Time(-machine)`s are hard...part 4

Yesterday, I had a meeting with Michelle from the Nottingham Youth Orchestra, we`ve talked about the transitions I`ve done and I`ve got a chance to see the orchestra and the choir at work during a rehearsal (which is supposed to be good in making me feel the importance of my effort, or something along those lines...psssst, it was touching though!). All in all, everyone`s happy and looking forward to the concert on the 27th.

There are a couple of things they`ve suggested I change:

- no music for the transitions

- a couple more transitions, introducing Les Miserables and The Pines of Rome

- look for some pictures for the Planets, Rome and WW2 bits

- produce some fireworks for the 1812 piece (I`m going to use some Particular effects in Adobe AE, nothing fancy so far, I am playing around with the default settings, maybe if I get any wiser in time, I`ll try my luck at something more spectacular)

Having said that, today I`ve been in the studio again, helped by my lovely assistant...I mean, friend...Sam, getting on with the last two transitions. In line with the same theme of our now famous and lovable (yeah, right!) glass-headed traveller, here are the last two transitions:

Also on my to do list for this evening...learning how to create some (hopefully mind-blowing) photomontages, because nobody wants to keep it still and boring....right? 

Time(-machine)`s are hard...part 3

Two more of the lot...

Time(-machine)`s are hard...part 2

An another one of the transitions...

This one is supposed to introduce the audience to the 18th century, with the discovery of the planet Uranus in 1781 by William Herschel. The piece that it introduces is Uranus, from Holst`s Planets. Basic idea, but I think it works well...our curious little clear headed friend meeting the man (i.e.,  Herschel) face to....hand!

Time(-machine)`s are hard...part 1

I should have mentioned this when I had my first meeting with Michelle from the Nottingham Youth Orchestra, but I guess this will have to do now...

For the past few years, the Nottingham Youth Orchestra have given a concert at the end of February. They wanted to spice up the performance a bit, so they started a collaboration with Nottingham Trent Multimedia students. A theme is set each year, and this year it was Time travel/time machine, with each piece in the repertoire, corresponding to a certain time period, from the Roman empire, up to the WW2. Whatever I come up with (pictures, video, animation) will be projected unto a screen between the pieces.

So, here is what I`ve done. I started off with a very basic idea: present vs past. I initially thought of shooting models dressed in their everyday clothes, and then have them transition into costumes representative of each period. I have managed to secure most of the outfits via the Theatre Design`s course collection in Waverley, and arranged to film in a studio. All fine so far, until...surprise!...the human element made its way unto the scene...yes, I was let down by people (shocker!).

But, as it would seem, my muse didn`t abandon me, and thanks to a last minute idea, I managed to do part of the transitions required.

I have completed 4 of the 8 transitions, so at least, I won`t feel really bad about tomorrow`s meeting (which will be the first rehearsal with the orchestra).

Ok, so you might ask...what`s up with the glass head? Well, besides the fact that it looks a tad awesome, I thought I could play around with the idea of it being a spectator (not having a body, he can but be witness to the unfolding of images from the past in front of his/her eyes). And, of course, our perception of history is something strictly confined to the realm of the mind, as we cannot physically interact with it. Enough of the talking, here is one of the transition videos (I`ve only uploaded this to Youtube because it`s the smallest):

 

What`s up, DOC? Day 4

So, back to filming again, after a few days off. Today we had two interviews (we will call them THE interviews, seeing that so far they`ll probably be the only ones we`ll have for our documentary). Our interviewees:

Oliver Harrison - lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, specialising in political theory, political ideology and ecology.

Dr. Matthew Ashton -  specialising in Media, Politics, US politics

For the setting, we went for a basic back background, three-point lighting, no fancy angles or camera movements. The main focus was sound, ensuring we could record without any interference, and just in case, the paranoid in me decided to record the interviews unto a R-09 as well. Better to be safe than sorry. As a side note, because the background is really basic, we might attempt to have something in the background added in post-production (although, for chroma keying, a green screen would have been more suitable...we`ll see what we can do about it).

Each of the interviews was around 20 minutes, with three main questions.

Black Ice Documentary

Interview (Oliver Harrison)

Q: In the second half of the 20th century, we witness a shift in our view of nature, of the planet.; from a relatively stable, self-regulating system upon which human activity has little, to no influence, to an extremely complex, interdependent and fragile whole. What caused this shift and what were the consequences? (in terms of media coverage, political action, scientific inquiry).

Q: Pollution and human activity incurring damage unto the environment are notions that have been around for the past decades, but the culprit a la mode, has been different from one period to another (nuclear tests, space exploration, acid rain, etc). Today, it is increased carbon emissions due to fossil fuels. How much of this is due to scientific uncertainty and its usual updates, and how much to politics (trying to motivate the existence of a cause/an ideology)?

Q: In the past decades, the environmental issue (and with it, that of climate change) has been through ups and downs with regards its `popularity`, depending on the prevalent political credo of the day (Reaganism), economic context (oil crisis). Does the 1992 Earth Summit mark a `change of heart`, with governments choosing to take the issue more seriously?

