Innovate

After talking with my group about the initial design of and going head with my design idea I then went onto making a slightly more fleshed out design, which showed my new ideas and changes to my initial design. I also went and created all the shapes used in the game for all the questions. My idea was to make at least 2 similar shapes and 2 which are incorrect. This made designing all the shapes quite easy when the questions where decided upon. This also helped as I took many pictures during our 3 visits to Salisbury Cathedral.

For the channel brief a logo was needed for our company. We first brainstormed ideas for a film and movie review channel. The idea was of a company was an internet based video service which showcased trailers and behind the scenes footage. When coming up with a brand name I wanted to have a name which would stand out and be short and easy to say. The name would also have to be related to videos or films. We brainstormed ideas such as Film Reviews, Scene and Movie Watch. We finally decided on the name ClipCut. After choosing this brand name I then went onto designing the logo. I wanted to incorporate either a film reel or use a cut-out or cut design by slicing the logo or text in half. The preliminary designs consisted of using the letter c. I then changed the direction of the second “C” to make a circle. I liked this design and continued using this concept through the designing process. I started making the circles very straight and used straight lines and hard edges to give the Impression of a cut out. I then changed this idea as it looked unprofessional and rushed and made a mock up in Adobe Illustrator using curves and a gradient on the text. Later this moved into Photoshop and was refined to a thinner design with a black and grey colour without the gradient. I was happy with this final design as it kept with the simplistic concept we had and the cut-out slice which I came up with in the planning.

When we started the channel project we decided to choose 3d printing as our new technology. I looked at E3 the electronics exposition which had just taken place the week before and the new breakthroughs with 3d printing. I found out that 3d printing of sweets and food had advanced with small complex shapes being created and having a variety of shapes and colours. 3D Printing as well had advanced with more detailed and accurate prints being created with the many new 3D printers which are available to the general population. We then brainstormed what we could possibly highlight in our videos and website and how 3D printing could advance and what the outcomes and effects this could produce. We looked at the advantages in medicine and how prosthetic limbs could be printed as well as using stem cells to print skin or to heal wounds. As well as looking into the positives of 3D printing we also looked at the negatives and how 3D printing could be used by people to print guns and other weapons. We thought about how weapons for terrorism could be created easily as printing a working gun is already a thing. After this we thought about how 3D printing could increase in size and speed and what that could lead to. We then thought about poverty and how it may be possible to print buildings in the future and how this could be used in developing counties to help the poor. After thinking about what the printer could do and the science behind it, we then went onto what our channel could be about, either a government based channel identifying the positives and negatives or the damages printing weapons could cause. We then decided to make a film trailer after watching the Jobs film. We saw how this new printer which could print anything could be similar to this. We came up with the idea of a female protagonist who designs a 3D printer which can print anything the designer chooses. We took inspiration from the story of Steve Jobs and how his original idea was not fully accepted. We chose this story progression as it would be effective to film and make the trailer dramatic and fit more with the idea for the trailer we were coming up with. After watching a short film “From 1994” we decided to use a child’s bedroom as one of the key locations for the trailer. The shot contained many drawings and toys so we decided to make a large collection of drawings and record our progress through a time-lapse. After coming up with the idea of using a child’s bedroom we then decided to use a monopoly house as something the protagonist would hold close to them. The house would be a representation of the homes which would be created by the new technology as well as something the character could link back to her childhood when she had dreams of creating this machine. The target audience for the trailer would be 17-35 year old’s and the channel would consist of film trailers and behind the scenes from films of all ages but predominately 15+ films.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrvkCS0ZGPU – Jobs Trailer http://vimeo.com/81111195 – From 1994

Day one we started at Alex’s house, we planned to film the bedroom scenes from the freak out to the realisation of the monopoly house. We started the day using one of the larger camera’s we had taken out, however found it hard to use and get the smooth shots we were after. Also when reviewing the footage on the laptop at the end of the day we realised the footage shot on my dslr was much more what we were after and decided to scrap using the larger camera and stick to the Cannon 550D. We also shot behind the scenes at the end of the day, where we asked each other how the day went and what had happened during the day. This footage would also be on the channel and act as an extra to the trailer to make the channel more enticing to the audience instead of it just showcasing trailers. We also took a time-lapse of us sketching out children’s drawings for the walls of the child’s bedroom and used this aswell in the behind the scenes footage.

After reviewing the footage from the first day I decided to solely use the Cannon for filming the rest of the shots for the trailer and behind the scenes. We also started using a GoPro3 to capture our work before and during filming which we planned to use in the behind the scenes. This was achieved by placing the GoPro in the corner of the room and left on a time-lapse to capture images every 5 seconds, this when played at 24fps looked good and gave more of a time-scale to the work. On the second day we also had our main actress Rhia who plays Kate in the trailer to come and film some shots. We filmed the freak out scene in the bedroom and some cinematic shots down by the cliff side which would be the turning point of the trailer. We wanted these shots to be dramatic and heartfelt so I suggested we shot them at sunset as the lighting would give the shots more visual distinction and be aesthetically pleasing. I then shot a short behind the scenes at the coast talking about how we were using inbuilt mics on the camera so would have to re-record the audio for the shot where she states “i’m is coming home”.

Day 3 was at uni, we filmed only two scenes and then started editing the trailer later on in the day. We first shot the lecture scene where the protagonist would be inspired to come up with the idea of the printer. We also shot the interview scene where Kate’s idea is destroyed and she becomes upset. For this scene composition was a main factor with the camera angle of the two boss’s of the firm and of Rhia. I used low medium shots on the interviewers and higher shots on Rhia to give them power and make her seem more insignificant. After this we shot the final scenes of the behind the scenes and rapped up the idea of the 3D printer and how we used it in the Channel Project. Editing took about 6 days in total with rendering a 3D printer in Cinema 4D taking just over an hour to render and using Adobe After Effects CS6 for all the hovering screens and the tracking shots. I also had to input text onto all the behind the scenes shots however this was much quicker to do as editing to the time of the music and shot length didnt matter as much. For the trailer we started to look at electronic music as this fitted with the brief of the channel being in the future however this didnt reach the level of drama we wanted in the trailer. Alex then suggested we used an inspirational speech over the top of some soft strings however the use of this and text made the outcome confusing and hard to follow. Instead I came up with using an instrumental for a song and changing the speed which made it more dramatic and what we wanted. We then wanted to change the song in a later section of the trailer where the mood decreases and then ends on a climax. For this we looked into dramatic scenes in shows and films we watched and ended on the song Funeral by A Band of Horses. This particular song has a very sad feel however has a sudden jump to a louder and more uplifting section which would be better to end on. I then timed this up with “Kate” picking up the monopoly piece and the ending effect was particularly nice. At the end of the editing I am happy with the end result however I wished I had spent more time getting some cuts and shot length just right as some parts of the trailer feel long or too short.

For the channel project we had to produce an accompanying website which would showcase the videos which we could produce. The channel would also have space to increase in size and be able to add new content. After coming up with the idea of ClipCut we wanted to keep with the simplistic design which would link with our company. So when designing the website we used simple textures and kept layout clean and easy to navigate. The logo is found on the website as well as sections to send questions and learn more about the film.