Instructional Video Final Version

Final version of my instructional video (didn't have time to put credits on it, so I've just put them in the description. I'll probably come back to it later and make some)

Presentation Evaluation

Today we presented our Minor projects in front of the other levels (but we were watching a live stream next door). It was a bit of a weird set up with some technical dificulties (and two being shown in the studio, so they couldn't be shown live). 

The presentation went well, I think I finished slightly early, but I said quite a lot (maybe a bit too fast!). The props also looked good in the studio as an exhibition, I feel this was an original and innovative way to present. I went in the day before to make sure everything was set up and working, and also on the day for any last minute preps (had to buy some pegs for the gels so it was a good thing I went in the day before!) I’m very glad it worked out and looked good. I did want some audience participation and for people to pick out their favourite prop, the strongest emotional one, and if they look and feel different compared to how I filmed them. I only got a few responses, but I guess from the silence that people agreed with what I said in the presentation.

Not The Perfect Cheesecake/Conclusion

My export turned out a bit off center which is annoying (but at least it's in sync, it wasn't the first time I exported!) but I don't have time to change it, so I will just have to live with it. I also don't have time to cut out some of the pauses so it's about 20 seconds over my 5 minutes (I'm sure this is fine). The Kinetic Typography is also not perfect (as covered before, the end transitions don't match the start ones). Some of the visuals do not match the voice over (such as the bunny) which could not be fixed as I didn't know the shadows on the bunny would not work. The survey is also not perfect, and some of them disagree with my original aims, so I can use this as part of my Primary research in my presentation and say what went wrong and how I could improve it. 

Overall, my research is probably the strongest part of the module, with an essay to back up what I have learnt. I have put a lot of effort into the module, so it's a shame some things did not work and I didn't have time to correct them (e.g. the off center render). 

Future Benefits

My Minor project can be relevant to any project as it focuses on props, lighting, camera. I have a more fine tuned and perfectionist mind set when it comes to mise-en-scene (I'm literally analysing every scene in a film now. My current favourite is this one from Baby Driver) which will help in the industry if I decide to get a job in the art department or as a cinematographer as I can see what works in frame, how to compose it and the science and history behind it. I have developed my skills in the Black Magic cameras in time for Final Major and also helped out on some projects (which also included the Black Magic) to include in my showreel, which will be useful in the industry and one of the most important things for a job. I also did an essay to further enhance my terminology and a mindset to spot mise en scene and how to improve it. A lot of work went into my Minor and the research and I hope it shows. 

I have also enhanced my editing skills, especially on After Effects and Davinci, which will be useful if I decide to edit as a job, and hopefully edit a Final Major (in a perfect world, I'd love to camera and edit). I'd like to look at Premiere Pro as it can also be used in the industry (will probably do this in my own time during Christmas and as part of my professional studies). 

After Effects

I like to think I have mastered After Effects after my Minor. I have done a full blog post focused on Kinetic Typography as that was one of my main features of the video (blog post is here). I have also made shapes and grids, and cried over rendering errors. I will talk about each in this blog post.

The kinetic typography took about 5 days to complete and 292 layers of text. I spent way too much time on this which I regret, and even more time trying to export it. I've had every error message under the sun; no disk space, no special characters, and just plain "error". 

Same Beth

My After Effects experience has been mostly negative and time consuming and doesn't look very impressive (could have probably done the normal writing in less than a day on movie maker or powerpoint). I'm also a bit angry that the beginning transitions are different to the end (that comes up word by word). I spent a lot of time on it and I wanted it to be perfect, but I will just have to live with it, as I am not rendering it again this close to the deadline. 

I made my own rule of thirds grid in After Effects too, which was essentially drawing and duplicating lines with the pen tool. I also added pictures of colour wheels and historians (royalty free!) and made sure they were of a high quality and made the backgrounds transparent on photoshop (which is fairly straightforward using the lasso tool). 

