(4)     25+(4)

3. what is your preferred genre?

horror(3)      thriller(5)      superhero(5)      drama(3)        action(4)

4. do you prefer a male or female lead?

male(13)      female(7)

5. would you prefer visual effects or special effects?

visual effects(3)         special effects(3)              dont mind(14)

6.  do you get attached to main characters?

yes(18)        no(2)

7. do you like violence?

yes(7)        no(13)

FMP Research - Codes and Conventions

Codes and Conventions of Superhero Films:

-hero
-villain
-weapons
-vulnerable character
-something/one the hero cares for and is put in danger
-super powers

How my FMP will hit the codes and conventions:

Hero:
the main character is called Alex he is the hero of my story and will do everything in his power to save the world.

Villain:
the villain in my FMP is called swarovski he is the new Russian president but is also part of a terrorist group ready to attack the UK and america.

Weapons:
in my film weapons will not play a big part but a knife is used a few times when Alex first saves someones life.

Vulnerable Character:
the vulnerable character in my film is Alex's old best friend from secondary school called Larry, but lost touch after they left, he is the vulnerable character because he used to work for swarovski as a computer nerd, but fled the organisation he worked for as he sold information on terror plots swarovski had planned.

Something/one the hero cares for and is put in danger:
there are two things Alex cares about and that are put in danger that is Larry his old best friend and innocent peoples lives as swarovski plans a global terror attack.

Super Powers:
Alex has super powers being a superhero and they are super strength, able to fly and can sense when someone is in danger or is going to commit a crime, but Alex is not the only super hero (villain) swarovski is his brother but hey don't know it. his powers are self healing (but a has a weak spot on his neck) and super strength also.



FMP Research - Questionnaire

1. what is your gender?

male               female            other

2. how old are you?

16-19     20-24     25+

3. what is your preferred genre?

horror      thriller      superhero      drama        action

4. do you prefer a male or female lead?

male      female  

5. would you prefer visual effects or special effects?

visual effects         special effects

6.  do you get attached to main characters?

yes        no

7. do you like violence?

yes        no

Case Study - Elements of Motion Graphics

Alpha Channels

An alpha channel is a type of mask in motion graphics. The mask is called a channel mask, the mask changes the transparency of the clip.

You can modify the alpha channels options by:

- select the channel, then choose channel options in the options menu.

- then you have to enter a name for your alpha channel.

- choose the cloud and opacity of the overlay.

- specify whether you want the masked area to include the masked area, selected area or spot colour.

- then click OK to close the options box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQ-3FFbf4w

1. An alpha channel is being used when the Tesco logo fades in, the Tesco logo is on an alpha channel we know this because the background is transparent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_OFesTKDX8

1. On the main background where there is an opening showing newcastle.

2. For the objects that slide and then drop down, for each object there is a separate alpha channel.

3D layers

A 3d layer is there to create an illusion of depth within an image. Also doing this adds an extra axis to the x and y it is the z axis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmlG6eq_no

1. With the stars coming in they will be 3D because they fly towards the camera.

2. Also the clouds and mountain will be 3D as well.


Keyframes

Keyframes are a single still image in the sequence that happens that is an important point. they are used to create points of motions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWpglJL4KZk

1. Right at the end of the pixar ident the key frames on the opacity would have been changed, for the text that reads 'animation studios' so it can fade in.

2. Also the lamp that moves would have had its key frames moved on the position tab.

Mattes

A matte is where you use a mask to blank out a part of an image to replace it with a new image.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8NDt85cHQw

1. replacing human heads with cats and dogs is a matte, also it would have been motion tracked.

2D elements

2D elements are 3 or 4 sided shapes that can be displayed on a x and y axis. there are 3 types of 2D elements: shell, solid and plate. a shell is linear one-dimensional, that have constant values on the x and y axis. A solid is a two dimensional that is either quadrilateral or triangular. A plate is also two dimentional.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWpglJL4KZk

1. the pixar letters are 2D elements

2. The animations studio is a 2D element as well.

Case Study - Formats

Uses of digital video technology:
  •        Short Films
  •        Promos
  •        Viral Marketing
  •        Games
  •        Email attachments
  •        DVD
  •        CD
  •        Presentations
  •        Mobile Devices     

Formats:

  • Compression – Lossy Vs Lossless
  • Video files – MPG, MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, FLV, SWF, 3GP, ASF
  • File sizes – Resolution, Data rate, Frame rate, keyframe rate
  • Aspect Ratio – 4:3, 16:9


Media Players:
  • Flash Player
  • QuickTime
  • Windows Media Player
  • RealMedia                  


Film trailers are now available on IMdb, the new 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' trailer is available in full HD on the IMdb website also is downsized to the iPhone market by putting it on there mobile app. 

The full HD version is displayed in 1920x1080 (16:9) in a lossless .flv format, comparing it to the iPhone version, a 720x576 (16:9)  conversion again in lossless .mp4. In order to view the desktop version you need to have installed Flash Player.

