1 Min Short Film - Filming etc...

Beginning filming there was the bit of luck needed to made the whole process so much easier and that was the weather. Clear blue skies and heat haze really aided the tranquil feel of the shots i ultimately required.



The sun, trees and water were ideal objects and content to use for the foundation. Although the content will be abstracted, they act as beautiful frames and areas of contrast.
The Still shots that play tricks with the camera and some beautiful accidents happen. Lense glare and aberration creating all kinds of different shapes and colours that for the filters to cling to. Not having a tripod forced the issue of having off kilter camera angles, having to react to the environment and reaction through the camera.
As Jackson Pollock once said in an interview,
" There is no accident, deny the accident"





Framing shots was simple as i had been out prior to filming taking photographs for specific locations and to get a feel for the style of composition i wanted.
Camera shake was another issue i had as i only had a cheap 3 pronged tripod that was no use at all in the end.
The grain and grit of the camera really adds another dimension to the shots.
Need to take one of the HD cameras out to experiment with shots that are crystal clear and sharp.
An experience that i learned a lot from especially about the amount of footage needed to be taken, equipment taken, reserve batteries, the importance of photography in film.
Tape Sheets went out the window as soon as i started shooting. As i was on my own, i needed to be able to facilitate shots. Taking care of paper 'on the fly' was not high on my agenda. It did not make editing harder or easier. I dont believe they make a difference when shooting in the linear fashion i was. I can definately see their benefits when there is enough footage. I.e, multiple tapes and takes, scenes and clips etc.

Just the confidence in taking cameras out has increased my enthusiasm and will to make another film.
Just want to always shoot 3 rols of film.

1 Min Short Film - Storyboard

1 Min Short Film - More I Ching

1 Min Short Film - Risk Assessment

An essential part of any shoot. Risk Assessment. As it was only me filming, the risks were more environmental than anything else. Sometimes awkward terrain and loose footing but also the safe guard of the equipment.

Ronald Jenkees - Musical Wizard

This first one is my favorite. After he stops the first time that section of music is bliss.

1 min Short Film - John Cage - Research - Sound + Compositional Ideas

So humble, spiritual, enriched, fulfilled, brilliant, happy, man.
Im in love!

1 Min Short Film - Composition

48. Ching - The Well. Welling / The Deep Well
☵
☴

Trigrams: Kan, the abysmal, water, is on top of Sun, the gentle, wind, wood.
See: 18 Gem 45 — 24 Gem 23.

Statement: Folks come and go and draw from the well so long as they get to its water. A well with clear, limpid water suggests sincerity.

HEXAGRAM 48:
Rustic sincerity is no error, but may have to be guarded and tended like a good well of limpid water to bulwark against overuse and marring changes.

The deep well is often taken as a symbol of basic vitality that is shared and common.

The all-important thing about a well is that its water be drawn.

Communities and individuals are to tend to and not neglect their source of inner strength. They need to set aside time to cultivate their contact with the inner sources through good meditation and other fith doings. Thus, a good well is useless if nobody drinks from it.

A deep well has to be kept in good repair, and people need to cultivate their source of vitality by setting aside time enough for this deep purpose.

The source of vitality is very deep inside oneself and everyone else alive in the community.

Carelessness - by which the jug is broken - bodes not well.

The superior man encourages the people to help one another.

The dependable well never runs dry. The same is true of the really great man.

The shape and composition of the 48 symbol of the i ching is how i intend to structure the timing, sections and cuts in my film. Through working out the percentages of the film in correlation to the length of lines in the symbol.

Sync the symbol for water, calm, gentle wind, wood.... this i feel aids continuity within concept and provides a perfect framework for composing the soundtrack.
John Cage used the i ching to structure harmoniously his compositions.

1 Min Short Film - Extra Crewing - Ken

Our criteria requires us to aid other students and friends in creating their films.
This in turn gives us crewing experience, interaction and observing other peoples processes and thought patterns but furthermore, illustrate yet again how working in a team increases efficiency and is so important when working to deadlines and strict criteria.

1) Ken - Existential ideas

Filming with ken spanned from 4:30 till 7:00. I was required to help set help set up equipment, adjust the lighting and opinions on diffusers and the position / direction of light, aid in confirming certain lens compositions, but predominantly hold the boom mike to capture the dialog.
An interesting experience and having had minimal exposure to crewing, it was a great insight into the amount of effort and determination it takes to capture inspired footage.

