Strawberry~Dreams

P350 Final: Short Film

Tue, 05 May 2009 17:04:55 GMT

Treatment:

“Death Jolt”

The main character is a runner, who habitually stays up late at night, and constantly drinks energy drinks (Monster, Rock Star, etc.) to keep herself energized and awake. The film follows her as she slowly depletes her physical health because of her unhealthy habits. One night when she is up very late, the grim reaper comes into her bedroom and creates a nightmare as a way of teaching her a lesson. In the nightmare, the runner dies of a heart attack while she is out running, because the energy drinks have raised her heart rate so much. The Grim Reaper approaches her dead body and laughs. The runner jolts awake. The next scene occurs when she is preparing to go out for another run. She opens the refrigerator and sees her usual energy drink sitting beside a water bottle. She thinks about the choice for a few seconds, then chooses the water bottle. The final scene depicts her running, happy and healthy with the water bottle in hand.

Storyboards:

http://www.cs.iupui.edu/~anparr/p350storyboards01.pdf
http://www.cs.iupui.edu/~anparr/p350storyboards02.pdf

Filming Notes:

Filming took place in three different locations. The first section filmed was the late night sequence. This was filmed at the house of the actress who played the Grim Reaper. The second section of footage was filmed at my own house, and that was the refrigerator section. The rest of the footage, the outdoor footage (running, dying) was filmed on campus outside Cavanaugh Hall alongside Michigan street.

Editing Notes:

We began with nearly an hour of footage, and we had almost 30 takes of the dying scene (from multiple angles). We ended up cutting the footage down to about 3 and a half minutes for the final version. We tried to lengthen the final edits by extending the running scenes and late night scene, however it was far too boring and ruined the pacing, so we kept the shorter version of the video.

After Effects Notes:

I had already used lighting to make the night scenes blue (those scenes were actually filmed between 2 and 3 in the afternoon, I pushed the time on the computer behind by 12 hours). Because of the lighting effects already being taken care of, we only did mild color correction there. We darkened the lighting a little more, and just added a tiny bit more blue to the footage.

The other effect we used was during the dream sequence. For this, Greg

Audio Notes:

This film has no dialogue because the emphasis of the story is on the action. Therefore, it is driven completely by the music. The first song is "Supermassive Black Hole" performed by Muse. I took this song from the "Twilight" movie soundtrack. It has an edgy techno/rock style, and has a very steady driven beat. The overall composition of the song has a somewhat mysterious and eerie tone to it. The lyrics are as follows:

Supermassive Black Hole lyrics

Ooh, baby don't you know I suffer?
Oh, baby can you hear me moan?
You caught me under false pretenses
How long before you let me go?

Ooh, you set my soul alight
Ooh, you set my soul alight

Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive
(Ooh, you set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive
(Ooh, you set my soul)

I thought I was a fool for no one
But ooh, baby I'm a fool for you
You're the queen of the superficial
And how long before you tell the truth?

Ooh, you set my soul alight
Ooh, you set my soul alight

Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive
(Ooh, you set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive
(Ooh, you set my soul)

Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole

Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive
(Ooh, you set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive
(Ooh, you set my soul)

Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole

The lyrics to the song describe the relationship the runner has with the energy drinks: it's like an addiction for her, she feels like she cant live without them, but she knows that she's suffering because of them.

The second song is "Going All The Way" by Perry Farell, also from the "Twilight" movie soundtrack. This is used in the final section, when the runner chooses the water instead fo the energy drink. This song is an upbeat, positive song. It is techno driven, and still has a forward moving pace, and the lyrics are very positive (it is a happy love song). The lyrics are as follows:

Happy days, happy days, happy days, we're going all the way,
Happy days, happy days, happy days, we're going all the way, we're going all the way, we're going all the way

(Chorus)
Happy days, happy days, happy days, we're going all the way
Happy days, happy days, happy days, we're going all the way
Tonight! Lightning stikes!
Let's go into Twilight!

First time I saw you (when we first met)
I had the fever (as bad as it gets)
You let me see (flesh of my thighs)
It was so smooth, sparkle and shine
And it shined

La la la la la la lalalala la la la la la la
Tonight! Lightning strikes!
Let's go into Twilight!

You asked me out on many dates
And took me to exotic places
You saw the look upon your face
You men must really love the chases
I'm going to let you have it like you've never had before
So take me
take me
take me...

Tonight! Lightning Strikes!
Let's go into Twilight!

Go all the way with me, go all the way (x7)
(yeah, yeah, yeaaaah!)

Happy days, happy days, happy days, happy days, we're going all the way!

Not a Fan of YouTube Right Now...

