Friday 18 December 2009

OUGD301 Module Evaluation

1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
Through out this module I have developed my After Effects Skills, Which greatly helped my Comedy Central, Coen Brothers DVD Menus and E4 Ident. I was able to use expressions and the speed graph to make more believable and effective movements. My technical ability with cameras and video footage has improved, as I now know what formats to use in DVD Studio Pro, and the correct export to use when working with HD footage. DVD Studio Pro was also a new software to me and I am now able to build menus, with the correct assets, including chapter select menus and burn them to make a functioning DVD.

2. What approaches to methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
This term I spent a lot of time studying the Coen brothers films, firstly to acquaint myself with them in order to pick which film DVDs I wanted to produce, secondly to observe their current graphic representation, including photography, type, screen design and printed design. Thirdly it was to try and find definitive items for each film that could unify the DVDs.
The most successful method of research was trial and error when making the DVD menus, although exporting test formats took an unfortunately long time it was an arduous process, which I am not likely to forget.

3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I feel the strengths of my work lie in the research done for the Coen brothers DVD menus as it greatly influenced the final designs. Thinking methodically about the Menu structure and how to stay fitting to the film but also bring them all together.
I mostly think the strengths in my work are the final outcomes and the new knowledge that came along with them.


4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these more fully?
As usual my main weakness was time planning and organization, because of exporting and DVD building I failed to get my work handed in by the deadline, I should have allowed more time to deal with these issues.
I was incredibly disappointed to have missed the 2nd to final crit, which was our last chance to group crit the outcomes, but this could not have been avoided as my asthma flared up and I was unable to attend.
My design context blog I feel is lacking and I intend to keep on top of it next time. I have been trying to avoid “working in a bubble” and I don’t believe I have but I have failed to document everything Iv looked at, another organization issue.


5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
1. Try not to take on too much, I think I sometimes am over ambitious with what I want to achieve and then disappointed with the outcomes, if I concentrate my idea and produce every aspect of one product as different projects I think I will be happier with the over all product.
2. Try to turn around briefs quicker so that I have time then to deal with any issues of formatting.
3. Organize my time a lot better and stick to quick self assessed deadlines, this should hopefully ensure a less stressful rush close to the final deadline.
4. Keep up to date with design context blog, document everything when I see it.
5. Book a print session before the deadline and have all boards or products designed and ready to print. This will allow me to get all my prints done in one session, instead of relying on getting to the drop in times early.


6. How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
(5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor)

Attendance 4
Punctuality 4
Motivation 4
Commitment 4
Quantity of work produced 3
Quality of work produced 4
Contribution to the group 3

Thursday 17 December 2009

E4 Sting



The Brief asks for 1 Ident and 1 Sting, i have made my Ident so that it can be split into different stings, here are 2 examples of that. these will be submitted with the ident to D&AD.

E4 Ident - with music and voice over


I have mocked up the voice over for my Ident, the intention is to have the E4 voice over man (Peter Dickson) read the script.

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Coen Brothers Disclamer

I Have to reference that all the footage used as part of my menus was taken directly from the Coen brothers Films, i have not filmed this my self nor do i own the footage but i have edited it and worked around it to suit my needs
The films include: Blood Simple, Millers Crossing, Barton Fink, No Country for old men and Raising Arizona which was used in test pieces.

E4 Ident Edit 1


This is the 1st edit of my monday night movie Ident, I have chosen the best clips and compiled them into this sequence, the order of the clips is yet to be decided.

E4 Jame - Grease Fan


These are the best takes out of all of the footage of James playing the Grease Fan.

E4 Anne Marie - Crocodile Dundee Fan


These are a few of the best takes out of all of my footage of Anne-Marie.

No Country For Old Men Menu Assets

Main Menu


Chapter Select








Extras Menu

Blood Simple Final Menu Assets

Main Menu


Chapter Select








Audio

Millers Crossing Final Menu Assets

Main Menu




Chapter Select














Extras

Barton Fink Final Menu Assets

Main Menu


Chapter Select














Extras

No Country For Old Men Extras Menu Development



No Country For Old Men Chapter Select Menu

No Counrty For Old Men Main Menu Development



No Country For Old Men Title

Millers Crossing Extras Menu

Millers Crossing Chapter Select Development



Millers Crossing Main Menu Development





Millers Crossing Title

Blood Simple Title Development



Blood Simple Audio Menu Development





Blood Simple Chapter Select Development





















Blood Simple Main Menu Development

E4 Voice over recording


I Recorder this sound of Will impersinating the E4 Voice over man peter dickson for my ident soundtrack, i hadnt used garage band before and found it very straight forward.
Thanks to will for his malleable voice.

