Multimedia

Emmanuel House

2011-02-24T10:01:00.001-08:00

We have been making a documentary about a homeless day centre. I am the camera operator for this project and things are going well.

robin hood title sequence

2011-02-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

I plan to make my title sequence in this sort of style so that it looks drawn, I will use images and film to create it.

2011-01-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

2011-01-06T08:09:00.000-08:00

Making of Train

2011-01-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

Train. Behind The Scenes. from Petalblossom on Vimeo.

Train

2011-01-06T07:40:00.000-08:00

It's finished once it has uploaded onto youtube I'll put it on here. I am quite pleased with the outcome lets just hope everyone else thinks the same.

I am still here!!

2011-01-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

It has been a while, I really should get into a better practice in actually using this blog.

My latest piece of work is a film called Train, I lost a game of rock paper scissors to be the camera operator and so my role for this film was editor, which I actually quite enjoyed. On the shoot I did my bit to help out as much as I could.

As I did the edit entirely on my own as well as getting all the music together and getting some extra sound effects I have been an extremely busy man. Apart from having very little knowledge of After Effects I think I have an all right job. The music was probably a bit too dramatic at first but that was just a reflection on me a little over the top. But I've toned it down so all is good.

Writing task b

2010-01-25T12:03:00.001-08:00

Research can get me to where I want because I can see what has already been done, what has been successful and what hasn’t. For example if I wanted to go and work on the visuals for a film I can watch as many films as possible writing notes as I watch them, which is more or less what I have been doing recently.

I tend to use an exploratory method of research researching with an open mind and not a lot of structure but I’ll almost always come out with an outcome. After long periods of research I can subconsciously start to research in a more interim way because I am bound to notice trends and pick up on them.

I am often put off by the pilot stage of research as I am free thinking and don’t apply much structure in my way of thinking I don’t think it is irrelevant however it is not best suited for the way I think.

Writing task a

2010-01-25T11:48:00.001-08:00

My creativity in the last couple of years has predominantly been photography this started with me mainly using film, however I have almost completely converted to digital and I extensively use digital image manipulation software such as Photoshop. My preferred style of photography is quite surreal as I like to take things out of their natural environment or distort colour and shape. I have also been part of a performing arts group that I have learned different theatre practices.

I took up photography as an AS level with no prior knowledge however once I left that sixth form after one year I carried it on as a hobby wanting to improve all the time teaching myself new tricks. I mainly do it for myself out of personal interest however I have done some work for a band and for a modelling website. Some of the photos I have taken I will be printing onto canvas in the hope of selling them.

In the future I plan to carry on with photography however by combining my current skills and the skills I will learn from Multimedia I will hope to go into the filming industry, working on the visual look of films, shows or adverts. I think my dream job would probably be a director of photography for a film company or even free lance.

Avatar

2010-01-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

Well what can I say? Wow, is the word I used when the film ended. Avatar was just incredible to watch taking almost a decade to produce and with a budget that could almost end world poverty I expected nothing less from this sci-fi romantic thriller.

Avatar is not simply just a technological breakthrough it is pre-destined to become a cult movie with strong anti-war and green messages throughout. It is so visually detailed that repeated viewings would do the film no harm.

I could tell you all about the film and what it is about but that would do the film no justice all I’m going to say is watch it and see for yourself. This is the film that is pushing the boundaries of CGI and this will be the most visually inspiring film for many years to come.

Sherlock Holmes

2010-01-17T09:51:00.000-08:00

Sherlock Holmes the movie is essentially an adventure romance, as Holmes (Downey Jr.) and Watson (Law) try to break up their friendship and through crooked schemes and explosions and near escapes, realize in the end how much they mean to one another after all. At the beginning Watson is preparing to move out of 221b Baker Street, with plans to propose to pretty and proper Mary (Kelly Reilly) and leave the detective business entirely. Holmes, bored and hilariously jealous, attempts to sabotage Watson's engagement and also draw him back into the game, now that an old closed case has suddenly reopened.
Months earlier Watson and Holmes put away Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), an aristocrat who murdered five people via some kind of dark arts ceremony. Watson himself supervised Blackwood's hanging, but when he appears to have risen from the dead, everyone including the police wants to know how he did it. Blackwood and his legion of followers have plans for world domination via drinking potions and other supposed magic, while Holmes goes about finding Blackwood in the only way he knows how-- using his "not inconsiderable knowledge" and foolproof logic. Meanwhile, Holmes's old flame Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) is back in town, a criminal beauty working secretly for a shadowy boss with a penchant for fancy weaponry. Adler pops up from time to time to help Watson and Holmes in their investigations, and it's clear to the audience that she'll throw a wrench in things even when Holmes hasn't quite gotten there.

The plot itself is not as clear as it could be. But the story really just provides a vehicle for the action and the fantastic character interactions, one of which delivers slightly better than the other. The action set pieces, like a fight at a shipyard and the final race against the clock, are brilliantly structured. The editing often works brilliantly with slow motion scenes quickly speeding up and interesting camera angles that put you right at the centre of the action.

