Task 4

Task 4:

We had a lot of trouble with the printer in r19, but we still went through all the required steps that we learned from Beytan. 

Before coming to my slot in r19 I had already edited my two pictures to what I wanted them to look like for task 1 and 3. (In the end I chose a different picture for task 3, but at the time of printing this was still gonna be my choice.) I had edited them and saved them as TIF files, because TIF is supposed to offer the best quality when printing. 

When arriving we had already heard about some trouble with the printer, and some other groups not being able to print like they wanted. Still, after turning on the iMac and the Eizo, we continued to check that the colour space on the Eizo matched the colour space on the iMac. When customising the colours, we used a white paper to check the white on the screen with the white in real life. After getting the colours on the two screens synced, we turned off the house lights in the room, as those could interfere with the colour we see on screen. 

Task 3:

From workshop 3 

Studio: Lighting the portrait in the style of chiaroscuro art technique (Rembrandt vs. Caravaggio) 

Assessment Task:

Produce three studio portraits, two using the chiaroscuro lighting techniques demonstrated in the workshop (i.e. one Rembrandt and one Caravaggio) and one in the lighting technique of your own choice. All 3 images must be captured in RAW format and mastered as a Smart Object in TIF or PSD file format as outlined in workshop one). Use the techniques demonstrated in the portrait workshop to consider the quality, quantity and direction of light in relation to the subjects pose and this influences the composition of the portrait (e.g. broad and narrow light direction, subject pose and space around the subject and camera and lens settings.)

Caravaggio:

In my Caravaggio style image I took the soft box off the light to create an even starker contrast between the light and dark. I also asked my model to sit slight forward as to seem more imposing to the viewer. I did this to create a darker posture, that might make the viewer feel threatened, as was often wanted from the religious imagery Caravaggio used to paint.

Rembrandt:

For my rendition of Rembrandt I decided to add a little something. When lighting the scene I put one light to shine from the models right at a strength of 3, and another light to the left of the model, with a strength of 1. The secondary light had no flash, and was simply to give the broad side of the face a little light, while the narrow was illuminated and we had the triangle on his left cheek. I asked him to turn 90 degrees, turn his head back 45, and then his eyes towards me to create a dramatic and mysterious effect. I used soft boxes on both lights to create a soft, and smooth image, even though the contrasts between light and dark are very clear. 

Own style:

For my own style I wanted to create something that I felt like the two other styles were missing, although they were hugely inspirational. I put the light behind the model and shone it towards their back and side to create a silhouette of sorts. I didn't want the light to be too strong, as I wanted the silhouette to be nostalgic and dramatic. I discovered in my attempt to recreate Caravaggio and Rembrandt that I always look for facial structure when taking pictures, and that I use the light to better see it in images. For my style I wanted to elevate the cheekbones my model had, and also the outline of his biceps, to compliment his figure. I think it worked out very well. 

TJ

Task 1: 

From workshop One. Exploring and editing the RAW file using the non-destructive Adobe camera raw "Smart object" in Photoshop. 

Assessment Task Capture 5 different images from environments with different light sources (e.g. studio lighting, electronic flash, tungsten (bulb), daylight, mixed light-sources, etc.) using the RAW format from a Digital SLR camera. Process, correct and adjust the images using the appropriate workflow in Adobe Photoshop CC.

For this assignment I decided to first do the mixed light-sources picture, and I decided to shoot at night to better show the different light. I had the idea to use traffic light for my light source, and then also have a secondary one. At one point I also considered adding a third light source by waiting for a car to pass by, and catch its head lights, but after experimenting with this effect at a different location I decided not to use it. 

I played around with the blacks, whites, and shadows a bit to make more of the picture show, and save some of the information in the sky and the bushes behind my model.

The final image I chose to use for my two lighting sources is the one you see in the Camera Raw screen shot further up. 

I love the composition between red and green, good and bad, light and dark. With the the added prop of the cigarette and lighter it creates an aesthetic that I am really please with. When editing this I decided to play around with the following settings to bring more depth to her face, and also burn less of the white in flame. Her hair has more texture because I lowered shadows and contrast, while I slightly increased blacks. The duality of the image looks great and I'm really pleased with it. I did play around with some different setting as well, and I also removed the adobe presets. 