Saturday 12 December 2009

E4 Ghostbusters


This video is all the footage shot for the Ghostbusters fan section of my E4 ident. It shows Scott dressed as a Ghostbuster but with a purple Ghostbusters emblem on his overalls, he is also wearing a home made Proton Pack, i shot two sequences, with two different lighting set ups, in the 1st shot Scott is waiting for the film to come on and gets excited waving his proton gun around when it starts, the 2nd section was Scott watching the film and joining in with the Ghostbusters theme song chant "Who You Gonna Call?...GHOSTBUSTERS!"

E4 Buffy


This Video is all the footage from the Buffy fan section of my E4 Ident. It Shows Oli dressed as Buffy the vampire slayer, in a purple dress with a stake waiting for his secret role model film to come on, when it does he gets over excited and ready to watch the film.

E4 Grease


This Video Was my 1st attempt at filming the Grease fan section of my E4 Ident. The shot shows James waiting for his guilty pleasure film Grease to come on TV. When it does he slicks back his hair with an E4 purple comb and relaxes into his chair to enjoy the film. In some takes he was to be over excited and in others just very happy to see the film, i wanted to get a variety in order to see what fitted best with the rest of the shots, unfortunately i wasn't happy with the lighting in this scene or that it was the same surroundings as my Buffy shot.


This Video is my 2nd attempt at the Grease fan shot, i got a chance to re-shoot the scene from before in a different environment and think that this 2nd take is much better than the previous. The lighting is better and James seems more relaxed in his role.

E4 Star Trek


This video is all the footage of Cheng playing the star trek fan, he waits for the original Star Trek movie eagerly in his E4 Purple Star Trek uniform and as soon as it comes on he salutes the TV in a Vulcan fashion which means live long and prosper. I am quite happy with the shots but unfortunately the zoom out was harder to calculate on this shot which means i may have to crop some takes in after effects and attempt to neutralize any excess zoom out.

E4 Superman Footage


This Video is all the test shots of the Superman fan section of my E4 Ident. because i only had one purple shirt i was only able to do the shot once, unfortunatly that shot was the only one that hasn't captured from the tape properly so i will have to re-capture it and upload it at another time, this has seriously disrupted my plans of editing this weekend.
The Shot shows Angus watching his favorite guilty pleasure film Superman, as in the film when Clark Kent rips off his shirt Angus joins in ripping his own shirt off to reveal an old superman tee shirt.
The Only Take

E4 Crocodile Dundee Footage


This Video is all the footage shot for the Crocodile Dundee fan section of my E4 Ident.
The Shot shows Anne Marie watching TV waiting in anticipation for her favorite film Crocodile Dundee, a film which she considers to be her own guilty pleasure.

Wednesday 18 November 2009

Comedy Central - Bug Light Sting

My 1st attempt at animating our comedy central critters, this sting features Barry.

I plan to make the logo flicker fittingly through out, when the fly comes into contact with the logo there will be a flash indicating it has been electrocuted, and finally i will add a smoke effect, i also think that the transition from the zapped character to the burnt character might improve if i add more movement.





Coen Brothers Generic Transitions

The following animations are test examples of my DVD menu transitions, My Idea is to make a different transition for every film, which is focused around the film content (eg Fargo - Snow, Lady Killers - Money, Blood Simple - Blood) It was brought up in a previous tutorial that i may not have the ability or time to produce these ideas, so in an attempt to simplify my menu i have developed these ideas for a generic transition which could be applied to all of my menus, and would be another aspect which ties all the menus together as part of a set.

Spin 1

Spin2

Coen Brothers Title

Coen Brothers Title - Colour

Fall Apart

Sunday 15 November 2009

Comedy Central Logo

Comedy Central Logo - Vectorized

I have vectorized the comedy central logo, so that when i use it in after effects i have the option to enlarge it as much as i want, without it pixelating.