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:42:13 GMT

Well, YouTube has been very consistent in taking down my videos due to copyright violations (even though all my videos are school projects, and therefore under protection by US law for Fair Use for educational purposes) BUT I don't want the hassle of going through the dispute process. For all of my videos that DO get taken down I will try to find another site to upload them to, since I do need a virtual portfolio of some sort.

P360 Green Screen Video - "Stuck In The Game"

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:26:59 GMT

Here is a green screen video i made with my friend Luke for our Lighting and Field Production class:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kzfi8pN2Bw

The concept is a comedic look at how we would get "stuck" inside a videogame (in this case Super Smash Bros. Brawl). Enjoy :)

P350 Project 05 - Music Video

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:41:42 GMT

Here is the original plan for the video:

Song:
"Beautiful Girl"
by Sweetbox
album: Addicted

lyrics:

Another magazine creates a dream that I can't reach
That I can't be but I try to be
And another label tells me
That it's just not enough to be just me
Airbrush those thoughts, because they're not pretty
But why do you want

Just a beautiful girl
Just a beautiful girl
Is that all that you need?
Tell me what's a beautiful girl
What's a beautiful girl
Is that all that you see?
With the perfect answers
And the perfect smile
So you never have to really try
You know that a beautiful girl
A beautiful girl
Isn't all that it seems

Another diet failure
Another night of you ignoring me
And your silence burns through my dignity
You're not a glossy cover either
So why are you expecting me to be?
Flesh or fantasy, my heart still beats
But why do you want

Just a beautiful girl
Just a beautiful girl
Is that all that you need?
Tell me what's a beautiful girl
What's a beautiful girl
Is that all that you see?
With the perfect answers
And the perfect smile
So you never have to really try
You know that a beautiful girl
A beautiful girl
Isn't all that it seems

What's so damn attractive about being a mine?
I know my beauty's in my story not one line

Just a beautiful girl
Just a beautiful girl
Is that all that you need?
Tell me what's a beautiful girl
What's a beautiful girl
Is that all that you see?
With the perfect answers
And the perfect smile
So you never have to really try
You know that a beautiful girl
A beautiful girl
Isn't all that it seems
Isn't all that it seems

outline:

3 different "scenes", going back and forth between each throughout the course of the video.

scene 1: talent singing in front of a microphone

scene 2: talent sitting reading a fashion magazine, singing

scene 3: talent trying out different outfits in front of a mirror, putting on different kinds of make-up, trying different hairstyles, and trying on different shoes

specific scenes:

beginning- on the lyrics "another magazine creates a dream that i can't be" talent is reading the magazine, then slams it down on the table

end- talent destroys the magazine (either by ripping cutting or burning it)

Composition:
1. Half Mirror Half Real image
2. Shooting from the back, seeing the facing
3.Picasso- Girl in front of Mirror
4. Use the performance
5. The video has a great film feel because of the greenish tint.

------

The final edit did not have very much of the B-roll (scenes) that were in the original outline. The make-up scene was filmed, but was too boring (and too redundant) to use a lot of. The footage of the singer performing was much more interesting and dynamic.

There were very few camera movements, as I (Ashley) filmed all but the outdoor scenes on my own. Most of the cuts are very quick, going back and forth from one clip to another, to keep with the drive of the music and to keep the video interesting. I filmed a total of 8 or 9 different takes of performance, one of which was completely scrapped because the composition was poor (the camera focused too much on the magazines the performer was reading, and chopped off the face).

As pacing goes, the video began with longer clips, staying with the singer through each setting a little bit longer. The cuts on the chorus were a little bit faster than those on the verses, until the bridge, which is the climax of the song. After the bridge, the clips are cut up very quickly, especially at the end, until the final line of the song, which is held throughout one clip.

Here is the rough cut of the video, before any After Effects work was done:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmNqmHXNICI

----------------------

Greg was in charge of the color correction and After Effects portion:

Color Correction

My version of the color correction was not the most effective.

1. I rendered out the complete video that Ashley put together.
2. I then cut the video any time there was a cut.
3. I rendered out each of the sections as a separate file. I couldn’t figure out how to manage turning off the effects when there was a cut.
4. I then took the rendered sections and placed them in the After Effects file
5. I applied the color correction I had decided on for that particular shot.

This process took 12 hours, and only got me 2:18 into the 3:30 video. There has to be a better way.

I figure that having separate sections of the video would allow for color correction over the time of that clip. I’ll have to experiment more, but that is my biggest question.

I used the following tools on all of the clips in some combination
1. Brightness and Contrast
2. Levels
3. Curves
4. Hue and Saturation

Aesthetically, some of the footage had a green tint. I wanted to keep that. The takes that were aimed directly at Ashley’s face when she was sitting down were blue, as well as the outdoor footage.