Pic 2:- Daylight

I took these pictures outside around midday so that the sun was above us shining down. On the first I stood right in front of the model with now obstruction, while on the second I stood behind the kitchen door, so that there was glass between us. I really like this because it gives it almost like a dreamy soft light filter. When it came to the edit I had to adjust the highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks all down to compensate for the strong sunlight. If you look at the original file you'll see that it is a little bit over exposed even though my ISO was set to 100. 

By adjust the shadows and highlights I gave her hair more texture, as well as making her make up and facial features more visible. Her left shoulder is also less burnt out, as well as her roots. I played around with a couple of different white balance presets here, and among my favourite were Flash and Daylight. I also tried doing a custom white balance by using her shirt and the window frame in the background. Both the Flash and the custom tool added a bit of a tint that I did not think suited the image, so I ended up going with the Daylight setting. 

Pic 3:- Tungsten

This picture was taken in my kitchen fairly late one day, so that the main light source was the tungsten light in the ceiling. As you can see it gave the image quite a warm, yellow tint. To change this I decided to play around with the setting and bring the yellow down to a more natural colour. I decided to contradict the original feel of the image to fit the imagery better - dead flowers. I feel like my end result was a good rendition of cold, and hard realities. 

Pic 4:- Flash

For this one I decided to do something a bit different. I did try some edits where I changed the setting so that I could see what was in the back, and I got amazing amounts of info back from the darkness. You can see my settings in the file I included in my hand in. I decided in the end to go a different way though - not having used black and white on any of the other pictures, I felt like it felt very right here. Considering flash photography creates very high contrast images, using black and white creates a great grey spectrum. This shows us a lot of detail in her face, while completely removing the distractions of the background. 

Pic 5:- Shade

With this one I struggled. I went out looking for shadows that were very clear and diagonal stripes, to create a partition between the light and dark, but alas, I could never find it. This was sadly a last minute picture. In a way I was able to create the difference I wanted to show the shade, and through editing I managed to make the shade more visible, turning the light into an almost glow or aura. 

TJ

VFX - Production

Scene 1: Pieces on black screen

I started off with the first frame of the storyboard and created the geometric shapes with the Pen Tool, so that i could change the size of the shape after I'd created this. I used the pen tool instead of the shape tool, because I feel like the shapes created with the pen tool gives me more freedom to shape the shapes. I used scaling to make it look like the shapes pop onto the screen simply by making them go from 0%, to 150%, and then back to 100%. Doing this over 4-5 frames makes it look the pieces come into existence smoothly, instead of just suddenly being there. I feel like using this effect makes the shapes look more cartoony and playful - it also works better with the music. I made the chimney piece come in a little bit later to show that it played a slightly different role than the other pieces, and to give the pieces a sort of personality - making them act a bit human ads to the feel of it being a childrens movie. To create the smoke coming from the chimney I used the particle playground tool, to essentially just create a stream of visible particles spouting from a certain point on screen. I turned the gravity dial so that the particles would float upwards, and then I played around with scattering, opacity, colour, and frequency, until it looked like smoke floating up from the chimney. This was also to set it apart from the rest a little bit, and make it look playful. I then used positioning, rotation, and the pen tool to make the pieces float off screen in different ways, again, I did this to give them personalities, and to stick to my style of Pixar/Disney. I also used pre-comps with each piece and animation to keep my work space tidy, and to make it easier to keep my animations separate. At the end of the scene I also turned all of the individual compositions into one big one, so that I can move it around easily, and make space for the next scene. 

Scene 2: House and Title

Creating the house itself took ages and four millennia. I created each part of it with the pen tool, and then coloured in based on what I could find on the internet. It has a cartoony feel, and the simplistic lines and colours makes it look very nice a Pixar-y. After saving the entire house as a pre-comp, I carried on the animation of how the pieces move from the previous screen, until they safely landed on the house, so that the house would be completed. After that I made the balloons pop in the same way I did with the pieces in the first scene. I figured this would be a fun way to spell out Pixar, before covering them up with more balloons, and then having the house float away and reveal the title. I feel like this whimsical style really fits the tone of the film, and ads to the sense of strange adventure.