Interview (Matthew Ashton

Q: In the USA, the right wing has been notoriously hostile towards any political measures taken in order to reduce carbon emission. Yet, in other parts of the world, for instance in Britain, the conservatives have helped promote the importance of global warming. Why?

Q: Pollution and human activity incurring damage unto the environment are notions that have been around for the past decades, but the culprit a la mode, has been different from one period to another (nuclear tests, space exploration, acid rain, etc). Today, it is increased carbon emissions due to fossil fuels. How much of this is due to scientific uncertainty and its usual updates, and how much to politics (trying to motivate the existence of a cause/an ideology)?

Q: The Wall Street Journal reported, "The global-warming debate is shifting from science to economics... The biggest question going forward no longer is whether fossil-fuel emissions should be curbed. It is who will foot the bill for the cleanup." Is green-energy turning into a big enough business to be `worth it` for capitalism to take up?

The day started off badly, with one of the lights burning out, with no answer from our interviewees and crew shortage due to personal problems. Nevertheless, we managed to get things sorted, and by the end of the day, I think we got some decent footage and certainly useful material in terms of informed opinions on the subject.

What`s up, DOC? Day 3

I want a day like today, EVERYDAY!!!

Efficient, fun and busy! We were in the studios today, filming for the opening sequence, which has as its main theme `pioneers in the study of the greenhouse effect`. We are talking 19th century here, so the props we gathered try to reflect that. The lighting used was meant to simulate the idea of a candle-lit room, and I`ve done some shopping around for some of the items, and spent most of the evening yesterday filling the pages with equations and formulae on the subject, for that extra special something called authenticity!

Also, today I`ve managed to finally secure an interview for next Monday with Olliver Harrison from Nottingham Trent University, and got Matthew Ashton interested in the interview as well. So, with a bit of luck, we have to interviews in the bag for next week and counting (let`s see if our producer has any luck finding willing `victims` outside of academia).

The rest of the week and the weekend, it`s all about reviewing the shot list, see if there is anything else we need to schedule for next week for the B-Roll, finalise the script for the voice-over, and prepare the questions for the interviews....fun, fun, fun!

The big O

Yes, do make fun of me as much as you like...but I have this dirty secret. I like my opera and my classical music every once in a while. I am one of those who mostly get it through recordings, but hey!...

So, it seems that one can work on THESE little babies: adaptations for the screen of operas or of classical music (a sort of video clip if you will). I know I should be more coherent and make a critical assessment of these, and I will try to sometimes later....but for now...it`s just....WOW:

 

Day 0.4

Tuesday:

After having a light and camera rehearsal on Monday, as well as having a meeting to go over the changes made to the script, we decided to move all the equipment to the location where we`re going to do the filming on Wednesday. The locations, a cellar, a kitchen, and an outside look of a house, have all been risk assessed by Alan and we have been given permission to film. He also arranged for the transport of the group to the location.

The kitchen:

The cellar:

The house:

We split-up into two groups: Ryan, who is in charge with sound (pre-)recording and Alan have set out to capture some of the sound effects that we will be needing for the final editing, and the rest of the group (Abdul, myself, Duncan and Umar) was busy coming up with different ideas for camera/lights angles/position and help put them into practice. Lighting the kitchen has been quite a challenge, and I am still not sure if I am happy with the result (I get to much exposure on certain parts of the face), but we have marked out the places for the set-up we have tried today, so tomorrow hopefully we can start from there and come up with some last minute ideas to solve that problem. Abdul has also drawn up a floor plan. The lighting for the cellar scenes looks more promising. We have used one of the lights and had it bouncing of the wall, and made it look like its source is a lamp that is placed just near the subject. I suggested using a CTB gel, because the CTO one just seemed to soft and tangerine-like. Also, the colour treatment of the kitchen scene required something similar, I think, so as not to have too stark a contrast between the two scenes.

We have had some troubles with the actors...with the actress, to be more precise. She came down with a flu, and her presence is uncertain. Alan has come up with a back-up plan, having contacted a professional actress who might be interested. Until tomorrow though, I am afraid that`s a cliffhanger...

Day 0.3

MINUTES

Monday:

• Final draft of the script, discussed and agreed upon.
• Studio light and camera rehearsal (see photos).
• Booking equipment for Tuesday (on location rehearsal) and Wednesday (shoot).
• Health & Safety, Recce sheet completed.

Know thy lights!

Just your basic three-point lighting tutorial, to recap some of the things we`ve learned last year.







Some useful ideas, especially the ones about what sort of lighting to use (wide, narrow) depending on the shape of your subject`s face. Also, note to self...adjust the position of your lights for each new angle you will be filming from.



This video demonstrates one of those simple tricks that you can use to figure out how good your lighting really is...really makes you wonder why you haven`t thought about it yourself? I`ve tried the technique out in my room, and it makes it pretty obvious which position of the light is preferable.

The next one deals with film noir style lighting techniques. Really interesting, I`ve been trying to replicate it, but obviously I can`t focus my desk lamp. Focus and intensity of light are essential in film noir, so that the soft, grey shadows are replaced by harsh ones. Shadows are your friends in this case.