PROJECT 3 - THE LOOP

SYNOPSIS
For the loop project I am planning on attempting stop motion animation. I have made a model out of plasticine that I am going to use. My idea is to make the model dance in a sequence that can be looped so it just continually dances. I have never done stop motion before so I’m guessing it will take several attempts to get it right. For the sound I am thinking about a simple techno track that will loop easily. I imagine this kind of loop would be seen in the context of an internet pop up or while a game is loading.

STORY BOARD

THE DANCING DUCK

ANIMATING
Capturing the footage of the duck moving was a very long and tedious process. It took many attempts to get it right. I had a lot of trouble with the model and had to keep re structuring it so that it would stand up. The final model resulted in having very big feet which I think ended up looking better anyway.
The other problem with the model was that I had to work very quickly because the plasticine was melting under the lights. The duck had to have many trips to the fridge to re set.
Once I had finally captured the footage successfully I compiled it altogether using Quick Time. It ended up being about 80 shots all up for just a couple of seconds of movement.
The plan is now to import this footage into premier and loop the individual movements to make it dance.

AUDIO
Wanting the duck to dance in time with a soundtrack I decided to hunt for a good song before I started any more work on the movie. It didn’t take me long to decide on the perfect song; Crazy Duck (Main Mix) by Klubbhoppers.
I liked the idea of using a techno song because it would be easier to loop and also I think it is quite ironic with the repetitive nature of a loop.
The initial song was over 6 minutes long so I had to find a spot where I could cut it right back to about 20 seconds. I used Audacity to cut out a section that I wanted and to also alter the beats and the start and end of the section so that it would loop. I was extremely sick of the squeaky duck at this stage and pretty sure my flat mates weren’t real impressed with it either.

EDITING
Now that I have decided to use a techno sound track I want to make the footage appear as a film clip to the music. I have stylised the initial image of the duck so that it is now very bright against a black back ground. I am experimenting with different lighting effects, such as the strobe effect, to really enhance the dance club vibe. I am taking sections of my original footage and copying the sequences to make the duck dance. Most of the movements I have sped up to as much as 200% due to the very fast pace of the sound track.

DUCK SEASON
(NOW DECLARED OPEN!)

REFLECTION
I am very happy with how my loop has turned out. I like that it is very irritating as I think this is fitting to the nature of the loop. Watching something over and over eventually drives a person crazy. My loop creates this effect immediately. As annoying as the sound is though the image is really quite cute and something that you would want to watch.
The initial process of capturing the movement was quite a long a tedious process however when it came to putting it altogether in premier I had a lot of fun. I found using premier this time round was a much quicker process because I had a better understanding of how the program worked. This project gave me a good opportunity to experiment with special effects and lighting options within the program.
This project was diffidently my favourite of the three, I think this is because I had better knowledge of what I could actually achieve.
Considering it was my first attempt with stop motion I think the movements are reasonably smooth. There are however a few areas where I feel the movement it a bit rough but I think this is something that is only becoming evident to me because I have watched it so closely. Having a fast audio track meant I could really speed up the movie so any mistakes become hidden with the speed.
Overall I had a lot of fun creating this piece and I feel really happy with what I have achieved, especially when considering I had not even used a MAC before the start of the semester. I am really interested to continue with this subject next year and advance my skills even further.

PROJECT 2 - TEXT

SYNOPSIS
Having suffered from insomnia, doctors suggested a similar process, to that of the automatic writing, to help me clear my head. Basically to put my thoughts onto paper and out of my head. Working with this idea I decided to attempt the automatic writing one night when I was struggling to sleep. I found myself unable to think of anything due to all the distractions around me, such as my puppy trying to get me to play. The only other thoughts that I seemed to be getting was the worrying I was doing about everything I needed to do the following day. Finally I decided just to work with what I had. So it became a script of all the things that were distracting me from doing the automatic writing. Essentially these are all the things that feed my insomnia.
I have pulled the script apart into a story that I can work with. I am planning on working with animated text. I want to create a piece that is cartoon like because I think this is fitting to the nature of where the text came from. For the audio I want to explore different sound effects to enhance the cartoon idea.

