Thursday, 19 December 2013

Original Image

In this shot we thought about composition. We took the shot at an angle to have the leading lines of the cars. The shot also has vertical and horisontal lines of the buildings. The character is off center and abides with the rule of thirds. The cars are supposed to be in the image as the shot is outside of college.

In this shot we have leading lines of the bikes and of the parking bays. It also has the diagonals of the top of the building. The shot could be improved of something was near the main character. The character is to the left of the frame and abides with the rule of thirds. 









Original Shot







In this shot we shot the refectory at an angle. We have the sun at the side of the image and adds a good effect to the image. The side of the building has vertical lines with lead of into the image. When the viewer looks at the image the viewers eye will follow the lines. We tried to move the bin out of the shot but the bin was falling apart so Ben stood in front of it to hide it from the frame.













Original Shot







Original:

In this shot we have added the leading lines of the road. The viewer will follow the lines. The hands are in the middle of the frame but this is on purpose as wanted the main subject to be in the center of the frame. The cars also add leading lines to the image. 







In the new image we have the bikes creating leading lines. We also have the characters in the sunlight and showing them up. There is also diagonals of the building and from the parking bays. 


















Original Image












This image is like another shot but it is slightly different. The characters have moved position. The characters are slightly off center and there is leading lines form the bikes and the buildings. The sun brightens up the image and enhances it.







Tuesday, 17 December 2013

Macro Photography Trial:

Photo of the small logo to the bottom left of a £20 note. Taken using a Canon 1100d 18-55mm kit lens and 58mm reverse ring.
Shot with friend Andy Howard.
 
 
 
 

Better Composition:

The character isn't center but he could be to the left more. The background isn't very good but the shot needed to be outside of the college buildings. The shot isn't 100% correct but it is a better shot.
The main character is out of focus. This was done on purpose in Manual Mode. The effect of that is good but the character needed to be moved over to the left to improve the image. The background is of the college but could be abit more exciting if shot again.
The stairs attract the viewers attention and the viewers eye follows the stairs. To improve the image the stairs should be shot off center. The frame could then be cropped to remove the chair and other clutter.
This image shows the diagonal lines of the roof and the vertical lines of the posts. The door is central which isn't the best. We could change this by shooting at a different angle to follow the rule of thirds. We could also move some of the clutter or crop the image to improve the image.
 


Bad Composition:

 In this shot the character is in the center of the frame. This is bad as it doesn't follow the rule of thirds. The character should be off center to balance the image. The tops of the buildings were shot straight on therefore not showing any leading lines. If we were to take this so again we should shoot it from a different angle.
In this shot there is another group filming with their tripod. I was in this shot therefore didn't see them in the background. But this ruins the image. The character to the right is out of focus to draw the viewer to the other character. The other character should be to the left hand of the to balance the image.
This image has the students in the center of the frame. They should be to the left or right of the image to make it look right. The refectory isn't shot straight on but the angle should have been different. If the lines of the buildings were shot differently the viewers eye would follow the lines.
The character of Katie is in the center of the image. She should be offset to balance the image and abide with the rule of thirds. The background is rather dull and needs to be changed. The cars are boring and spoil the image. The image could be shot near a path or fence to add leading lines to the image.
The handshake image has the hands central. They should be offset to follow the rule of thirds. There is the lines of the parking bays but it isn't very exciting. The image should be shot somewhere else to add leading lines to the image. This could be done by taking the photo near a fence chain or line of trees.
In this image the characters are not central in the frame. The car spoils the image. The photo needed t be outside of college but it could have been shot near the bikes to add leading lines to the image. The background wasn't thought about. If we were to take it again we would need to think about the background. EG trees or buildings.
 
 
 

Monday, 16 December 2013

Production Folder Checklist:

Folder Tidying and Checking:

As it is coming up to the Christmas break we want all of our current work to be in-order and to be completed to the best of our ability. We have double checked our folder and have tidied it up so that when we return after Christmas all of our work is neat and tidy.


Production Folders

Rotoscoping:

Rotoscoping:

Rotoscoping is an animation technique which allows animators to trace over footage. This is done frame by frame for use in live action and animation films. Originally, the live action film was projected onto frosted glass panel and then re-drawn by an animator. The projection equipment is called a Rotoscope. The device was eventually replaced by computers. In the visual effects sector the term rotoscoping refers to the technique of creating a matte by hand for an element on a live action plate so that it can be composited over a different image or background.



The technique of Rotoscoping was invented by Max Fleischer and he used it in his series Out of the Inkwell around 1915. He used it with his brother who dressed in a clown outfit as the character Koko the Clown. Fleischer used the technique in a number of his cartoons. His most noticeable was the Cab Calloway dance routines in the Betty Boop cartoons from the 1930s.
The Leon Schlesinger Productions, which produced the Looney Tunes for Warner Bros started to produce cartoons and used rotoscoping occasionally. Walt Disney and his animators used it in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and then from then the rotoscope was used mainly for studying human and animal motion.




Example:
Lord of the Rings, 1978 - Boromir's Death:





In the clip of Lord of the Rings from 1978 there is a fight scene before Boromir's death. Rotoscoping is used to add the characters onto the background. The characters are animated and fighting. The background is of some tall trees and a orange and red sunset (2:11). The characters are then placed onto the footage making it look like the characters are really in the woods. The technique is convincing as when I watched the shorts clip I didn't think that it looked out of place or wrong. As the clip is quite fast flowing the viewer doesn't have enough time to look for mistakes in the animation. The characters are animated, therefore the viewer is concentrating on the characters and seeing that they are doing. I think that the use of Rotoscoping is good for the time of creation.