Induction - Green Screen

The session today introduced us to Green Screens (Chroma key), and different lighting scenarios.
Lighting the screen was the difficult part as the lighting an object cast shadows across the floor and behind the subject, but the veriety of lighting employed dictates where the shadows are cast. Therefore, with the right combination of lighting this can nearly always be avoided.
It is also a time consuming process which will need to be factored in if this technique is used in the future.

1 Min Short Film - Research - Colour 4

http://www.writedesignonline.com/resources/design/rules/color.html

Compositional effects of color

Spatial effects - Such as, hues that are lighter at maximum saturation (yellows, oranges) appear larger than those that are darker at maximum saturation (e.g., blues and purples).

When a color expands visually, it may also seem closer to the viewer than those that seem to contract, leading to the common statement that warm colors appear closer and cool colors fall back.

Artists can bring any color forward or push it back, depending on what other spatial tricks they use. In addition, a large shape or form appears to be heavier than a small shape. Several small shapes or forms can balance on large one.

Remember that saturation is the relative brilliance or vibrancy of a color. The more saturated a color, the less black it contains.

Use highly saturated or high-intensity colors (a pure hue with no other colors mixed in) or busily detailed areas to draw attention and therefore give the appearance of carrying more weight than less saturated, low-intensity or visually simpler areas.

Balance and proportion - Generally speaking, highly saturated or busily detailed areas will draw attention and therefore seem to carry more weight than less saturated or visually simpler areas.

Balance - the two types of balance are formal (symmetrical) and informal (asymmetrical).

Proportion - the size relationship of one part to the whole and one part to another.

Emphasis - an area in a work of art that attracts the viewers attention first. The element noticed first is called dominant; the elements noticed later are called subordinate.
Unity - allows the viewer to see a combination of elements, principles, and media as a whole. Unity is created by harmony, simplicity, repetition, proximity, and continuation. For example, you could use the repetition of a color scheme to unify a composition. Another way to unify a composition is to simplify the color scheme by allowing one color to dominate the work. This is called tonality.

Movement - color can create a sense of movement. When the values in a work jump quickly from very high-key to very low-key, a feeling of excitement and movement is created. When all of the values are close together the work seems much calmer. When you want to create movement with color remember to use values of pure hues as well as those of tints and shades. Movement creates the illusion of action or physical change in position.

Rhythm - the use of repeated elements to create the illusion of movement. Visual rhythm is perceived through the eyes, and is created by repeated positive spaces separated by negative spaces. There are five types of rhythm: random, regular, alternating, flowing, and progressive.

Uses and psychological effects

Physiological effects - mystics have long held we emanate a colored glow, or aura, which is thought to effect the state of a person's health and spirituality. Today, chromotherapy is used to heal with colors. This form of treatment dates back thousands of years to the ancient "color halls" of Egypt, China, and India. A more prominent use of color therapy occurs in environmental design (the effect of color on health and behavior).

Color symbolism - our responses to color are not just biological. They are also influenced by color associations from our culture.

Personal color preferences - not only have we inherited cultural associations, but we also respond to colors in individual ways. Research has revealed some variables that help explain individual differences in color responses. One thing remains the same in color and that is our own color preferences are important to us.

Emotional effects - the actual emotional effect of a specific color in an artwork depends partly on its surroundings and partly on the ides expressed by the work as a whole. To be surrounded by blue lighting in an installation is quite different from seeing a small area of blue in a larger color context. For many of us the emotional effects of art may be difficult to articulate.

Local and expressive color - there are two opposite ways of using color in representational art. At one extreme is the local color - the color that something appears from nearby when viewed under average lighting conditions. We think of the local color of a banana as yellow, for example. At the other end of the extreme is the expressionistic use of color, whereby artists use color to express an emotional rather than a visual truth.

Evidence from.... (http://www.writedesignonline.com/resources/design/rules/color.html)

1 Min Short Film - Research - Colour 3

Cool colors include green, blue, and purple, are often more subdued than warm colors. They are the colors of night, of water, of nature, and are usually calming, relaxing, and somewhat reserved.

Blue is the only primary color within the cool spectrum, which means the other colors are created by combining blue with a warm color (yellow for green and red for purple). Greens take on some of the attributes of yellow, and purple takes on some of the attributes of red. Use cool colors in your designs to give a sense of calm or professionalism.



