redweb – meeting

unfortunately i wasn’t present for the meeting with redweb but mark and cat went along to meet with david burton (the directing manager of innovation).  we had previously discussed the ideas that we’d suggest to them and done our research together. from what was reported back to me david liked the idea of doing an ‘apple profiles’ style video.  the company have recently won awards for being the ‘most innovative digital agency’ so he wanted us to base the video around innovation.

cat and mark said they looked around the work place and that it was a large company with a variety of rooms and work on display. not what they had expected apparently but still suitable for type of video we were planning. david told them the best days for us to shoot would be ‘hack days’ which, are days where the companies developers, designers and people with ideas gather to build ‘cool stuff’. the plan now is to shoot on thursday and friday this week.

personally, as cinematographer / camer op’, i’m going to research some documentary style footage so that we use similar shoots throughout. if these videos are to look professional it is vital we turn up on the day knowing exactly what it is we are trying to do.

bright blue day – tilt-shift tests

bright blue day have not yet got back to us. although we’ve already written and sent the treatment to them we’ve started developing the idea a bit more. mark mentioned shooting some tilt-shift style shots for the video. i thought it would be a good idea to do some test shots, so i went out the other day with slr (and a very unsteady tripod) and shot some timelapses on and around the beach. i sped them up in after effects with the ‘time-remapping’ tool. i bumped up the contrast and saturation on all the videos to give them a that model like look. and of course, added the two lens blur masks leaving a strip in the middle of the shot remaining sharp. the first one, shot from the pier turned out the best.

i think this one worked well because i was on an elevated level to the subject i was shooting (the people). the best tiltshift stuff i’ve seen has always been shot from a great height with the telephoto end of the lens. there are however some problems with this shot. the camera moved very slightly over the 3-4minute period i had it rolling for. it tilted down because the tripod i was using couldn’t take the weight of the telephoto lens on the front of the camera. it’s worth bearing in mind, if or when we shoot some more tilt-shift style shots that we will need a heavier weight and steadier tripod .

i did not shoot this one from an elevated level and as a result it doesn’t work in quite the same way. the image is just too flat for the lens blur to look realistic. if we do pursue with the idea of using tiltshift for bright blue day or one of the other promo videos, then we we’ll have to shoot from a height. the camera also moves on this shot but that is partly because the tripod was on sand.

this one was also shot from the pier but doesn’t work quite as well as the first one. this is down to the combination of it being a much shorted duration (50 seconds sped up to 8 seconds) and the movement of the people. for the tilt-shift to work well there needs to be a fair bit of movement amongst subjects. this is also worth taking into account went shooting more stuff in this style

bright blue day treatment

TREATMENT - BRIGHT BLUE DAY

We have had a number of ideas for the promotional video that we will be making
for your company, but there are two that we would like to propose for your
consideration. The first idea is that, following the prevalent theme of the beach
and beach huts on your website, we will go down to the beach and film in the
early evening while using the beach huts as a canvas for projecting 3D images
and examples of your work. There could also be the opportunity for members of
staff to take part in this and make it something interactive that they can join in
with to convey the idea of a company that works together well and have fun
whilst remaining hardworking.

Otherwise we have also had the idea of filming some content during the day
along a similar theme (and any 3D projections added digitally in post-production)
and editing the colour levels of the footage to dull most colours and in order to
saturate the blue levels of the sky in order to create a literal Bright Blue Day. We
would also keep the levels up on the digital work so that the viewer sees it
clearly. Filming on the beach could also give us the option to give the footage a
vintage feel and create an interesting effect that would not normally be
associated with promotional videos; therefore helping it to stand out more
amongst others.

As a means of displaying this video we are working on a web platform that will
feature a directory of advertising and design companies within Dorset. This
includes a simple map of the area with animated landmarks and your company
will have a spot on it where the user can scroll over and see the video content
that we have made for you, as well as others in the area. This will be useful as a
means of promoting yourselves to other companies, potential clients and the
general public. We are also hoping to work on the option of having QR codes
printed into the MeetDraw book that is due to come out, so anyone with a
smartphone can view your video on the go or hold it up to a webcam to be
redirected. These codes could also be added on to business cards or any printed
stationery that you use.