For the green takes, I merely brightened the footage. The outdoor blue footage was changed to green. The blue indoor footage had more red added to give it a more realistic tone. Some of the other footage had to be desaturated a little to give it a cooler tone to match the blue footage.

I learned that every piece of footage needed to be considered not only on it’s own, but also in terms of the footage that was next to it in the edit. A very good visual exercise if only I could organize productively.

Here is a color correction comparison video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIsj8hyWQVo

--------------------

Because we were running out of time, and I (Ashley) had trouble figuring out what Greg had done with color correction, I redid all the color correction. I took our original footage and color corrected it by using the "Color Balance" effect. I raised the green highlights by 20 points, and lowered the blue highlights by 10 points.

*Update 4/15/2009*
Here is a link to the final video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EFgfpuRy0U

Also, the color correction test did not upload properly, so i'll try to re-upload it when I get more time.

P350 Project 4 - Documentary

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:47:28 GMT

For this project we chose to document the JAGTV crew on campus and follow them as they create their program entitled "The Spot".

We contacted Josh Normington, who is in charge of the production and oversees the interns. He showed a lot of enthusiasm for our ideas, and went out of his way to help us get this video done. He let us follow him and his crew around for about two weeks (including spring break) as they went through each step of the production process. Both he and his interns provided us with excellent information and had fun letting us film them.

We ran into a few problems during production, the most difficult issue we encountered was with our audio for the interview with Josh. We had him mic'ed with a Lavaliere, however for reasons we have been unable to decipher, the audio did not go into our camera, and we ended up with the camera's audio instead. This audio picked up a lot of distortion and unwanted ambient noise. We tried many different things in audio programs to clean it up, and for the final audio we used Adobe Soundbooth's noise reduction plug-in, and EQ'd with a male vocal boost. Although most of it came out sounding better than the original, there were parts that became slightly distored and made him sound slightly robotic.

The second problem we encountered was with After Effects. We had a lot of problems animating our "white board" transition. We had two versions of the "sticky notes" and arrows that we created in Illustrator, but every time we imported it into After Effects it refused to put everything into separate layers. We ended up having to import it as an EPS file, and we still lost all our layers. But we did manage to animate it as a whole, though not the way we had hoped to animate it.

We began with a total of two hours of footage. About 90% of all footage was original by us, and about 10% was provided by Josh (ie "The Spot" footage).

Video Class - Project 02: 30 sec. Commercial

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:09:20 GMT

I created this commercial for the Nintendo Wii for my video class this semester. The premise of the commercial was to choose an existing product, create an original tagline for it, and then film a 30 second commercial based on that theme.

My first challenge with this piece was choosing a topic. I tossed around the idea of advertising different movies, but that would not have worked because I would be extremely limited in the amount of original footage I could use in it. That was not a good idea. Then my mind wandered to the possibility of advertising one of my favorite videogames. That idea was better, because I could film myself or someone else playing the game, but the footage still would have been boring because half of it would include a person sitting down while playing. That was when I came up with the idea to use the Wii.

I used my brother's Wii and filmed the two of us playing Wii Sports (Boxing, Baseball, Golf, Bowling, and Tennis), Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mario Kart Wii. I had almost 2 hours of footage to begin with, and because of the time restraints, I only used brief clips from Mario Kart Wii, Wii Sports Boxing, Tennis, Bowling, and Baseball.

Part of the audio is the original audio from the filming, covered over by the Wii's theme music for Mii's (the little character avatars that you can create to look like yourself or someone else from the Wii's main menu.) The opening Nintendo logo is accented with the Wii Menu Select music, and the final Wii logo and Mario and Luigi jumping logo are accented with the Wii Sports theme.

The filming was difficult because the Wii is hooked up in such a compact room. I used a tripod for the camera, but it was difficult to keep it steady because I was experimenting with so many different angles, none of which provided the angle I had envisioned. I even had to move the camera out of the room and into the hallway for a large section of the filming, just so the camera would capture the people as well as the television screen. It is very difficult to film anything on a television screen as well, it would blur slightly, turn a bluish hue, and sometimes the screen would darken in sections while remaining light in other sections. The entire Golf section of my footage was marred by this darkening, which is why I left that footage out of the final commercial.

After I edited my film, I put the edited footage into After Effects to add the opening and closing logos and tagline, and to animate the Wii logo.

#002: photo slideshow "The Dog Life"

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:41:15 GMT

Hi everyone! This is the first media post!