All this editing works great in Holmes's investigation scenes, allowing him visual flashbacks to all the clues that led him to his conclusions and avoiding the dreadful slowness that comes with most mystery-solving monologues. Miraculously the audience is right there with Holmes even during his most out-there epiphanies, and the equally out-there camerawork pays off well in making this period piece feel unstuffy, but also not gimmicky. One of the best action films I have seen in years.

Slain by evil

2009-12-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

Pixalation

2009-12-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

I have taken a load of pictures and edited them and they look pretty good. But I obviously didn't plan it too well as I'm about 120 photos off the target which is a shame. So I'm either going to have to re shoot it all again or make a sequel.

Love Gun

2009-12-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

This is a poster I have in my room and it where the piece of inspiration came from to make something just with red, white and black

"Whoever saves one life saves the world entire."

2009-12-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

This is a quote from Schindlers list one of the films I took inspiration from whilst creating my interactive narrative panic. Although the plot of Schindlers list has nothing at all to do with the situation of my narrative the quote is very fitting as the only objective in my narrative is to keep your friend alive.

Sin city

2009-12-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

Films like Sin City and Schindlers list have used black and white images but have used accents of colour to highlight important characters or objects. The use of red is very effective against black and white as it is striking and represents danger.

Panic!

2009-11-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

Panic! My interactive narrative will be a story about a dying girl and the outcome will be decided by the user as they will be given choices on how they are going to or not going to save her life.

Every frame will be in a similar style like the image above which will be used as one the story over frames. This style will work very well with the story as they are expressive, dark and serious and this is the mood I want to create with the narrative.

Interactive Narrative

2009-11-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

Well this had me racking my brain but I think I have thought of an idea which will work so well. I have it all written up and I know what style I'm going for.

I wan't to create a situation that the user will have to think morally and one bad decision will result in a very bad thing happening but the aim for the user will be to prevent this bad thing from happening. I will attempt to play on the users emotions this way I think it will be a great way to get the user more involved.

For my piece I am going to use photographs but edit them in Photoshop in a way they look like a dark comic such as the film Sin City.

Awkward Turtle

2009-11-07T08:38:00.001-08:00

Awkward Turtle follows the story of what most people would consider a loser, he is prepared to spend great lengths of time in a lift waiting for the girl of his dreams. But being a loser he decides it is a good idea to pretend he is on the phone and so when his phone actually rings she realises he his a strange man and leaves the lift but forgets her bag but when she returns to get it she finds him sulking on the floor.

This is the final edited version of the film we have been making for the last couple of weeks. The final outcome is how we first planned and everything has worked out. The group worked well together for most part and we managed to get everything done well within the time allowed.

There are things which can be done to improve the film if we had managed to section off the lift this would have given us much more time as we suffered frequent interruptions to perfect absolutely everything including lighting and the script. Although the actors did very well in the circumstances more time would have been useful.

Photos

2009-10-29T16:39:00.001-07:00

My creative background.

2009-10-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

I love photography and I took it up as a hobby about 3 years ago. Just over a year ago I decided to teach myself how to use Photoshop. These are some photo's I have taken recently.

Making of awkward turtle

2009-10-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

Firstly we sat down and thought about how we were going to go about filming. Our group met a couple of times over a coffee and eventually after a lot of discussion we came to the conclusion we were going to make a film about a creepy guy, who spends his life in a lift waiting for the girl of his dreams.

Once we had a rough idea we went about finding a suitable place to do the filming luckily this didn't take very long at all and everyone agreed that the lift outside Uri's flat would be perfect.

The script was then written up and an actress was found to play the part of the unfortunate lady this creep happens to admire. We were set to go and make our film.

The day of filming we all eventually met up at the lift we were going to film. Our first task was to find the best camera position we found that by having the camera up high and slightly offset it gave the impression that it was a security camera, giving the scene a sense of reality.

After we had the camera set up and the lights in place we hit a big problem which we already could see coming. We were filming in a lift and people tend to be lazy and like to use lifts rather than stairs and so we had a lot of interruptions and annoyed people. We persevered we had to we had to make a film by 5 o clock we were against the clock. So after perfecting the scene outside the lift we were ready. We got lucky no one had to use the lift and we had just what we wanted in just the second take.

The Tuesday after filming we had a lesson teaching us how to edit the films. We then set about about adding music and subtitles. We also are going for the cringe humour style to film to add some interest and to do this we are going to edit in some voice overs which will act as the characters thoughts this will be done soon and I shall let you know more when we have a finished film.

One shot short films

2009-10-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

For the last 2 weeks now I have been working in a group which I have been calling the film crew to make a film about anything we wished. We weren't allowed full creative licence however and we have had to abide by some rules these were:

The camera had to stay on a tripod
The film must be under 5 mins
The film must be made in just one shot

The first week!

2009-10-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

In the first week we all made white board animations and pinhole cameras both of which were very good fun and a great way to meet people in my group. Both tasks went really well and although I didn't learn anything new it was a great way to refresh my memory and work in a team.