Comedy Central Neon Insect Light

I made this in an attempt to change the comedy central logo into a "Bug Zapper" it will be used in one of our stings.

Wednesday 11 November 2009

E4 Photo Mock Up

After reviewing my previous test shots of Oli and James i have decided that the most effective shot process would be to start with a short pan across the chest of each person and then a very quick zoom out to reveal them in their guilty pleasure costume. The short pan of the chest holds continuity as every costume would have a feature that could be viewed at the chest but until the final zoom out the costume/film is still ominous.

My main issues now are mise en scene, both what to include and collecting.
I plan on asking in my crit tomorrow weather the inclusion of the film posters is necessary? i feel that as the clips are short they would re-iterate the film reference but a point has previously been made that the films are seen as "Guilty Pleasures" so would the subjects have them up if they were embarrassed about watching them?
I also wondered if changing the person and not the environment would be a better idea, a generic background setting would help tie the stings together into a set, and may also look quite interesting.
Finally would the use of arm chairs be more effective than sofas? As the subjects are to be undoubtedly alone i though the use of single seated furniture may help to support my concept?

Character Mood Boards

Danny the Dino

Barry the Beaver

Tuesday 10 November 2009

E4 Test Shots

As my paper work explains my idea for my E4 Ident has changed, i have decided from the feedback i got at my last tutorial to simplify my idea. Instead of documenting the journey to the couch in a parodied style for each film i am now quickly going to show the same shot of 6 different people, each watching a different film, sat on their own in the dark.
I am carrying on the theme of "Guilty Pleasures" which the brief suggests, my subjects therefor will be sat watching their guilty pleasure films in fancy dress.
I plan on using the same 5 second shots for each subject.

This is the footage from my 1st test shots, i shot these in order to view angles and composition. The clip below is at 200% speed and has no sound.



Oli - Buffy Fan, will be holding a stake & wearing an E4 purple dress.

This 1st shot works well, fits within 5 seconds and could be applied to all other subjects, my issue with it is that starting from the eyes means nothing, and the zoom out takes up the shot, with more speed there could be more impact with the zoom, leaving more time pre zoom-out to build a false impression/mystery.


This Edit was an attempt to build a false impression that it was just a man sat watching TV, then the zoom out would reveal him to be in a dress. I don't think it works very well and i think it would be hard to keep continuity between subjects.


Slow revolve around subject, initially shows normal man, then reveals skirt and then the TV were he would be watching Buffy the vampire slayer/dirty dancing (undecided) or an E4 Ident. in order to do this shot properly i would need to use track or some kind of move-able tripod, which brings an issue of space. composition wise i don't think this is as effective as straight on.


sweeping pan of subject would easily fit all other subjects but is a quick and easy method, the composition doesn't add anything to the concept.


James - Greese Fan, would be wearing a white t-shirt (possibly E4 purple) and/or combs his hair with a purple comb

Slow zoom out works well, but same issues as before, eyes give nothing to the content other than surprise at the gender/film mix which is evident anyway. [consider new starting point: chest, arm, hand?]


Pan includes TV and subject which is good but shot of subject doesn't have the impact i want it to.


Slow pan up the body is a nice movement and composition, its effective in showing the subject but no reference to the TV.


Short cuts build a good view of subject, and includes TV, works well on its own but appears jumpy because of contrasting camera movements, stationary camera for next would probably be better. If put next to 6 examples of the same shots it may appear jumpy and chaotic.

Meet The Gang


The Comedy Central Critters are the characters which my collaborative brief with Dean Gray will be based around. We have produced these characters to act out some silly sketches for a comedy central ident.
I love Dean's illustrations and together we had a great time creating these guys to do with what we will.

As Dean is the Illustrator between us the development of these characters can be found on his design practice blog. click here to visit deano

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Coen Brothers - DVD Menus

Raising Arizona
Main Menu
Test 1

Problems with Button Type

Test 2

Raising Arizona A Blacked Off

Test 3

Problem: DIVX Logo

Final


Chapter Select

Nicolas Cage's movement would be continuous, i have yet to learn how to display chapter selection scenes, I need to know weather the whole page changes or if you can just change the scene spaces

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Coen Brothers Title

At the start of every DVD Menu as part of the Coen brothers collection i will have the same Coen brothers text shooting past an image/sequence from the relevant film, just before the film title.
I Have been working with the placement of letter/words, Fonts and size, also the style in which they appear

A Short experiment of Coen Bros Titles.

ditto

Final Coen Brothers Title

The Background Footage for this title will be relevant to the film DVD Menu it is for, in this example it is the rising sun from Raising Arizona, I have not yet decided if this will be the final footage for raising arizona.
The Blackout type i feel works well as a generic feature between the searies,

E4 Animatic

The video below is an animatic, an animated storyboard which depicts the strongest out of my ideas for the E4 Ident. It is a close representation of the pace and obviously actions of what i want to achieve with video.