Green is a very down-to-earth color. It can represent new beginnings and growth. It also signifies renewal and abundance. Alternatively, green can also represent envy or jealousy, and a lack of experience.

Green has many of the same calming attributes that blue has, but it also incorporates some of the energy of yellow. In design, green can have a balancing and harmonizing effect, and is very stable. It’s appropriate for designs related to wealth, stability, renewal, and nature. Brighter greens are more energizing and vibrant, while olive greens are more representative of the natural world. Dark greens are the most stable and representative of affluence.



Blue is often associated with sadness in the English language. Blue is also used extensively to represent calmness and responsibility. Light blues can be refreshing and friendly. Dark blues are more strong and reliable. Blue is also associated with peace, and has spiritual and religious connotations in many cultures and traditions (for example, the Virgin Mary is generally depicted wearing blue robes).

The meaning of blue is widely affected depending on the exact shade and hue. In design, the exact shade of blue you select will have a huge impact on how your designs are perceived. Light blues are often relaxed and calming. Bright blues can be energizing and refreshing. Dark blues are excellent for corporate sites or designs where strength and reliability are important.



Purple was long associated with royalty. It’s a combination of red and blue, and takes on some attributes of both. It’s associated with creativity and imagination, too.

In Thailand, purple is the color of mourning for widows. Dark purples are traditionally associated with wealth and royalty, while lighter purples (like lavendar) are considered more romantic.

In design, dark purples can give a sense wealth and luxury. Light purples are softer and are associated with spring and romance.

Yellow is often considered the brightest and most energizing of the warm colors. It’s associated with happiness and sunshine. Yellow can also be associated with deceit and cowardice, though (calling someone yellow is calling them a coward).

ODD ONE OUT!



Yellow is also associated with hope, as can be seen in some countries when yellow ribbons are displayed by families who have loved ones at war. Yellow is also associated with danger, though not as strongly as red.

In some countries, yellow has very different connotations. In Egypt, for example, yellow is for mourning. In Japan, it represents courage, and in India it’s a color for merchants.

In designs, bright yellow can lend a sense of happiness and cheerfulness. Softer yellows are commonly used as a gender-neutral color for babies (rather than blue or pink) and young children. Light yellows also give a more calm feeling of happiness than bright yellows. Dark yellows and gold-hued yellows can sometimes look antique and be used in designs where a sense of permanence is desired.

1 min short Film - Research - Location,location, location

Eudora Welty

“Place…never really stops informing us, for it is forever astir, alive, changing, reflecting, like the mind of man itself. One place comprehended can make us understand other places better. Sense of place gives equilibrium; extended, it is sense of direction too."

Regarding settings or place in mysteries (and in fiction, film and in general) there are two broad types - the physical environment and the cultural environment. The physical environment can be further divided into two subsets, human created environments (rooms, urban structures, Gothic mansions, etc) and natural environments. The latter are usually of a larger scale and include such places as deserts, islands, weather and climate and all other types of natural phenomena. The cultural environment is diverse and complex and is made up of the socio-economic characteristics of places. Such environments can have enormous impacts on stories, plots and even characters. The context of places as eccentric as drawing rooms creates a very different texture for a story than the economically depressed coal towns of western Pennsylvania. Ethnicity, language, affluence, class, education and much more are readily conveyed by particular settings much more subtly and seamlessly than attempts to describe these characteristics specifically.

("Obviously the place is critical because it is the milieu or context thrown into disorder. This place must be real and must help the reader understand much of what follows in the plot and search for the perpetrator. The physical setting, type of legal system, types of people involved, the accessibility of the place of the crime, and many other characteristics are critical to the story and important in order to understand what is transpiring. Place characteristics such as climate, human culture, type of government, and much more must be explicit or implicit for the reader to fathom what is going on and to have some notion of how the system works. In film, the place - the geography- is a critical element in the story.")
-(Dartmouth.com/edu - Defining Location)

1 Min Short Film - Research - Kate Smith

Introducing blue
Blue is the overwhelming "favorite color." Blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable, and committed.

The color of ocean and sky, blue is perceived as a constant in our lives. As the collective color of the spirit, it invokes rest and can cause the body to produce chemicals that are calming. However, not all blues are serene and sedate.

Electric or brilliant blues become dynamic and dramatic -- an engaging color that expresses exhilaration. Some shades or the overuse of blue may come across as cold or uncaring.

Indigo, a deeper blue, symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom, self-mastery, and spiritual realization. While blue is the color of communication with others, indigo turns the blue inward to increase personal thought, profound insights, and instant understandings.