Davinci Edit

Today I have been focusing on colour correcting, boosting the audio and replacing the shaky bunny videos with still images, which I have done on Davinci. I didn't want to use a lot of editing software as I don't have time to export each one for the job it's designed to do (and I don't want to loose image quality). I have only used Davinci once before (briefly) for my Visual Culture. I asked Google and Jamie for some of the basics of adding nodes and also how to take a screengrab to match up the colours.

Right click on main image, then take still.

I also had to split my clips up as I imported my whole edit (it didn't like my typography edit for some reason, so I just used the one without, then I will export the After Effects one again) to colour correct each scene. It wasn't hugely time consuming and was a bit of a relief after the huge errors I've had with After Effects. I still need to cut out some of the pauses, but I will probably do that after the presentation, if I have time (got to prioritise!) 

When I was colour correcting the blue shirt/green banana, the colours kind of blended together, so I used parallel nodes to isolate the colours of the blue shirt (and bring out the blue) and the skin colour (and make it more pink). 

Parallel nodes

Tutorial Minutes

Just a quick update where I am. Finished a main edit (and some of the typography) which I have shown to my tutor in my tutorial today. I know it's not perfect, and just basically said to look at colour correcting, stabilisation of the bunny and suitcase shots and to keep updating my blog (which I essentially already knew, just wanted to focus on getting something exported to show!) Looking at future benefits was one thing that was mentioned and didn't occur to me, so I will make a blog post on that and also include it in my presentation. I also voiced my concerns about the bunny section and doing my narration first but I think I edited around it well. 

Survey Results

As part of my Learners Agreement, I suggested doing a survey of my film and if it had succeeded in what I have tried to portray looking at the different principles. Most have succeeded. I will go through each question in detail. I've had 12 responses (would have liked more) but I can work with it since each question is important and detailed enough.

This is good as this is what I wanted to portray! I asked the respondents why and most of them said it "takes up most of the frame". I've also created emotions of intrigue with people wanting to know what's inside. A few people said that the actor was more important as the suitcase wouldn't be picked up without it and the hand must be there for a reason.

The next four questions were about the doll. 1st breaking the rule of thirds, 2nd going with the rule of thirds, 3rd from a low angle, and 4th from a high angle. I asked about their emotions and to look at the framing. Most people were creeped out by all four. A few eagled eyed respondents noticed the framing on the 1st was off, but most people felt like the doll was following them from this angle. One person noticed the red lighting making them more on edge. 

Most people liked the 2nd one better but didn't say why. A few said it was due to the framing making it look nicer (but the doll was still creepy) and the shadow adds to it and one person even said it looks more important (which is what I was aiming for in the 3rd one, not this one).

No one was really impressed with the 3rd one and even felt like it was less creepy. I did get a few good quotes though;

"It wants to be played with now! It wants to play with my mind!!!" 

"You’re creeping me out."

"It's like she's trying to reach out to you in this one, which is an uncertainty of whether that's a good thing or bad."

For the 4th and final doll image, most people found this to be the creepiest (which is kind of against what I was going for, this angle should make the doll more inferior). I can tell one respondent is familiar with camera angles with this quote;

"Because of the camera angle I feel this makes the doll look evil as it's as if it is staring straight at the viewer into their eyes"

Now the green and blue combo. I was hoping to create unease with this one, and most people did feel a bit uneasy (and a bit confused too).

"The banana just doesn’t look right and this shot makes me slightly uncomfortable"

Most people were more concerned about how unripe the banana was (it was very unripe, Beth couldn't even peel it properly)

"Professional compsition but that banana ain’t ripe yet girl"

"Green bananas are nasty."

One person seemed to like the colours! 

"seems bright and earthy with the colour palette"

People felt more satisfied with the red combo (again not really what I was going for, I was hoping they would all blend in with each other, but one person said this happens more with the previous picture). Most people were looking at a possible meaning behind the red colour and lighting. One made me laugh;

"The red tones remind me of love, and they look like they love that apple."