ZBIGNIEW RYBCZYNSKI – Tango

i’m posting the link to this video so i can always find it. i think tango is brilliant but it’s not on youtube and i can never remember the artist’s name.

http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/21108595

“Thirty-six characters from different stages of life – representations of different times – interact in one room, moving in loops, observed by a static camera. I had to draw and paint about 16.000 cell-mattes, and make several hundred thousand exposures on an optical printer. It took a full seven months, sixteen hours per day, to make the piece. The miracle is that the negative got through the process with only minor damage, and I made less than one hundred mathematical mistakes out of several hundred thousand possibilities. In the final result, there are plenty of flaws ® black lines are visible around humans, jitters caused by the instability of film material resulting from film perforation and elasticity of celluloid, changes of colour caused by the fluctuation in colour temperature of the projector bulb and, inevitably, dirt, grain and scratches.”

- Zbig Rybczynski –Looking to the Future – Imagining the Truth,” in FranÐois Penz, Maureen Thomas, Cinema& Architecture. Mþliús, Mallet-Stevens, Multimedia, BFI, London, 1997

treatments

Thinking Juice

Salad

RedWeb

Clockworx

Bright Blue Day

researching company promo videos

we made the decision to only do 4 / 5 videos instead of the full 12 because we would rather do fewer but to a higher standard than all of them to an average / slightly below average standard. we’ve been encourage by both matt and our tutors to do something original and innovative.

not something like this:

but maybe something more like this:

we found many more inspiring promotional videos in apple’s ‘pro profiles’ archive on their website

meetings with matt (sw screens)

we met we met matt desmier from south west screens for the second time yesterday, to discuss what we would be doing for the ‘professional project’. the idea is to make short (1-2min) promotional videos for the media production companies, dotted around the bournemouth / poole area. all videos would be uploaded onto a video hosting website, like youtube or vimeo and then embedded into a new website (which we will need to design and buy a domain for). we were thinking of creating an interactive map on the site, that displays the locations of the companies. the user will then be able to click on one of the companies and the video will pop up, possibly along with some other information. there are about 12 companies in the area that we can make these videos for but we’re going to start off working with 4 or 5. at the moment they are RedWeb, Bright Blue Day, Clockworks, Thinking Juice and maybe Salad.

the next step is to write up treatments for each video. personally i think this it is too soon to be writing treatments seeing as we haven’t even met them yet. it would make more sense to get them to make some suggestions of how they want to be represented and then we could put together some proposals from there.

(clockwork)

Learning agreement: Professional project

Name: George Darrell

Course: FdA Digital Media Production Level: 5

Unit: Professional Project

Reference number: IMD513

Credit points: 45

Study hours: 450

Tutor(s): Phil Beards and Liam Birtles

Synopsis of study

For the Professional Project I will be working in a group of three (with Mark Evenden and Cat Abbott), to produce a series of videos and a platform on which they can be shown in an innovative manner. For the most part we will be working closely with four or five of the current twelve clients in order to produce good quality, in depth work for these few as opposed to producing average work for a large quantity of clients.

We will mostly be looking at the practicality of integrating geolocations within the videos in order to create a new way of letting users access the videos. Alongside this we will also produce a series of QR codes to be used in a number of ways; in a book, on locations, using smartphones and laptops, this is something that we have a range of experience with so believe that it is an effective step to take in increasing user activity.

In terms of the content of the videos we are aiming to move away from the traditional format of promotional videos in order to create a new way of advertising the companies and identifying their individuality to channel this into their videos as well as the atmosphere of the company. The idea will be to think of a different method of presentation for each of the companies that we are working with, another pro of using a smaller number of companies. However, should we have the time nearer the end of the project (once we have succeeded in producing our main bulk of work) we can then move on to create new ideas and work with other companies and add them to our platform.

For the platform that we are thinking of using to collate all of the videos the main thought is using Google Maps and Google Earth integration, and using HTML 5 in order to create a user friendly experience.

