This is the area of my blog where I will document and analyze my technical process and development of my initial ideas. Within this will be pretty much anything creative that is used to develop my idea.
Emerging Contextual Themes
Environments
People
Time Lapse Experimentation
Here are a few video tests of some time lapse footage. None of these images are of importance to me a this stage, what is important to me is that I gain an undrstanding of the impact f this footage, and how the time lapse can lend itself to regular footage. Wether it is of people, places or even environments…these images taken over a long period of time could produce some pretty cool stuff. ere are some of the outcomes.
This cloud test was not entirely successful. It did work in the end, but my choice of shot was not particularly great and the clouds were not as wholesome as one would hope. What is important though, is that by speeding up the clouds in the first place, we have given them a deeper texture and more of a prominence on screen. This is an early indicator that time and speed are not the only things to be affected through the time lapse process.
I particularly like this image. The inspiration for this particular take was i wanted to explore natural light. I thought the reflection of the sun on the ocean…over time, would give me a nice transition. The transition was not as effective…but there are numerous other popints of interest within it. The clouds, the people and the waves all swirl together to create a placid image of life, moving together like one giant organism.
I fancied having a look at some time lapses involving people for variation as much as interest. My idea for the music video is that life passes by, and leaves the lead narrative character behind. So i was interested to see what visual effects could be achieved through applying the process to the movement of people. What i found is that not alot happened without adding a montion blur to the footage. Because whilst the people moved quickly, there was little that would change visually, so i fancied adding this effect to give there dominance and movement on screen more visual presence. It does work, and there is a nice shadow effect left behind them. Im not particularly certain as to how this benefits the image…but it does work nicely. I applied the same process and effect to a black and white variation of the footage which i actually think works better…because the blur leaves a blaze of shadow behind the people on screen…so aesthetically it is more pleasing…..in my humble opinion.
This is by far the most successful test up until this point, and gives me the best possibilities for extended visual experimentation. This footage is of a motorway just down from my house. This is my favourite for many many reasons. Firstly it is the colours that are on offer in the image, as the night approaches, the light gets whiter and stretches somewhat. The other thing i love about it, is that by speeding it up so much, and adding a minor motion blur, it is turning the cars into one constant stream of light….almost like an electric current. These visuals are given more credibility in a city, because what it almost feels like is a symbol of the constant buzz of a big town or small city that never sleeps. It appears relentless, like a stream or river….so we have extracted something with a very very naturalistic essence from something that is actually a symbol of urban decay….the motorway! This is something i will explore more in the time lapses to come!
This particular attempt at time lapsing was not a very good success. It works ok with the music i chose but that is sadly irrelevant in the context of my film. My choice of shot was poor, as the camera was not low enough and the cinematography is not particularly well chosen either. It does create a nice visual effect which is always nice, but given the relative success of my last piece, I am fairly disappointed with the outcomes. It was the end of the week though, and like all humans i wanted to chill out and get warm….so maybe i rushed it a bit and ended up with something that is substandard. Lesson learnt me thinks!
Time Lapse Experiment: Inanimate Objects
This last week has been fun creating experiments in time lapses. Unfortunately, they were just tests on the process of time lapsing and not particularly relevant in the context of my song. They did teach me some valuable lessons about the use of light in time lapsing, as can be seen in one or two of my experiments. I really liked to shot down at the beach, and the people moving around like ants…it had a very organic look and feel to it. One issue i have seen with time lapsing, is that it does not really serve any narrative functions and is best used as a visual effect. It is difficult to develop a narrative on screen when everything is moving very quickly. It is hard to control the flow of imagery to the viewer and therefore becomes rather dull after a while. So it is an effect that I will use sparingly in my video, if at all. This could be used once or twice in the context i described further above, about the world passing by, or someone not paying interest in the world or perhaps someone is lost in their own thoughts. These are examples of how the time lapse effect could have some contextual influence on my images. Below are several examples of using an inanimate object against the lapse of time. That way we can see how the time lapse effect works in conjunction with a stationary object to potentially create one of the contexts described above…..
Further Experimentation: Focus Pulling
The following videos are just some mini tests i carried out to replicate various techniques i may need to incorporate into my video such as focus pulling and depth of field
Further Experimentation: Layer Masking
Colour Grading
I have used some still imagery from the rough photos taken to represent my storyboard. I am trying to see how by tweaking certain colours and levels we can change the feel of an image. Whether it makes it nicer, more dirty or much more vibrant remains to bve seen. Below are some examples of my expleriments:
Experiment One
The idea behind this was to try and control the mood of the image and possibly its appearance. I took the image of the derelict building site and colour graded it to create two possible images. One of Dawn and one of Dusk….with the intention that each image would offer a different tone. I wanted Dawn to be a little more uplifting and fresh…like the sun breaking through the clouds. The other image of Dusk worked slightly better, my intention was to create a rather gloomy, depressing image by desaturating and darkening the colours and tone. This does actually work quite well, and evokes a certain mood that i was trying to create…one of a rather depressing and uninspiring existance.
Experiment Two
The above image is one of my favourites of them all. My primary goal with this image was to give the image a certain mood of depression…much like the image of ‘dusk’ above. This image reminds me of New York for some reason, it seems to have that very cold, souless and rather unforgiving urban environment. to achieve this i desaturated the images and changed the highlights to a more blue colour and the mids to mild purple. This gives it a very surreal, but cold atmosphere in my opinion and is ideal for the mood i am trying to create.
Experiment Three
This was a much more abstract and contextually specific colour grading experiment. I have chosen an image similar to that which i will use in the real film…a pub. What i wanted to achieve with this image was how i could epitomise the relationship between the character and the pub itself. By that i mean, what does the pub represent to the character. The artificial picture works best i feel, and this is because of the high saturation. I wanted to create an intense atmosphere, one that is almost a detachment from reality. So i highlighted the yellow lighting and it almost creates some kind of bubble of artificial fulfilment.
Experiment Four
This was also one of my favourite experiments. It is an exploration of contrast ing moods. As written earlier in this project, the image of the bus stop is one of depression in my eyes. So i wanted t create a gloomy effect over the bus stop, and have this contrasting with the lighter “more positive” surroundings outside. This contrast actually works pretty well in my opinion!
Black & White Pictures
I am a big fan of grey scale imagery. For me, the lack of vibrancy brings the cinematography and composition of the frame to attention. Of course it better in some shots than others but the overall feel of the shot works well for me. The gloomy and depressive feel to the imagery would be perfect for my song. My one concern is that due to the very simple and progressive nature of my film, that it could well come across a little bland. So i will very much consider keeping some level of colour in my song.