Most people said that the shadow on the face was annoying which was a fault on my end. Totally didn't notice or realise it would make so many people on edge. The rest of the video is fine, so must just be how Beth is facing. Should have chosen a different screenshot.

Finally the bunny. This one I was concerned about as I couldn't generate the shadows on the background as I would have hoped. I wanted it to look evil, but I personally didn't think it does. Most people agree. However it is very tight.

Overall most of my shots did conform to the Principles. There are some that go against it too, which will be interesting to present and suggest why. 

Presentation Worries

I have quite a few worries about the presentation next week. The main one being how I will present mine in the studio when the live stream will be set up (presumably) in the seminar room. I will have to ask the lecturers about this either tomorrow or Friday. I can always present it in the seminar room not a problem. I am also quite behind on editing (was hoping to get everything done today) and I still need to colour correct and do my typography (and maybe cut it down as it goes slightly over the 5 minute mark). 

I've focused mainly on research this week which I will use in my presentation, but I feel like I should do a lot more. However, with time restrictions, I cannot. If the deadline was a bit later, I feel like I could have gone more in depth with my study. I've also had little time to complete my survey as promised in my Learners Agreement. I've had 11 respondents but the survey was quite in depth and I can use the answers (will cover this on a different blog post). 

How Films Tell Stories Through Mise-en-scène

This blog posts links to my Minor as I will be focusing on props and cinematography, and also exploring more in depth how films give emotional responses through Mise-en-scène. I feel like this will enhance my filmmaking decisions as well as my Minor presentation as it can back up my points and also explore topics I have covered.



Consumerism is a huge theme explored in Fight Club. Jack is chasing the American Dream; a white collar job and expensive furnature. However, he cannot achieve happiness. The reoccuring motif's of Starbucks cups suggest the capitalist culture and it effecting Jack's life. The above scene, he realises that he is a consumerist as he's after a "dining set that defines me" and is emasculated "we used to read pornography, now we read the Ikea catalogue". The slow pan and the writing exaggerates how bad his 'addiction' to consumerist culture is and how he wants to fit in. This also links to the 90s 'New Man' where men were becoming more paternal feminised.



The first few minutes of the above scene is rich in mise-en-scène to create tension and fear. The centre piece of the scene is an oversized table full with brightly coloured food. Ofelia lives where food is rationed so it must be torture for her to resist, then she gives in and eats the grapes. There is a close up of Ofelia, closing her eyes back with pleasure showing her captivated by the taste and lost in the moment to the action unfolding behind her. The red colours in the food (grapes, meat…) on the table is symbolic. In this case, red represents blood and danger. 

The fact that Ofelia’s dress was once a bright, luxurious green in the previous scenes suggests a happy, innocent and enchanting character. However, in this scene, it looks more dull and ragged suggesting trauma and possibly a change in character. 

Piled high in the creature’s lair is his collection of 'memento mori'. It consists of children’s shoes, they are small and poignant; the murder of the innocents is very symbolic, and creates anxiety for Ofelia’s fate, also shown in the paintings of the slaughtering of children. 

The hour glass is constantly cross cut to, with an incremental zoom; a constant reminder that time is running out. 

I've done an essay on this as there was just so much to talk about an analyse, which can be found on my Moodle page.



Costumes and colour are the defining factors in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, with lots of mise-en-scène similar to a video game. For example, the prestigious vegan ex is dressed in white to show extravagance, who also wears a big 3 on his chest. Each ex has a number, apart from Scott who was seen earlier wearing a shirt saying "zero". Ramona is unpredictable, shown in her changing hair colours. Her hair is green in the above clip, symbolising Scott's jealousy (and is also mirrored in Scott's green shirt). Her hair could also symbolise each act of the film; pink when she and Scott aren't dating, blue when they are, and green for the resolution. Scott also wears a pink undershirt when he first meats Ramona (who has pink hair) which could signify he has feelings for her but does not want to expose them. When Scott and Knives drift apart, Scott's costume dulls down and also has a patch with an "X" on it, suggesting he could become her "ex" soon. Overall, the costumes are iconically 90s, as well as pixelated swords and writing that pops up (similar to the Fight Club scene) to mirror video games. 