Scene 3: Clouds and Director

I wanted the rest of the title sequence to be about the houses journey through the sky. So in this scene I wanted it to swoop by while revealing the name of the director. The clouds were drawn in Photoshop, and then imported into After Effects as psd files. This allowed me to move them around as I please as transparent layers. I made them move across the screen with a simple position change, as well as the house.

Scene 4: The change from day to night

As well as showing the house travel, I wanted to show that this was a long journey. I did this by doing one long scene where we see the scenery change from a warm sunset to a star filled night. The sun and moon both move with simple positioning, the moon being slightly larger for the larger than life cartoon feel. I also had the name of the co-director here, and just as with the first one I put a mask on it so that the object moving over the text "reveals" it. The background was a gradient, which I set to change hue over a certain amount of time - first from sunset to early night, and then to dark night. I also created a star effect by creating a normal shape with the shape tool, and then applying the Ball Action filter. After playing around with the different settings to make sure that the scale, distance between particles, random movement, etc was correct, I made sure I put expansion to a lower level, so that I could make it expand slowly while the house floats across the sky. I feel like this scene in particular captures the feeling I hoped to portray with the entire sequence - the small explorer in a big world feeling. 

Scene 5: Disney and balloons flying off

Every good adventure has to come to an end, and like in the film this sequence ends when the balloons deflate/ fly off, and the house starts falling down. This was all done by simple positioning, and the text was hidden under the house so that it was revealed when the house fell. I was trying to create a feeling of dawn in the background, as to bring the cycle of day, evening, night, and dawn to an end, but I'm not sure I succeeded completely. 

Scene 6: The End

The end image was drawn in Photoshop and then put into After Effects. The background is a gradient I created to show the morning, and the sun rising on a new day and a new world. All in all I think my title sequence tell the story of adventure, and captures the feeling of the film very well. Accompanied with music from the film, it gives a sense of childish adventure, as well as a cosy feel.


TJ

VFX - Storyboarding and idea

I went through a lot of different ideas before I decided which style and film I wanted to do. After three workshops with Phil, and testing out (and refreshing) my After Effects skills, I decided I wanted to do something minimalistic, and simplistic, with the skills I know very well, instead of trying to create something using 3D and camera effects poorly, as these were very new concepts to me, and not something I was comfortable using yet. I did try to play around with it briefly, but I quickly decided that I could create something better with the skills I was comfortable with. 

I think it was in my fourth lesson that I started looking at different title sequences, and came across the opening of Pixars Monsters Inc.

It's a very simple title sequence, but it still does what it's designed to do, all while keeping true to the cartoony, playful, feeling that Disney and Pixar films inspire in all of us. This is what I wanted to recreate, without copying them. After trying out the different effects shown in the above video I had a rough idea of how to use positioning, scaling, and mask paths to create simple, but effective animations. 

Keeping true to the cartoony feel of other Disney and Pixar films, I decided to do my title sequence to the Pixar film Up. Below you can see the storyboard I drew. 

I decided to start the sequence similarly to how the Monsters Inc opening was, but I then wanted to go into how colourful and adventurous Up is. Considering it is about an old man rediscovering what adventure and youth feels like, I wanted the sequence to be colourful, light, and childish. Starting on a black background with just some pieces of the house, and then turning it into a simplistic narrative about his journey from the darkness to the light jungle - just like in the film. 

TJ

"Research was done, 

and research was doneth"

Dissertation Proposal Research - Beginning

In the middle of everything that's going on towards the end of the term I am finding it difficult to find time for research for the dissertation proposal, but in this post/ presentation I will sum up what I've found, what I want to write about, and how I'm gonna turn a proposal into a dissertation. 

The whole unit had completely slipped my mind until I had my tutorial with Liz on the 17th of March. We discussed my essay - what I did well, and what I could improve. I was very happy with the result I got on my essay, and furthermore was happy with the work I had done. I felt like I had a really good workflow, and managed to back up all of my arguments with good sources. My paragraphs were pretty long, but they all had a relatively good structure, with an opening, and argument, and a sources to further explore the subject. 