How can Rotoscoping be useful when using After Effects?
It can be used to create shapes and then can use it to help to track the shape. For example creating a shape of a strawberry and then tracking the strawberry in a girls hand.
We can use the Rotobrush to isolate an image and put in on a different background. We could use this for a scene that we can't get to as we can only film inside college. For example we could shoot a section and then isolate a person put of the clip and then add a background a railway station behind them for example. This will give the view of the character being somewhere else that where it was filmed.






Friday, 13 December 2013

Re-naming of Photos for Organisation:


Tuesday, 10 December 2013

The numerous ways you can take a Premiere project/footage into After Effects.

Ways to take footage into After Effects:



1) You can right click on your composition and select "Replace with AE composition". All of the clips will then be sent into After Effects. After Effects will then ask the user to save the new project. 


After effects has received the clips and a composition has been made. 

2) Clicking and dragging with the ALT key: This will duplicate the clips. The user can then lassue the clips and then send to After Effects. 

3) Drag and drop into After Effects:



The orignal clips will then be able to open in After Effects. The clip can then be dragged onto the comp button to create a new composition. 


The simple way:


File, export , media.  This will then save the PPRO file. The user can then open the saved file in AE.



Matte Paintings:

Matte Paintings:

A matte painting is a still representation of a landscape or set. It allows film makers to create the illusion of an environment that doesn't exist in real life. 


In the mid 19th century photographers began to use double exposure techniques to composite two distinct images into one photograph. In the Victorian era, a so called Spirit photographer captured the imagination of the masses. In the photos, there were ghosts mingling in with life. They were, in reality, simple darkroom tricks or what we call now special effects.  


The Process:


  • Firstly a sheet of glass is mounted inside a box which is attached to the front of a camera.
  • When the matte artist uses black paint they can then block out all the parts of the scene that will later be replaced with the matte painting. What will be left are the actors in front of some small constructed scenes. 
  • The action is shot through a glass matte. This creates a partially-exposed negative. Light wasn't allowed to pass through the blackened parts of the cameras lens so the corresponding parts of the negative are considered as being unexposed. 
  • The movie director then shoots minutes of extra footage with the glass matte. The extra footage will then be developed and used as test strips. 
  • While in post production the matte artist uses a frame of the test strip as a reference to create a new glass matte. This is where the live action of the scene is blocked out with the black paint. 
  • The artist then paints all around the black area. He/she maintains the perspective and composition of the shot and checks their work against the test strip.
  • When the artist and director are happy with the blending of the matte painting with the test strip they mount the glass painting onto the front of the camera.
  • Finally, they run the partially exposed negative back through the camera and film the scene with the glass matte painting. The live action is blacked out of the painting so the first exposure isn't double exposed. The result of this is a realistic composite image of the action and the matte painting. 




Example:





Deconstruction


The original still image was used to be edited and changed. The image was edited to make the buildings look run down and fall apart. The edit is convincing as the buildings look real and the colour correction is good. Smoke and fog has also been added to the still image to make the daytime image look like the image was at dusk.






Green Screen Research:

Green Screen Research:


Green screen is used in films, television and video sequences It is often used when the film company or television company are on a low budget. The effect us used with actors and actresses in front of a green screen. This then allows the location and acting to be shot separately. 


History:


Green screen was known many years ago and it was recognised to be one of the most inventive and imaginative techniques of creating effects. In the year of 1970, the colour blue in chroma key was finally transformed to the colour green. In the same year the green screen became famous when it cam to video and film editing. It was aso used in photography. 


Green screening is mostly used in films and television but it is also used in video games. It is used because the top layer of colour can be made transparent so that another image can be seen behind it. This is useful because it can be made to look like actors are somewhere else. For example a moving background can be put behind actors to make them look like they are located somewhere else. 

Example:


Use of green screen

Fast and Furious 4:

In Fast and Furious 4 there is a scene where Dom is dangling someone out of a window. The background is green screened. This is because it would be dangerous to hang someone from a high ledge. Also it would have been expensive to find a exotic location with a hotel. So the director took the decision to use green screen in the scene. Also the background can be a still image to enhance the scene. 



Scene from Fast 4:


Final shot after green screen

Video of Visual effects used in Fast and Furious 4:


Character Model:


Character Model:

Character: Dan







Monday, 2 December 2013

Production Meeting 02/12/13

Production Meeting:

Ben, Reece and Charlie

Review of Animatic:

The 1st attempt of creating an animatic wasn't great. The shots last longer than 2.5 seconds. This means that we will need to break it up into more shots and this will then make the animatic / short film flow. The animatic has shot movement but not all shots have movement. I could animate more shots to make it look better but some of the shots are still and don't need animation. The viewer will watch the clip as it is short and the viewer shouldn't get bored. We only recorded the dialogue and didn't get round to recording any ambient noise. In the real sequence we will record sounds to go behind the dialogue. The dialogue will be able to be heard properly as the volume will be louder. Our lines do not sound convincing as were not the best actors. When we do the real thing I will try my best with the acting and make it sound convincing. To do this I will have rehearse my lines so that they are convincing and half decent. Our story boards show when the effects occur but in the animatic the effects are not so clear. Its not so clear as the text isn't shown below the images. It would be better if the images were in colour. 


Below is my feedback from Dayna:

File Structure:

File Structure:

I have arranged my files into folders so that I can easily find documents.