Blue is the least "gender specific" color, having equal appeal to both men and women.

1 Min Short Film - Research - Colour 2

Colours effect each other in unexpected ways. For example, most colours, when placed next to their complements, produce vibrating, electric effects. Other colours, in the right combination, seem quite different from what you'd expect.

In the same way that one colour can appear different in different surroundings, two similar colors may appear to be identical under some conditions. Even though the two symbols are actually slightly different tones, the contrasting backgrounds cause our brains to think that they are the same colour. This effect is harder to control, but be aware of it because it can affect your graphics in hidden ways.

Scientists have found that physiological changes take place in human beings when they are exposed to certain colours. Colours can stimulate, excite, depress, tranquilize, increase appetite and create a feeling of warmth or coolness. This is known as chromodynamics.


- (Our personal and cultural associations affect our experience of colour. Colours are seen as warm or cool mainly because of long-held (and often universal) associations. Yellow, orange and red are associated with the heat of sun and fire; blue, green and violet with the coolness of leaves, sea and the sky. Warm colours seem closer to the viewer than cool colours, but vivid cool colours can overwhelm light and subtle warm colours. Using warm colours for foreground and cool colours for background enhances the perception of depth.
Although red, yellow and orange are in general considered high-arousal colours and blue, green and most violets are low-arousal hues, the brilliance, darkness and lightness of a colour can alter the psychological message. While a light blue-green appears to be tranquil, wet and cool, a brilliant turquoise, often associated with a lush tropical ocean setting, will be more exciting to the eye. The psychological association of a colour is often more meaningful than the visual experience.
Colours act upon the body as well as the mind. Red has been shown to stimulate the senses and raise the blood pressure, while blue has the opposite effect and calms the mind).
-(www.colourmatters.com)

1 Min Short Film - Research - Colour 1

The eleven basic colors have fundamental psychological properties that are universal, regardless of which particular shade, tone or tint of it you are using.
Each of them has potentially positive or negative psychological effects and which of these effects is created depends on the relationships within color combinations.
Color psychology postulates four primary colors - red, blue, yellow and green. They relate respectively to the body, the mind, the emotions and the essential balance between these three.

The psychology of color has fundamental properties that are universal, positive or negative. They relate respectively to the body, the mind, and the emotions.
Color meaning is significant in (consciously) relating to the electromagnetic spectrum.
Color is light, traveling to us in waves from the sun, on the same electro-magnetic spectrum as radio and television waves, microwaves, x-rays etc.
Light is the only part of the spectrum that we can see, which perhaps explains why we take it less seriously than the invisible power of the other rays.


- Color psychology or spectrum discrimination?
Sir Isaac Newton demonstrated that light travels in waves, when he shone white light through a triangular prism and the different wavelengths refracted at different angles, enabling him to see the colours of the rainbow (the spectrum).
When light strikes any coloured object, the object will absorb only the wavelengths that exactly match its own atomic structure and reflect the rest - which is what we see.
Turn this around and it is easy to understand how the color of anything is a clear indication of its atomic structure or, in simple terms, what it is made of.
When light strikes the human eye, the wavelengths do so in different ways, influencing our perceptions. In the retina, they are converted into electrical impulses that pass to the hypothalamus, the part of the brain governing our hormones and our endocrine system.
Although we are unaware of it, our eyes and our bodies are constantly adapting to these wavelengths of light.
-(Cognitive.psychology.101.com)

. Color is energy and the fact that it has a physical effect on us has been proved time and again in experiments - most notably when blind people were asked to identify colors with their fingertips and were all able to do so easily.
. Colour psychology can be limited by language. There are only eleven basic colour words in the English language, and yet there are literally millions of colours.
. Computers will give us sixteen million and the human eye can distinguish more than any machine.
. After the basic eleven, we borrow words, such as avocado (is that the flesh, or the skin?) and grape (is that deep purple or green?) to describe the myriad of shades, tones and tints. This inevitably creates confusion in colour communication and thus in colour psychology.
. "Do we all see colours the same?" Who knows? The point is that in colour psychology it does not seem to matter what we think we are looking at; the effect of colours on us is caused by their energy.

Mondrian animation

1 Min Short Film - Research - Colour Introduction

A few basic guidelines that will serve as a good starting point from which to investigate basic colour psychology and colour symbolism

1 Min Short Film - Idea Proposal

1 Min Short Film Idea Proposal

– Experiment in Visual effects and sequencing. Calm and tranquillity through sound, colour theory and visual aesthetic.