The idea is that the girl is pretending to be buffy the vampire slayer as she walks round her house, this ident would work as a set, each of the "Guilty Pleasure" films would be parodied in order to advertise E4's Monday Night Movie.

E4 Animatic

The video below is an animatic, an animated storyboard which depicts the strongest out of my ideas for the E4 Ident., its a close representation of the pace

Monday 19 October 2009

Maya

i have wanted to learn 3D animation software for a long time now and have finally got the opportunity to take part in a Maya workshop, in the first week we got to grips with the controls, something which i am finding to be quite challenging. iv never struggled with a software command system so much, but i am sure i will pick it up over time.
This is a truck, it was the 1st thing i built on maya. the construction took part in the 1st session and i animated it moving along the path in the 2nd.

Truck from above

Truck as 3D shape

In the 2nd session i was also shown how to map the movement of an object on the "graph sheet" a line graph which can change the movements of an object on the timeline, changing the curve of the line at the arc of its bonce to be flat and the point of impact to be straight pointed gave the movement of bouncing balls. The green ball i applied a 'squish' movement to replicate the elasticity of a rubber ball.

Tuesday 13 October 2009

Comedy Central Mood Board


At the begging stage of character design i thought it would be a good idea to compile a mood board of characters which can be used to inspire the right mood and personality of our characters. At this stage all i know is that our characters have to be well rendered, stylish, funny and silly. We have still yet to work out their, moods, number, weather they speak or mumble and what they are actually going to do.

E4 Mood Board


So far whilst researching and trying to develop my ideas for my E4 Ident i have decided it should be funny, it should show the E4 branding and some embarrassing scenarios/"guilty pleasures" should be used to illustrate (possibly by the use of parody) the monday night movie.

Saturday 3 October 2009

Briefs.

I have been asked as part of the course to pick a minimum of 4 briefs to work on until the deadline (16th December 2009)

As i work with moving image it would be foolish to try and produce more than the minimum at a professional standard in such a time period.

As a result of deciding what i want to prove and how i want to do it i have chosen the following 4 briefs.

D&AD 2009/10 - E4 30 Second "Monday Night Movie" Ident Accompanied by atleast 1 x 5 Second Sting (Competition Brief)

I chose this brief because it allows me to work for a specific branding and client. I intend to complete it with the use of video (and motion graphics for branding) which continues my practice on After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Camera & Lighting use and general skills in video production, such as storyboarding and treatments. Also I like the challenge of a competition brief.

[D&AD 2008/9 - Faber Faber Modified] Coen Brothers Collection - DVD Menus

This DVD Menu brief is the perfect opportunity to learn the software DVD Studio Pro and try to apply my skills to different themes/genres professionally. Also i feel it is necessary to be able to control my work from start to finish, the finish in this case being DVD Design.
Another plus side to this brief is that i have the oppertunity to work with interactive and moving type.

Collaboration - Character Animation with Dean - self written brief:
[Character based Ident for Comedy Central Channel]

This brief gives me the chance to work with short narratives, and most importantly character based animation which i have had very little experience in. I am Also looking forward to the collaboration with Dean.

Self Written - Storyboard Brief (opportunity to be a live brief)

My Final Brief I chose so that i could continue my work in the avenue of video/moving image without using a computer. Also as story boarding is a vital part of video production, professional practice in it can only help my own professional development. This brief will illustrate my cinematic and industry understanding, and develop my story telling ability.

What i Want

Iv decided to start this blog with an explanation of what i want to gain from my design practice.
I have decided that at the end of my final year at university i want to have developed my ability in:
Character based animation
Moving type
Story telling
Video Production
DVD Menu design
Online design
and treatment construction.

This list is basically what i want to prove i can produce in order to feel confident moving into the professional industry.