References
Most of the above is from my own knowledge of mise-en-scène. 

Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFHzD2w-meE (07.11.17)

An Introduction to Mise-en-scène

https://09couplandw.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/mise-en-scene/

Mise-en-scène is a French term that originated in the theater, meaning “placing on stage" or what is present during the scene. In film, this refers to not only staging, but includes the arrangement of everything that appears in the shot, such as actors, lighting, décor, props, costume. The frame and camerawork are also considered part of this. The director is in charge of deciding what goes where, when, and how, but filmmakers without a professional production designer do many people's jobs and don't do one well.

Mise-en-scène can be narrowed down to these general aspects; setting, props, costume, lighting, make-up and performance. But for some it has a broader significance, and is used to refer to everything which appears in the frame of a finished film (such as cinematography and special effects). I will be focusing on the latter definition for my Minor (minus the special effects). 

Mise-en-scène is one way of producing meanings (a cinematic code) in films which can be straightforward or complex, depending on the intentions and skill of the director (also known as the 'mettur-en-scène').

Sources Referenced http://www.elementsofcinema.com/directing/mise-en-scene-in-films/
http://shohawk.com/mise-en-scene/
NELMES, J. (2012) Introduction to Film Studies Routledge, London.

Prop - Filming

Today was a bit of a bumpy ride. It took a while to get out of the seminar to film and set up. I was hoping to get everything done on the morning and in a few hours (which I did) as I had thorough plans and shot lists. I asked Jamie to film the behind the scenes stuff which were very important to the video, and Beth to model for a few of the shots. I'm greatful they gave up a few hours to help me out. It ran quite smoothly on a whole (apart from a bulb on a red head going off as soon as I wanted to film the three point lighting set up). 

Picture by Jamie

The only major issue I had was the shadows on the bunny didn't quite work, so the voice over seems a bit weird and overreacting to a bunny. My survey results also suffered for it as it doesn't generate the emotion I wanted. I will still include it in my final video, I just need to say it didn't work because I did voice over first, and what I have just mentioned above. A bit of an inconvenience. I've just had to put all the footage of the bunny that looks vaguely scary at that point instead.

Editing/First Draft

Just noticed as I was editing that I didn't pull focus on the suitcase shot (basically because I was short on time and didn't check the script, but also because the movement happened a bit fast and I wasn't sure how to frame it). So I've had to cut that out. This probably could have been avoided if I did my narration after filming the props, but I couldn't do that due to equipment and studio availability (and also deadlines). 

I'm also panicking as I can't find the clip of the voice actor talking about rule of thirds which is very important! I know we did it on the day, but I don't know where the clip has disappeared to. *UPDATE* I found it. Crisis averted. I also need to put the grids on this part of the video.

The bulk/first edit is not officially done. It's 5 minutes 30 seconds so it might be a little too long. I can take the gaps out later, at this point, I was focusing on getting the best audio takes together with some visuals. I also need to look at colour correction (especially for the blackmagic footage) at one point. There are a lot of gaps at the moment, which I will hopefully fill with titles made in After Effects (research for this will be on another post). 

Voice Over - Filming

Today was the narrator shoot for my Minor instructional video. I got the equipment out, set up and tested on the morning (first time I have used the Zoom!) and got the actor in on the afternoon. The Zoom was fairly easy to get the hang of and straight forward, but all my clips went into like 20 different folders which was a bit of a pain. I also had to move rooma halfway through as I could hear people in the edit suite/base room being very loud even though I said to stop (people were also editing sound in there, so I dread to think how they were managing). I ended up moving into the Gallery (there were still some heavy footed people outside for a few takes and an annoying hum, but it was much better). 

My original set up in the client suite. The gallery set up was very similar.