AFTER EFFECTS
This is my first time using adobe after effects so it is a case of trial and error. Initially I found it difficult to understand and very time consuming. I have realised that my script is way to long so I have had to cut it down quite a lot. I have managed to find lots of after effects tutorials on the web and am finding them very useful for learning the program.

THE CRIT
Going into the crit my work was still very unrefined and didn’t yet have audio. The feed back that I received was really useful and gave me a good indication of what needed to be done to strengthen my ideas. The general concern that I was having was that it looked a bit like a powerpoint presentation at the start, this was confirmed in the crit feed back. It was suggested that this was occurring at the start of the work because I was learning the program and as the work progressed through so to did my skills. I am planning on now going back through and re editing the start so that it is more dynamic and flows with the rest of the piece.

AUDIO TRACKS
Gnarls Barkley, Crazy
Baha Men, Who Let the Dogs Out
Lily Allen, Knock ‘Em Out

REFLECTION
Overall I was reasonably happy with the final out come of this project. Once I went back through and refined the weak areas of the piece it worked a lot better. I decided to change my original idea of using sound effects for the audio as it was a little bit obvious. I wanted to enhance the idea of distractions so I cut up some music so it would appear as though music being stuck in my head. I played several sound tracks over the top of each other to enhance the idea of a crazy, distracting environment. I am generally happy with the audio and think it fits in well with the text.
I still feel that parts at the beginning of the work are a bit dull and the speed of the work in different places could do with some altering.
I found that this project was really good for experimenting with new programs and ideas. I learnt heaps of new things along the way both in class and from tutes I found on the web. Generally I really enjoyed doing this project.

PROJECT 1 - IDENT

Synopsis
The idea for my ident is essentially the mixing and creation of a simple cocktail. This is relative to my own identity as I spent the last 4 years working behind bars and experimenting with many different mixers.
Initially the camera will be zoomed deep into the glass focused on the pouring and blending of the liquid. Here I will experiment with lighting as a device to enhance the colours and textures of the blending liquid.
The camera will gradually zoom out to show a full view of the final product (the completed cocktail).
I am planning to experiment with lighting and camera angles, considering how the light reflects on the glass and the liquid.
I am planning to use sound to emphasise the noises made by the pouring of liquid into glass and liquid into liquid. I will experiment with recreating natural sound.

Planning
Once I decided on an idea my first experiment was to find a drink that I could quickly mix and that would look effective. I also wanted to find a glass that would be suitable.
I worked with several different ideas, taking photos and also timing the creation. I soon learnt that anything complex to create was going to take too much time. My final result was simply mixing grenadine into orange juice. This was something quick and simple that I could do in the time limit and that also looked very effective.

Filming
This was the first time for me using most of the equipment so it was very much just a case of trial and error. With many people wanting to use the equipment, time was very limited.
I required someone else to film for me while I mixed the cocktail. This made my initial plans for filming rather difficult as they didn’t seem to understand what I wanted. I ended up having to really simplify the filming process and work with just one angle. The result was beginning with a close up of the glass and gradually zooming out. Overall I was not entirely happy with my final clip. I think I had set my expectations to high for the lack of experience that I have in this area. However this has been a learning point for filming in the future.

Editing
This was another case of trial and error for me. It was my first experience using Macs and the software. I worked in Adobe Premier Pro as this was accessible from more computers. I spent some time playing around with some trial filming to find my way around the program. Once I was confident enough I started on my actual project. My lack of experience made this quite a lengthy process. I also found the ‘undo’ button very handy!
The biggest problem that I faced was working out what settings different things needed to be in.

Reflection
Overall this project was very much about learning the technology for me. I feel that the final outcome of my Ident reflects this lack of experience.
Even though I am not entirely happy with the piece, it has been a great learning experience for me. I feel that I can now experiment with something more complex for my next project.
It was difficult to plan what I wanted to accomplish with my Ident when I had no knowledge of the programs. Now that I know how things work I will be able to properly plan for my next project.
One thing that I really had difficulty with and am still unsure of is knowing what settings I should be using for different things. This problem became really evident when I reached the stage of exporting and burning to DVD. I am hoping that I have done this correctly as I was following written instructions.
Knowing what I now do I feel my Ident could be much better than what it is. However it has been a very useful learning project for me and I look forward to being able to do something better for my next project.