creating the poster

For the poster I came up with several ideas relating to a previous poster made for the Weston's Cider drink:



One of my ideas was to change the strapline to "Sold through the taste!" With the drink being poured through the word 'taste'.

After several, pitiful, attempts at trying to draw/design the words to make them look 3D I decided to drop that idea, and I came up with something based on the graphical look of the 30 second advert.

The result was this:

draft version 3

This is the most complete version so far. I will be submitting this one, bar a few minor changes (such as adjusting a few elements)

In this version I have added some stage lights, to increase the feeling that you are watching this advert in a theatre.

draft version 2

In this version I have re-drawn almost everything, and adjusted the piece to the improvements suggested in the class crit.

These include:

Moving background elements
A more 3D-like look
A tractor collecting apples
A lolly stick to use for the signs



There are still a few missing elements in this version! (such as music and the bottle at the end)

creating the signs mk.II

Following the class crit, a fellow student mentioned that I should use a lolly stick for the signs. I did that, and as such the signs now look more authentic:

draft version 1

I have just finished the 1st draft of the project.

There are still a few things left to do, these include:

redrawing:
curtains
stage floor
lights (to be added)
apple

re-animate:
the signs going into the drink (at the moment they fall in-front of the bottle)

music:
edit the music to a better finish

creating the signs

To create the signs I scanned in a section of a sketchbook I bought. The paper makes a great texture as it is very layered and not a bland blank surface.

I then had to make a 'stick' to hold up the sign with. I tried two different materials for this. One of them was a piece of standard cardboard:



The other was scanned from a brown envelope:



I think that the first sign looks more realistic, and I will apply this image in a draft version.

deciding on a font mk.II

I have now changed the colour of the text to fit in with the colour scheme of the drink. I have also changed the stroke width of some of the fonts, as before they were too skinny and wouldn't take prominence on the screen.







After seeing these fonts with colour, I now prefer this font:

I will now test it in a draft version.

deciding on a font

One of the aspects of my project is a sign with writing being held-up for the audience to read. So therefore I have to decide upon a suitable font, so I have experimented in Illustrator (I applied different brush strokes to the text) and produced 5 different fonts which I think are suitable for the project:



My favourite at the moment is the second one:

I feel that this one fits the handmade aspect of the project as the text looks like it was painted. I will be changing the colour of the text, so I will continue to experiment.

animatic version 2

This is the second version of the animatic:



For this version I have added colour, a new setting and a background.

The lights at the bottom of the stage come on to light up the stage, apples fall from the tree in the background and the sun rotates. These are all ideas I had to add an extra dimension to the advert.

animatic version 1

Here is an animatic of an idea i have:



This is just a rough version, as the full version would be in colour, the graphics would be better drawn, there would be a background and some music as well.

research: united states of tara

This is the title sequence for the TV show 'United States Of Tara'.

The style of this sequence is very unique, the images were made in a flip-book, but some of the sections could be made in After Effects by manipulating still images.

The drawing style of the images looks hand-drawn, and the whole sequence is very pleasing on the eye.

research: thank you for smoking

This is the title sequence for the film 'Thank You For Smoking'.

This sequence uses a lot of camera movement on, what I suspect, several flat images. The credits are placed on a material that looks like a cigarette packet, which is relevant to the title.

The sequence is very interesting as there is a lot to look for, as most of the interaction is through text or the occasional animation of simple images.

Judging by the sequence I assume that the film is about smoking, but in a comedy style, as the music is very happy and the graphics are bright and engaging.

research: casino royale

This is the title sequence for the film 'Casino Royale'.

At the start the sequence features a lot of gambling images, such as the signs for the different suits of cards. This tells you that there is a gambling theme in the film, which is very typical for a James Bond film.

There are a lot of conjoining images, images grow to join other images or form larger images, there are also a lot of images of guns, another element present in all Bond films.

The drawing style in this sequence features a lot of block images, but also a lot of patterned images too. There are also several rotoscoped action scenes as well.

research: kiss kiss bang bang

This is the title sequence for the film 'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang'.

The drawing style in this sequence is almost identical to that in 'Catch Me If You Can', and it follows in the same direction. Images get zoomed out on to reveal them as being part of a larger image, and the colour schemes are also similar.

The title sequence features a lot of imagery of lipstick kiss prints and gun shots, which is resembling the title of the film, and therefore you would assume that this is a theme prevalent in the plot.

research: catch me if you can

This is the title sequence for the film 'Catch Me If You Can'.

This sequences uses a lot of linking images, in that you see one image then the camera zooms out and reveals it to be part of a larger image.

The sequence is also very representative of the film, it shows one character blending in to a background to avoid being seen by an authoritive figure.