Ideally, I would have liked to film the visuals first, then the narration, but due to equipment and actor availability (and deadlines fast approaching) I had to do it the other way around, which lead to some problems, including lines being cut and visuals not working. I will talk about this more in my concluding post and evaluation.

To-Do List/Schedule

To-Do List (for my Minor)

• Research (and upload to Moodle) (could I do more? No time)
• Record narration (forgot to record Google voice!)
• Shot list for filming props
• Film props
• Edit main bulk of film 
• Survey Upload results
• Look at Do kinetic typography in After Effects Export typography
• Colour correct
• Boost audio
• Replace doll video with images
• Set up presentation

Schedule (mostly so I know what I'm doing these next weeks)

Tuesday 31st October: Guest speaker morning, setting up Beth's minor afternoon

Wednesday 1st November: Filming Beth's minor

Thursday 2nd November: Guest speaker morning, voice over afternoon

Friday 3rd November: Hutch lecture?, minor filming

Saturday 4th November: photography for wedding (PRINT BUSINESS CARDS!)

Sunday 5th November: Dissertation and Editing

Monday 6th November: Filming Beth's minor, (maybe editing), Alyson tutorial on the night

Tuesday 7th - Friday 10th November: Editing

Saturday 11th-Monday 13th November: Away

Tuesday 14th November: Alyson tutorial, presentation final prep

Thursday 16th November: Set up studio for presentation afternoon

Kinetic Typography

There are a lot of gaps in my main edit video which I will either fill with stock footage if it is an example, or I will fill it with text from the audio. I am looking into moving text titles, called 'kinetic typography' in After Effects. I have never used it before and it took me about an hour to type in a word, and it crashed while exporting. Hopefully (time permitting, I'm focusing on the bulk edit at the moment), I can look at this further next week and actually export something without the computer crashing.

References



06.11.17 - I have experimented a bit more and this video is very long winded, so I have done a basic sync up. I had a quick look at the animations but I'm unsure if they are needed and looks like they will take up a lot of my time (which I do not have). I think I'll do another basic edit of everything like this, and if I have time, animate them where relevant. 

I've learnt a few shortcuts how to sync the words up (it did take me 2 hours to figure it out though).

A possible pointless step looking at paths and masks. Might come back to this later.

This is what I have done today. Doesn't look like much, but I'm hoping the rest will be quicker. I have installed After Effects at home too so I can have even more time. 

07.11.17 - I didn't get any further animating it. I also had a quick look at templates online but they were even more complicated! I've found a better video which I will use for the next part of the writing.




08.11.17 - I got a lot further with the above tutorial. However the software on my laptop wouldn't let me play the video and audio track together (which took me a while to figure out). 

Keyframing a bounce

Basically, I just had to keyframe where I wanted the writing to pop up (and I added a little bounce to it). I saved the animation and dropped it on the others. So hopefully it won't take as long for the rest. (I even had to tutorial the best render settings to upload this video). Okay it's taking me a while to do it for the rest so I'm prioritising at the moment. I'll see how much I can get done the next few days and if it's possible to do the whole video like it.



15.11.17. 292 layers later and I'm done. Most of it is very basic, and I only animated the Google voice (to make it stand out). I would have liked to experiment with more transitions but it was very time consuming and I had to prioritise. I feel like I have learnt a lot in After Effects so I will upload a blog post on all the skills I have learnt on it. I have almost the final edit! Just need to colour correct, replace the doll angle shots with images (they are too shakey!), take out some of the pauses and boost the audio levels. I had trouble exporting it, can only find answers on forums that say it is because of accented characters. But it's still coming up. Might have to ask Lee tomorrow if I still can't figure it out. This whole thing has been soooo time consuming. 

*UPDATE* A few various error codes later, I have an exported kinetic typography project! asjhshkj never using after effects again. I've also just noticed that the beginning typography is different to the end (it comes up in chunks rather than word by word). I don't really have time to fix this, I got my Mam to watch it and she didn't notice. However, I do want it perfect. Might do the other things first and come back to it, but part of me wants to do it now. To be honest, I'm not sure why I didn't do them all in chunks. Would have saved me a lot of time.