The music industry is in one of its biggest changes as the majority of music sales are now done on the internet, these are done by using mp3 files, also some people download there music illegally so the cd sales are decreasing more and more, the standard cd format is a lossless mp3 format.

The film 'The wolf of wall street' was  released in shops in two formats DVD and Blu-ray, DVD is the cheaper version and also has less quailty in terms of picture and sound, where as Blu-ray the slightly more expensive version is full HD and has great sound. You can only play Blu-ray discs on a blu-ray player but you can also play dvds on a blu-ray player, but you can only play dvds on a dvd player.
DVD's are displayed in 720x576 (4:3)pixels with a frame rate of 25fps with the format of lossless MPEG.

Games are one of the most profitable and biggest industries at the moment in the world and they are growing ever bigger. Fifa 14 which is the biggest football game on the market at present was released on xbox 360 until the next generation of consoles came out. The xbox 360 displays unto 1080p (1920x1080) which was the highest point of hd it could go up to at that point in time. The new xbox one is the latest console from Microsoft being released in 2013. It can be displayed in the new 4k resolution ( 3840x2160 - 2160p ) which is new to home televisions now. the xbox one games are formatted to blu ray discs which usually display in the normal full hd format of 1080p (1920x1080).







 


After Effects match moving

The task was to make the girl who is standing in a green room, stand on gravel floor by removing the back ground and tacking the cameras pan movement so the gravel looks real. First you use the roto brush tool and draw a continuous line inside of her body like the picture below and then after effects automatically cuts out the women with the purple line shown. 

After I had done this I dragged it the work area so it follows the pan of the camera throughout the whole clip, After this I need to key her out by searching the invert effect and applying it to the girl. Grab the Invert channel and change this from RGB to Alpha.

After this I had to add a 3D camera to the women so that the gravel floor can be tracked to the women as the camera pans around her, adding the camera analysed the area that women is standing throughout the whole clip. Then I selected the area around her feet so that the floor knows what angle to lie. After the area was ready I applied a null object which will act as the floor.

 After I created a new black solid and then added a grid to it. and Parented this to the null object that was made in the previous image so it stays around her feet like the image below. Then expanded it to the size I want the floor. After this I found the effect Keylight 1.2 and the found the option in Keylight called screen colour click the option and then click the green background making it disappear and then click the FX button so the girl reappears.

 After this I imported the gravel like the one below and made it 3D and like the grid I parented it to the Null so it becomes the floor around the girls feet. and the move the girl to the top of the composition so she is on top of everything. and Finally added a light a parented it to the 3D camera so it follows the girl around.

After I had done this I imported the gravel and made it 3D and parented it to the null object like the grid, it then becomes the floor below the women's feet. Then move the women to above all layers so she is on top of the gravel floor. Then to finish it off I added a light the give the floor an even more 3D effect.

Sunday 20 April 2014

After Effects Colour Finesse

Clip 1.
The picture quality looked almost to be perfect until we put the clip into a programme on after effects called 'colour finesse' then we were told to go into a certain menu where there are sliders for the videos Gamma, Pedestal and Gain. when they were all perfect and in place you could see the difference from the original to the edited version.

Clip 2.
The next clip looked very blue so were shown that you could change not just the whole images gamma, pedestal and gain but you could change them all individually for the red, green and blue channels. So all we had to do as change the blue gamma, pedestal and gain to match the red and the green, after this we just did what we did with the first clip.

Clip 3.
The last clip that we had to do was a little yellow looking and all the RGB sliders were everywhere so first we had to get all of the RGB's gamma, pedestal and gain in the correct place so it was less yellow and more of an enhanced picture colour, then we just change the main gamma, pedestal and gain so that it looks professional.

Tuesday 1 April 2014

After Effects lesson 2

This is our second lesson of after effects this is what we made. 



After Effects lesson 1

This was what we created in our first after effects lesson after we learnt the following.


First of all we started by opening up after effects, the when the interface loaded we learnt what the basic buttons where such as selection tool, hand tool, horizontal type tool and new composition button. the we were told to import some footage by going to file > import > file, and then we choose what files we wanted, they then show up inside the project tab. Before then putting the footage or elements onto the timeline you have to drag the first piece of footage from the project tab onto the new composition button. this will create a new composition with your piece of footage already inside of it, we know this because it is on the timeline. Now we can just drag and drop onto the timeline with any footage from the project tab. with all the layers on the timeline in place we can now arrange them by moving them up or below each other, this determines what you see in order so if we have a back ground and a man as two separate layers you would put the man layer above the background so he is visible.
To change the position of something within the sequence we learnt that you have to go into the layer and click the keyframe button next to position and then move the current time indicator forward in time and then change the value on position it will automatically set a keyframe and when you ram preview it by pressing "0" key is will render it so you can watch the position of the object move. You can customise the workspace to the right of the interface by changing to the drop down menu at the top right of the screen so you can choose from effects, motion tracking and more.