I will get the video posted here soon, but YouTube keeps muting my audio because I used a copyrighted song on it. Since this is for educational purposes it should not matter. However, I really dont have the time and energy to go into a long drawn out battle with YouTube over this, so I will find another route to get it posted. Since a portion of my assignment requires a blog post about the process behind making the slideshow, I am going to post this, despite the lack of video. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I gained the idea for this slideshow after taking several pictures of my dogs. I was experimenting with lighting and different camera angles when photographing them (which I actually do quite often). So I tried to choose a topic where I could incorporate that. I began with two ideas. The first idea that came to me was to do a humorous look into the daily life of my Pomeranian mix, Harry. I then decided that that idea might be too long to fit into our 1:30-2:00 minute time limit. So I then came up with the concept of showing different emotions.

Since I work part time at a kennel, I figured I could get photos of other dogs in addition to my own. So I got permission from my boss to take photos of the dogs, and by the time I left work that day I had over 300 photos on my camera. I had to scrap several, most of which missed the subjects' face(s), were blurry from the dogs' movements, or missed the dogs entirely because they were moving so much. Keeping the dogs still was a huge challenge, which I figured out quickly. That was why I took so many pictures, because I never really knew when I'd catch them still or when they were going to move. And since I had about 10 dogs or so in the room with me for playtimes, they were all interacting with one another and playing with one another (and trying to play with me), so it was nearly impossible to get any one of them to stay still.

The next step, after taking the pictures and deleting the bad ones, was to select which ones I was actually going to use. I had just shy of 300 good photos left, and after going through every photo and editing them, I finally narrowed it down to about 35. Then I put the winning photos into After Effects and began organizing them, setting the project length at 2 minutes.

Going through the photos wasnt even the hardest part. I spent at least an hour going through my music collection to find a song that was appropriate for all the emotions that the dogs were displaying. That was extremely difficult. I finally stumbled upon the song "That's Life" from Michael Buble's album "Call Me Irresponsible". The theme of the song was about all the ups and downs of life. I thought it was perfect.

Here are the lyrics of the full song:

That's Life lyrics:

(Don't let it get you, don't let it get you down
For this world keeps on spinning 'round)

That's life
That's what all the people say
You're riding high in April
You're shot down in May
I know I'm gonna change that tune
When I'm back on top in June

I say that's life
& as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks
Stompin' on your dreams
But I don't let it, let it get me down
'Cause this fine ol' world keeps spinning 'round

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn & a king
I've been up & down & over & out
But I know one thing
Each time I find myself, flat on this face
I pick myself up & get back in the race

That's life
I can't deny it
I thought of quitting, baby
This heart wasn't gonna buy it
And if I didn't think it was worth one single try
I'd jump right on a big bird & then I'd fly

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn & a king
I've been up & down & over & out
And I know one thing
Each time I find myself flat on my face
I pick myself up & get back in the race

That's life
That's life & I can't deny it
Many times I thought of cutting out
But my heart won't buy it
But if there's nothing shakin' come this here July
I'm gonna roll
I'm gonna roll
I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball & die
Can't deny it
That's life

After I finished editing and adding in the audio, I had to determine what I wanted to do transitions/effects wise. I wanted to keep it simple, since I liked the way the photos simply switched from one to the next. I didnt want any flashy or distracting effects for every single photo. It was just ostentatious. So the only transition effects I put were on the first and last photos (in the form of a curtain going up and down), and the opening and ending credits text. My end credits go by too quickly, though, no matter how many times I tried to slow them down. I was stretched to my time limit and the final product is just a few milliseconds shy of 2 minutes.

Post #0001: Introduction

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:19:25 GMT

Hello Everyone!

I am Ash, and welcome to my media blog! This blog will be dedicated to all types of media that I create for fun or for school. I will post many different types of media including: video, graphics, audio, and written media.

My old LiveJournal (the link is also located in the "Links" section in the sidebar of this page) was used primarily for my works of fanfiction and LJ userpics. I chose to begin from scratch and give off a more professional feel. I opened my original LJ account in 2005 when I was still a Junior in high school. Since I am now a college Junior, I decided it was a good time for a transition.

I will still post fan works (fanfiction, fanart, wallpapers, etc.) here, just as I did on my old journal. The primary difference is that I will try to avoid using this as a personal blog (that will be my old LJ's job).

I am presently working on updating the CSS layout for this site, and will probably always be tweaking it somehow. (Since I will never be completely satisfied).

I currently have links available to other sites that I belong to (for example: YouTube, FanFiction.net) and hope to eventually gain a site to post my music and other audio works. All current and future links will be posted in the "Links" section in the page sidebar.

If you have any questions, suggestions, comments, or just wish to drop in and say hello, then please feel free to leave me your thoughts by clicking the comment link at the bottom of this post.

Love, Ash