The style of the drawings is very simplistic but also very effective, the whole colour scheme is black figures on a block coloured background.

research: fringe title sequence

This is the title sequence for the TV show 'Fringe'.

In this sequence the camera continually zooms out, the graphics on-screen leave the audience wondering what the graphics are constructing.

The contents of the sequence are quite abstract, exspecially if you don't know the premise of the show, but they give a slight hint after the first watch.

From this sequence I would guess that the show is about a sort of forensics investigation show, upon researching the show's premise is described as:

The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security. The team uses unorthodox "fringe" science and FBI investigative techniques to investigate "the Pattern", a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences which are occurring all over the world.

Source

research: alcohol advertising restrictions

These are the guidelines for alcohol advertising from the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority)

(1) Advertisements must not suggest that alcohol can contribute to an individual’s popularity or confidence, or that refusal is a sign of weakness. Nor may they suggest that alcohol can enhance personal qualities.

"The purpose of this rule is to prevent any suggestion that an individual becomes more attractive or a better person or that self assurance can be improved through choosing to drink alcohol.

"Any suggestion that an individual’s behaviour or performance can be changed by drinking is prohibited. No advertisement should suggest that an individual is to be more admired for choosing to drink alcohol or that a person who chooses not to drink might be less popular."

(2) Advertisements must not suggest that the success of a social occasion depends on the presence or consumption of alcohol.

"The introduction of alcohol should not be seen to transform a social occasion and the choice of a type or brand of alcohol instead of another should not seem to contribute to the success of a social occasion."

Advertisements must not link alcohol with daring, toughness, aggression or anti-social behaviour.

"The 'daring' element of the rule is designed to prevent associating alcohol with feats that would be considered dangerous, foolish or reckless or likely to encourage irresponsible or anti-social behaviour.

"'Toughness': Advertisements should not suggest that drinkers of alcohol are tough, macho or resilient or associate such qualities with a brand’s image.

“'Aggression': Attitudes, behaviour or atmospheres that are threatening or potentially violent are prohibited as is the use of weapons or objects as weapons.

“'Anti-social behaviour': What constitutes anti-social behaviour, especially among the young, can be the subject of wide interpretation but will be associated with behaviour that offends against generally accepted social norms and common sense."

Advertisements must not link alcohol with sexual activity or success or imply that alcohol can enhance attractiveness.

"Advertisements may not suggest that alcohol has a positive role to play in sexual relationships. Alcohol should not be used as an aid to seduction or seem to enhance a person’s attractiveness."

Advertisements must not suggest that regular solitary drinking is acceptable or that drinking can overcome problems.

"This rule does not prevent showing a person having a drink alone but advertisements must not suggest that regular solitary drinking is acceptable behaviour or that alcohol is an essential or indispensable part of daily routine."

Advertisements must neither suggest that alcohol has therapeutic qualities nor offer it as a stimulant, sedative, mood-changer or source of nourishment, or to boost confidence. Although they may refer to refreshment, advertisements must not imply that alcohol can improve any type of performance. Advertisements must not suggest that alcohol might be indispensable or link it to illicit drugs.

"Advertisements must not suggest that alcohol can improve physical or mental performance or that it is necessary to maintain a normal lifestyle."

Advertisements must not suggest that a drink is to be preferred because of its alcohol content nor place undue emphasis on alcoholic strength.

"Although advertisements may suggest that a drink could be preferred because of its taste, that preference must not be linked to alcoholic strength."

(1) Advertisements must not show, imply or encourage immoderate drinking. This applies both to the amount of drink and to the way drinking is portrayed.

"This rule is intended to prevent viewers thinking that immoderate consumption of alcohol is acceptable."

(2) References to, or suggestions of, buying repeat rounds of drinks are not acceptable.

"Advertisements may show a person buying a drink for friends but must not suggest that a pattern of round buying is to be, or has been, established."

(3) Alcoholic drinks must be handled and served responsibly.

"There must be no suggestion of reckless abandon in the way that alcohol is handled and dispensed."

Advertisements must not link drinking with the use of potentially dangerous machinery, with behaviour which would be dangerous after consuming alcohol (such as swimming) or with driving.

"Advertisements should neither show nor suggest people drinking alcohol, or having consumed alcohol, in an environment that is hazardous for drinking."

(1) Advertisements for alcoholic drinks must not be likely to appeal strongly to people under 18, in particular by reflecting or being associated with youth culture.

"The purpose of this rule is to prevent advertisements that might encourage those under 18 to drink, or think they should drink, alcohol."

(2) Children must not be seen or heard, and no-one who is, or appears to be, under 25 years old may play a significant role in advertisements for alcoholic drinks. No-one may behave in an adolescent or juvenile way.

