How can something so bad, feel sooo good? part 2

Basically the same video, with some adjustments made after getting some feedback during a tutorial. I have changed some of the fonts to make them more visible.

How can something so bad, feel sooo good?

...or as formerly known `But Everybody`s Doin` it!` is one happy finished project, nestling in its comfy Youtube space now.

Voila!

After the first rough cut, it took me a few days to figure out what was missing...I still don`t know if I`ve really found that elusive something (but then again...we never find THAT elusive something, do we?), but I am quite pleased with the freeze-frames stylised to look like 50s advertising posters. I hope I captured the spirit, I tried to use as a guide Robert Opie`s 1950s Scrapbook.

I know this has turned out rather ambiguous and cheeky, having a laugh at the overly dramatic seriousness of classic digital piracy ads by using the cartoonish chase seen music and the posters are only re-enforcing the irreverent atmosphere of the whole piece...but then again, it`s supposed to inform, not judge. And observe and inform it does...the vast majority of people have this ambivalent `let`s not and say we did` attitude towards the subject, hypocrisy is oozing out of everyone`s pores and we are, willy-nilly, surfing treacherous waters in our search for our favourite online commodities.

Technical details:

Compressed file has some colour loss but there doesn`t seem to be any major issue with the uncompressed video (have tried it on three different players) altough I`ve initially had some issues with subtitles not showing up on the screen for the introduction sequence.

Also, not entirely sure about the final Hyde-Jekyll transition, the morphing might be a bit...well, a bit spooky for the overall tone of the work (or maybe it`s just me seeing it like that). Might think about having different sequences for the morphing, some that are more similar so that it doesn`t look like something out of a sci-fi film.

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):