On this basis we discussed how I could further pursue this topic into my dissertation, as we both felt that there was plenty more to write about the subject. For an example, in my essay I only touched upon the subject of characters such as Divine, the work of John Waters, and RuPaul. This side of transsexuality would be very interesting to look more into, as well as cross dressing and the psychology behind it. I already looked at the works of Freud, Jung, and Erikson in my essay, but there are so many others I could look into that might show a completely different perspective on the issue. 

In my essay I explored the biology, psychology, and social reasons for how transsexuality has been portrayed in cinema, so for my dissertation I want to do something similar, except that I want to explore further, and deeper. I want to question everything, and explore more throughly, and also look at real world cases. For an example Liz mentioned a woman who dressed up as a man her entire life to work as a doctor, and she wasn't found out until they did her autopsy. 

For this I am going to look into these books: 

J. Phillips, 2006. Transgender On Screen. Palgrave Macmillan

J. Ruppert. 1994. Gender, Literary and Cinematic Representation. Florida State University

"But now the rains weep o'er his hall,

with no one there to hear." - The Rains of Castamere

It has already been a long journey just to get to this pitch, and I have already learned so much. Starting out I had no idea if I should pick Fields and Frames, or Dance Video - I had ideas for both, and at first I figured I would be able to do everything. I quickly found out that that was not the case.. Since then it's been a rollercoaster, and believe it or not, the pitch is ready, the dancer is found, and the location is almost ready too - can you believe it ? Now, there is still a long way left to go, I've got most of the pre production left, and the project is far from getting signed off and ready to shoot yet, but you know, lets look on the bright side, we're getting there.

My dance video is heavily influenced by Bill Violas video art installation "Tristan's Ascension" as in it will feature falling water and one performer. I will combine this with dance elements from casual street dance and martial arts. This piece will show a narrative that reflects the constant battle between nature and humans, and how in the end we might be better off if we could find a way to work in harmony, and live together, side by side, without obstructing the other.

The set itself is fairly straight forward - just a black room, with a spotlight, and water raining down from above - but its the dance that tells the story between the two characters. In this narrative both the dancer and the water itself will play their respective parts as two opposing forces, who are both trying to achieve an action, but is being obstructed from completing that action by the other part. The water wants to do what water wants to do when it rains, to reach the ground, and the human wants to complete these movements without distraction. 

The video will start with the dancer performing their moves undistracted, but slowly the water starts dripping, and increasing in amount. After a while the water is now physically making it difficult for the dancer to perform the moves, and as the water pressure increases (we will achieve this by using a hose, or just increasing the amount of water being poured), the dancer also increases the intensity oh their moves - making them more powerful and aggressive. It will be obvious that the dancer and the water is out of harmony with each other, and that they are in a way egging each other on to become more annoyed, and more tempered. There will be a crescendo in this part of the video where it becomes intense until the point where the dance can't go on, after this the video and the dance will almost come to a full stop, before slowly starting up again as the dancer realised that its possible to dance with the water if they just change their moves slightly. At this point the dance will change from the previous more aggressive and combat inspired dance, and transform into a more flowly, abstract dance that's inspried by the art of Tai Chi. The dance goes on, but this time in harmony with the water, letting it flow with the body, instead of interrupting it. This goes on for a while until we get to the end of the video where the dancer and the water is in complete sync and camera pans out. 

The North Pole melting

Now it wouldn't be much of an art uni video if it didn't have a deeper meaning now would it? Well of course it does, and this time I don't feel like it's very subtle. It's about humans and nature having to learn how to work together and live along side each other on this earth, instead of constantly slashing away at each other. Like in the dance, the two parts keep egging each other on - we destroy the atmosphere, the water heats up, and natural disasters come more and more often, and round and round we go. Now, there have been made countless documentaries and films about this subject, and this is my contribution - and my wish - that maybe one day we can learn to work together and take care of each other. 

TJ