Context and influence.

In reading crime fiction novels and watching noir shorts recently, I have noticed that probably the most important part of creating these highly stylized genres is location. ‘The city’ acting as Protagonist.
The idea of ‘place’ has formed the basis for initial thinking about my film.

I want to create something positive that invokes a direct emotional and psychological response.

Through choosing the right location, (comprised of the right colour, contrast and tones), and then abstracting those forms through editing and effects, I predict a more personal and direct response to shape and colour. Reducing the amount of objects within a scene implies that more attention will be paid to colour and movement.

Colour Theory and Symbolism.

The film will convey calm and tranquillity; therefore the most immediate feature will be its colour.
I will be investigating colour and its psychological and emotional effects, as well as their cultural and mystical implications, then choosing colours according to the findings. I believe this is a more direct way of communicating something.
Ie. Some colours have universal meanings (sky = Blue)(stop = red), some just ingrained within immediate culture and society.

(Blue is the colour of communication, Calm, aids intuition etc…)

Styling and aesthetic.

Taking on an essence of film noir, I want to be using abstract camera angle and obtuse lighting.

80s Decadence – Crime fiction – Miami Vice (Pastal colours, sunsets, city scapes, Long open shots of objects angles and lights)



As with crime fiction and the city acting as a protagonist, Monaco will be a perfect environment to film and attain the right aesthetic and feel.

Location and its reasoning.

Filming sections in Monaco, as well as sunny scenes in the Yorkshire countryside, I believe will emit the right amount of cultural decadence and confidence (80’s crime fiction).
Great light day and night, built up exclusive areas, sub-culture, yachts, sea, sand. The perfect environment to capture the calming sensations I require. All of which are ideal in terms of colour and content for the film.

Sound.

Abstracted – influenced by Miami Vice, Film ‘Sunshine,’ Chris Morris, and John Cage.

Resonating drones that build and span the minute, syncopated dynamic to the movement within the frame and scene changes.
The decadent 80’s feel prescribes synthesized, electronic sounds, spectral sheens and juxtaposed sub hits in sequence giving the sound a dreamlike, (otherworldly) quality.
I will also be experimenting with juxtaposed natural sound effects.
Ie, water, wind, animals…..

1 Min Short Film - Initial Idea Mind Map

Outlines the initial ideas for my one minute film.

: Short Film - Transcript 4 - Film - Final edit - Evaluation

The film, as directed by the brief, was shot as a group by myself, Ken and Will.
We worked together cohesively and efficiently. Working as a team or collective can at times be difficult if personalities and haircuts clash. But having worked with ken on previous projects, we knew we could work well together, and having seen some of Will's work , both Ken and I thought Will would complete our team and give us an additional skill set that we didn't have (camera work).
Will and Ken went out scouting locations and photographed key features.
Ken having made the storyboards we began shooting the film. Ken, assumed to role of director as he had visualized the shots (plus acting), I was the Stalkee and all of us shared the camera work.
We took out a tripod with us for some of the slower shots. Definitely made such a big difference. We experimented shooting shots free hand, and then re shot with the tripod and the stability and 'industry standard' cinematic feel allowed to flourish and instantly noticeable.
The main points highlighted in the shooting of the film are,
use a tripod.
Shoot twice as much footage as you think is required.
Allow for twice as much time than initially thought required.
Storyboard and planning is essential.

We all agreed that the project was a chance to experiment with equipment, location, lighting, shot composition and framing shots, therefore using a veriety of methods to achieve the eventual goal was our main objective.

Editing the film was an introduction really to Final Cut.

We had issues with contact made editing a bit more difficult.
Ken ended up making most of the edit.
We really did not shoot enough footage. We cut corners where we shouldn't and payed for it in not having enough film to cut.
Mistakes that will not be made in the future.
Leave more time for editing.
More communication and better passing ideas back and forth.

The film ended up being a fun process and it was great working with Ken again.
Team projects have been the most challenging things of the whole year.
I enjoy compartmentalized processes working together but its hard to see this organization when your actually making something. The need to step back and collect thoughts is essential in the future.

Short Film Experiment

This is a short film made in Final Cut as an introductory experiment, attempting to use some of the filters, transitional effects and automation functions.
Its content is comprised of archived government and NASA films made in the sixties.