"It is important that anyone featured in alcohol advertising not only is at least 25 years old but also must seem to be obviously over 25."

In these circumstances, children may be included but they, and anyone who is, or appears to be, under 25 must only have an incidental role.

"This exception allows children to appear, in minor roles, in alcoholic drinks advertisements. Those situations are likely to be either family meals at home or in a restaurant or responsible parties for over 25s."

Advertisements for alcoholic drinks must not show, imply or refer to daring, toughness, aggression or unruly, irresponsible or anti-social behaviour.

"This rule, for alcohol advertisements, applies to all advertisements. It prohibits the linking of alcohol to various forms of behaviour or attitudes."

Advertisements for alcoholic drinks must not appear to encourage irresponsible consumption.

"This rule seeks to prevent advertising for alcoholic drinks encouraging irresponsible alcohol consumption or condoning the purchase of more alcohol than an individual should safely consume."

Advertisements for alcoholic drinks must not normally show alcohol being drunk in a working environment.

"The working environment will include offices, factories, building sites or any working situation where alcohol consumption might impair performance."

Alcoholic drinks must not be advertised in a context of sexual activity or seduction but may include romance and flirtation.

"This rule prohibits the advertising of alcohol in any context of sexual activity or seduction."

Advertisements for alcoholic drinks may contain factual statements about product contents, including comparisons, but must not make any other type of health, fitness or weight control claim.

Source: http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/codes/tv_code/Guidance_Notes/Guidance+notes+for+the+TV+alcohol+advertising+rules.htm

new project: handmade

We have begun a new project. For this we will be creating a thirty second movie advertising an alcoholic drink, we will also be creating a poster advertising the drink. We will be creating the movie using After Effects, making the graphics in Illustrator and Photoshop.

finished sequence

This is the finished sequence for Crash, Bang, Wallop:

effects used in after effects

For the project we have used After Effects to apply effects to our sequences.

In one instance I used the levels and hue/saturation to change the colour of my footage to give the illusion that it is night time. As you can see in these screenshots:




I also applied several 'Wigglers' and Motion tile effects to the footage where the character has flash backs to the film.

I did this to add extra impact to the shots.

CBW version 4

This is the latest version, I have included a lot more sound in this version and tweaked the footage a bit.

I have used After Effects on the clips where it is dark, to give a night time effect.

I also used a slight wiggle effect where the door gets kicked down to add to the impact.

CBW version 3

After the class crit I took on board a number of suggestions, and ended up re-shooting most of the footage!

In this version I have included more shots of the film.

CBW version 2

In this version I have added new shots; where the DVD case is being pulled out and a clip from the film.

CBW version 1

This is the first edit for CBW.

animatics movie #2

This is the second version of my animatic. This one contains animated parts to further express what will happen in the movie.

animatics movie #1

This is the first version of my animatic, the next version should contain moving parts in the animation.

animatic screenshots #6

animatic screenshots #5

animatic screenshots #4

animatic screenshots #3

animatic screenshots #2

animatic screenshots #1

These are the screen shots I have used in the animatics, scaled down for the web using Actions in Photoshop.

research: the texas chainsaw massacre

This is an action scene from the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre, there are a lot of fast cuts to emphasize on the action in the scene. I also noticed the colour of the shots, they are very saturated, which helps promote the 'eery' look to the house. In sit-coms they enhance the colours in the film to promote a happy and relaxing environment, it is the opposite for horror films.

As my crash, bang, wallop is, in a sense, a horror I will be looking to change the colour filters on the video to give this 'eery' environment.

research: jet phone advert

This advert for the Jet phone features lots of fast cuts, where the rapidity of the cuts increases with the dialogue, to create suspense. This is the extended version of the advert, lasting a minute, whereas the shortened TV advert lasts 15-20 seconds. In the TV version the fast cuts are used more frequently and thus creates more suspense.

I have noted down the timing of the cuts in 10 shots segments, the results were as following:

Shots--------Time into advert---------Seconds
8----------------0-12-------------------12
10---------------13-22------------------9
10---------------23-30------------------7
10---------------31-36------------------5
10---------------37-42------------------5
10---------------43-48------------------5
10---------------49-54------------------5
3----------------55-61------------------6

The results show that the advert builds up slowly, with 8 cuts taking 12 seconds, then bursts into life, as does the music and the narrator. The music and narrator are integral to the advert to promote that enrgetic essence, for having a soft calm voice over in an advert with fast cuts wouldn't portray a 'super-fast phone'.

research: hot fuzz

This scene from Hot Fuzz shows the characters from Hot Fuzz preparing for a gunfight, the fast cuts all feature the characters loading their guns. There are a total of 7 different shots in 6 seconds.