We have also discussed integrating this work with the Bournemouth Design Week should it go ahead and we believe that this would be a great way in which to network with these companies and perhaps get some more companies to upload videos to the system, should there be an appropriate way in which to collate them all.

Aims

A1 To develop your creativity and your knowledge and understanding of professional practice.

A2 To develop and produce a professional standard of creative work in response to a ‘live’ or simulated brief.

A3 To prepare you for employment, freelance work or further study.

A4 To develop your understanding of costing and invoicing in preparation for business.

A5 To encourage students to see critical reflection as a key element of creative thinking and practice.

Learning outcomes:

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

LO1 Demonstrate a professional standard of creativity and practical ability, including:

Work that is technically comparable to that made within a specified genre.

Work that shows an awareness of contemporary trends, styles and subject matter, within commercial contexts.

Work that shows a high degree of creativity and aesthetic judgement.

LO2 Respond appropriately to the demands of a professional/self initiated brief, including:

Appropriate creative outcomes to industry/work related briefs.

LO3 Demonstrate readiness for employment, freelance work or further study with confidence in the level of your creative, practical and professional knowledge and skills.

LO4 Demonstrate understanding of relevant costing and invoicing procedures, including :

The various costing and pricing scales and structures within relevant commercial contexts.

Timescales for payment.

Legal requirements, copyright and syndication rights.

VAT, National Insurance etc.

LO5 Reflect critically upon work and to use this as a springboard for the further development of ideas and creative practice.

Assessment Requirements

Body of professional creative work as identified in a learning agreement 100%

Each assessment requirement must be passed at a minimum grade of 40% to successfully complete the unit.

Assessment Criteria

Evidence of knowledge of concepts and contexts (a) – Project work that shows creative maturity and direction within a commercial context (LO1,LO2)

Evidence of understanding through research and analysis. (c) – Extensive research, and the application of it, used for the underpinning and final conclusion of project work (LO1,LO2,LO4)

Evidence of realisation through presentation (f)- Work is placed within a commercial context and appropriate methods of presentation used. (LO3)

Evidence of understanding through critical evaluation and reflection (e) – The objectives of the research have clearly been identified and used to inform project work. (LO5)

Evidence of realisation through technical application and skills (g) – A synthesis of creativity and professionalism is demonstrated in the conclusion of the project work (LO1)

References

All of the reference material that I use will be listed on my blog:

http://georgedarrell.wordpress.com

Action plan/time plan

We will be making at least four short videos for the project and creating a platform on which to display them. We will also be producing interactive material for the companies, mostly using the technique of QR codes. Amongst ourselves we have our own areas of specialism and interests but I believe that we will be all helping one another in the areas that we work in as we all wish to gain more experience outside of our comfort zones. Once we have fully clarified the content that we will be making for our client we can get working on a time plan to ensure that everything gets achieved within our given timeframe.

shooting the video (performance video)

finished attaching the bamboo to the costume today. i’m pleased with the way it looks and the sounds. spent this evening setting up and shooting the video. since scraping the idea of doing a music video i never saw the video side of this project as the primary piece – the coustme is what i have worked on and put the time and effort into. however i did want to set an appropriate scene for a tribal type dance to take place. i set up lighting a fire and communicated to my actor what sort of actions i wanted to capture.

i borrowed a housemate/film students home made lights which were 300w to help light the scene. i wanted to do three-point lighting set up but unfortunately he only had two and one bulb didnt work. however i found the extreme contrast from lighting it from one side very suitable to the dark nature of the video.
the bulbs were too hot to rest on any surface for more than about 40 seconds so had to improvise by using a drying rack. i also diffused the light with a translucent red folder which i could conveniently place on the other side of the drying rack to prevent it from melting. this actually made a huge difference to the shot – the white light as opposed to the diffused red wasn’t nearly as subtle.

making the costume: attaching the bamboo

started attaching the bamboo to the head late last night. it takes ages to not only thread the fishing line through each piece and double knot it but to do it again when attaching it to the head.

after working on it most of last night today and tonight i have finished the head.. well not all of it but i don’t have enough bamboo or time to do that – need to get it finished so i can atleast shoot a little video of someone performing in it.