A whole lotta layers!

Render error

A 'Minor' Setback

(excuse the pun). I've had to put forward shooting (all the risk assessments and booking forms are signed off) more than I would have liked and I can't do any more until I have filmed (e.g. the voice over, script). I am researching, but have chosen this time to focus and get Dissertation done and out of the way. 

I'm also fishing for credits on everyone's Minor, which is good experience and I want to help out my fellow classmates. 

*UPDATE* I have decided to do the script first and do the narration on Thursday as I just won't have time if I wait until after. It's not ideal as I did want to do the visuals and then the script, in case I forget to film anything on the day. But it's all booked and sorted now!

List of Props

This post will cover what props I will be filming and which principle of mise-en-scene it will link to, and how it can give an emotional response. Some of the props might be a bit big to bring to the film studio, so I might not take these.

• Dominance: Suitcase. Guide audience to it through angles and meaning behind them
• Lighting: Pink bunny toy (hairy). Looks innocent at first but with chiaroscuro lighting it's horrifying
• Type of shot: Telephone and person. Look at depth of field and lenses, to shift perceptions.
• Colour: Blue top/green banana, red top/red apple. Colour theory. "Blue and green should never be seen" but actually looks okay in practice. 
• Character placement: Doll. Again make it look scary, but this one is just plain scary. Look at framing here and importance. 

I will also update my Moodle drive with lighting and detailed plans before I film next week.

How-To Video Research

My 3-5 minute film to present at the end of the module will be an instructional video. I felt like this would tie up all the footage of the props together and also show what I have been researching and doing for my Minor well. I looked at previous how-to videos online that tend to do fairly well as research, with a focus on film youtubers and how they present theirs.



This one is kind of how not to do comedy. However they do show how to do three point lighting set ups well. It feels scripted with mostly visuals. It also has 1 million views (and is also the go to video for our lecturers) so it must be doing something right. They make it look very simple, with no convoluted words.



Apart from the load of ads in the video, Film Riot do very well on YouTube. Their presenter is frequent in all their videos (apart from some guest speakers) and is very casual and friendly, sometimes funny and sarcastic. 




Every Frame A Painting is one of the most popular Film youtube channels. This one is voice over only and focuses on visuals (which is what I will do). He is very informative and is quite clearly scripted. There's not a lot of humour, but there is a lot of detail. I would have liked this much in mine, but I didn't want to take up half my presentation time on this video. 



This is what came up when I just searched for "editing tutorials". It has nearly 2 million views and is basically a load of screengrabs and a narration. I will be doing something similar but with filmed props rather than screengrabs of the software. I could do this with After Effects if I have time. The narration is informative, casual, but no humour.


Overall, a lot of the videos do not include humour (or include it well) so I will be focusing on this for mine and in the script. Visuals from films tend to do well too (but the films will be my filmed props and some behind the scenes stuff of how to film them). My narration will also be informative, like all of the above. 

Theories

Colour Theory

One of the principles I will be looking at is colour, so it makes sense to look into colour theory and the meanings behind the colours, and why. The example I am using in my film is someone wearing a blue top, eating a green banana. According to the colour wheel (and this source), they are contrasting colours and should make the viewer uncomfortable and add drama to the scene. However, in the video and in practise, this is not the case. 

http://educationresources.serif.com/cambridgenationals/creating_digital_images/1_specify_image_solution/part1-10.html

Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and how meaning is created through them*, coined by Barthes. This theory is a huge part of filmmaking and especially in my minor as I am basing it on props. What the props inferred meanings are also have a bearing on narrative and how they look on screen. The main example I will use in my project to show this is the prop of the doll and the bunny. In different framing and lights, I can show it as either good or evil, and flip viewers expectations. 

*http://www.signsalad.com/semiotics-explained/