The fast cuts come across as very serious, but in the whole context of the film it fits in with the over-the-top comedy style that is applied throughout.

research: requiem for a dream

This scene shows the man in the film smoking and injecting drugs, and they have used the fast cut effects to emphasize the effects that the drugs have on him. The sequence features 12 different shots in 7 seconds, which means that one shot is visible for 0.6 seconds on average.

The fast cuts in Requiem for a Dream are used in a serious tone, compared to in Snatch, as the overall context of the scene has reference to a serious issue.

research: snatch

Contains strong language



In this scene, Avi, a business associate comes to London from New York. There are 7 shots in 7 seconds which covers the entire 7 hour flight. The sequence uses exaggerated sound effects, which gives the shots added vigor.

The fast cuts in Snatch are used for comedic purposes, in the way that the montage makes it seem that the trip from New York has taken about 10 seconds, whereas in Requiem for a Dream the fast cuts are used in a serious tone portraying drug use.

fast cuts

The definition of a fast cut is

"a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration (e.g. 3 seconds or less). It can be used to convey a lot of information very quickly, or to imply either energy or chaos"

There is also the technique called Hip Hop Montage which is

"a subset of fast cutting used in film to portray a complex action through a rapid series of simple actions in fast motion, accompanied by sound effects. The technique was first given its name by Darren Aronofsky, who used the technique in his films Pi and Requiem for a Dream to portray drug use"

The Hip Hop montage is applied numerous amounts of time by director Edgar Wright, in his works 'Spaced', 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_cutting

new project - crash, bang, wallop

We have begun a new project. For this we will be creating a fifteen second movie about describing an everyday event in dynamic fashion, we are required to use at least 20 cuts. We will be creating the movie using Final Cut Pro and After Effects.

interview mock-up 3

Here is the 3rd mock-up.

I feel that this version is my best and hope that this will be the final version!

interview mock-up 2

Here is another mock-up I've submitted on YouTube.

In this version I have included the new cutaways me and Rhys filmed.

cutaway solution

Me and Rhys have decided to combat the cutaway problems by meeting in College today and filming cutaways for ourselves only! This will help avoid clashes with other classmates

interview mock-up 1

I have uploaded a rough-cut of my interview onto YouTube.

I will be changing the cutaways on this cut, due to the problems we encountered in class.

cutaway problems

In class we all critted our interviews and came across a problem - we're all using the same cutaways!

So therefore we have set up a new blog where we can put down what cutaways we are each using, then we can settle any clashes we have on there.

colour correcting

We have been told to use this technique on our video clips to enhance the colour. This technique works really well and has brought extra 'life' to my interview. The difference before and after on the shots is vast. This is certainly a technique I will use in future projects.

feedback

Today I got some feedback from the class on my rough-cut.

I have been told to: add more relevant cutaways to the movie

Make the fade in's and out's equal in length

Have less footage of the interviewee (add more cutaways)

editing the footage

As I've been cutting the interview into smaller chunks I've had to cut out a lot of 'erms' and 'umms'. This is quite a tedious task as I'm having to scan through the footage frame by frame so I can cut the audio so it flows and is concise.

filming completed

I have finished filming the interview and some cutaway scenes. The questions I asked during the interview were:

Why did you join the course?

What are you looking to do after the course?

How do you feel the Access course has prepared you for higher education?

Have you studied at A-level qualification in college prior to joining the Access course?

Did you gain A-Level qualifications?

Do you find the workload on the Access course easier to manage than at A-Level?

Do you find studying easier/more enjoyable moreso than at college?

What do you enjoy most about the course?

Would you recommend the course to people?

The day went off without any hitches, which was good.

questions

Here are a list of questions I have thought up:

Why did you join the course?

What are you looking to do after the course?

Do you feel that the Access course prepares you for higher education in more ways than through specific A-level subjects? (overall study skills and broad subjects – maths, critical thinking, essays and academic texts)

Have you studied at A-level qualification in college prior to joining the Access course?

Why did you leave college? EXPAND

Do you find the workload on the Access course easier to manage than at A-level?

Do you find studying easier/more fun now that you have more life experience/more mature, compared to when you went to college?

What do you enjoy most about the course?

Would you recommend the course to people looking for a way to get into University?

I have included some generic questions as well. By asking these I can use snippets from them, for example if the person says "This course is really fun" I can edit that bit into the end of the movie.

new project - podcasting

We have begun a new project. For this we will be creating a one minute movie about the Access course at Sussex Downs college, the course allows people to gain qualifications in order to be accepted into University. We will be creating the movie using Final Cut Pro.

practically finished

All the work is done, I am now just waiting for the memory stick to arrive in the post...

usb design

I have also created the USB design: