Author: saravipond

Stop Motion Video Project

For this project, I decided to make a little video of a person working out. My idea ws to have a little person moving around and lifting weights. I ended up using a box because the weights I had built would fall so I switched the idea to have the character trying to lift a heavy box but fails in the end. The main challenge I faced while making this video was that my person kept falling apart and I ended up having to shoot multiple times. I used a green screen for the background to create a brick wall. I added many sounds to try and emphasize the character’s struggles but added a happy background song to make the video less serious.

Story Board

Paranormal activity is a belief that there are phenomena “due to the powers of the mind that go beyond the normal” (Blackburn, 2016, as cited in Tidelius, 2020). These can include extra-sensory perception. In this project, I am exploring these phenomena, in a scenario of events occurring in a typical apartment where things begin to happen seemingly by a ghost, or “visitor”.  The images will tell the story of several unexplainable events, such as the candle relighting on its own, the cupboards opening, the piano playing, items moving out of place and in the end a ghostly image appearing and the candle flickering and then it extinguishes. The video will be around 2.5 minutes long. It will be accompanied by sounds and scary music to create atmosphere. The project is named the visitor in order to draw mystery as to what or who is causing these disruptions in the apartment. 

Tidelius, C. (2020). The paranormal: Conceptualizations in previous research. Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, 29, 216-38.

Independent Project Proposal 

The Visitor

CONCEPT + FORMAT 

Paranormal activity is a belief that there are phenomena “due to the powers of the mind that go beyond the normal” (Blackburn, 2016, as cited in Tidelius, 2020). These can include extra-sensory perception from sounds, sights, smells, and touch. In many Canadian Indigenous cultures, there is a belief in paranormal activities, including spirits and little people that visit to do mischief to the people living in a home. In the area where I grew up, there is the legend that exists of nearby caves where the little people live.  There are also many stories about people from the other side visiting loved ones and their energy is often felt.  

In this project, I am exploring these phenomena in a scenario of events occurring in a typical apartment where things begin to happen seemingly by a ghost, little person, or “visitor”.  When things happen outside of the normal, the senses can be heightened, and people experience the idea that there may be someone or something else in the room. I want to use a safe place, such as someone’s home and have it disrupted by things happening that cannot be easily explained. The images in the video will tell the story of several unexplainable events, such as the candle relighting on its own, the cupboards opening, the piano playing, items moving out of place and in the end an image appears and the candle flickering and then it extinguishes.  The video is meant to cause the viewer to question what is happening. Is it a ghost? Is the visitor being mischievous or trying to cause harm? I chose to do this project to explore this concept as I thought it would be an interesting idea to explore video using scenes that would be both surreal, menacing, and intriguing depending on the beliefs of the viewer.  

The video will be around 2 minutes long. It will be accompanied by sounds and scary music to create atmosphere. The project is named The Visitor to draw mystery as to what or who is causing these disruptions in the apartment. The name itself is very harmless, yet the video questions the intent of this visitor. There will be a use of everyday normal objects moved by an abnormal source. The structure of the video will be disjointed scenes, accompanied by sound effects and music that will lend to the atmosphere. It will use close ups, wide angle shots, split screens, and use of a green screen to project a surreal image in the end.  The mood set will be that of suspense and curiosity as the viewer is unsure of the exact cause of these events. 

Sources:

Tidelius, C. (2020). The paranormal: Conceptualizations in previous research. Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, 29, 216-38.

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TECHNICAL RESOURCES

Item	Source	Note
Production (Capturing of footage)
HD video-capable camera with 2-3 batteries	Personal	Nikon D5600, charger included
SD card 16+ GB for camera	Personal
Tripod with pan/tilt head	Personal	Bring ball head
Zoom Sound recorder	Personal
SD card 16 GB for sound recorder	Personal
Props: candle, lighter, piano keyboard, cupboard doors, variety of common items (plates, cups, keys, etc)	Personal
Location	Apartment	Kitchen, living room area, piano by window
Post Production (Editing)
Computer with SD card slot/adapter	Personal
Headphones	Personal
Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects software	Personal
Portable hard drive	Personal	File storage backup
Exhibition (online Exhibition)
FIN 201 Media Gallery	NIC platform
WordPress site	Personal	Add 10 sentences about the creative process to develop the work.

TIMELINE

March 17-29	Develop Storyboard
Get instructor feedback on project development
Write Concept + Format + Timeline
March 26 – April 1	Access shooting site, gather props, Gather footage
Gather props, Gather footage
Gather footage
April 1 – April 7	First rough edit
Gather sound effects/music
April 7	Submit to Instructor for 1-on-1 feedback
April 7-14	Final Edit
April 14	Submit for Final Critique by 1pm

Independent Project

For this project, I chose to explore making a video as art. This video is about a visitor who is unknown to the viewer. My idea was to create an eerie atmosphere and to make the viewer question about who or what is the visitor. With the scenes and sounds I used, I tried to create an overall feeling of mystery and suspense.

For this video, I used a green screen effect for the candle scenes and added stock video footage for the background of those scenes. I also used stop motion footage for the kitchen scenes.

Critique

Green Screen Project

Video Project

I feel as though I was able to make many improvements from my original draft of the video project. The most difficult part of this assignment I felt was the filming. I need some practice to get clear and stable shots. In the editing process, I changed a few of the video clips to stills and add some keyframes to create a zoom effect. I feel like adding this effect helped get rid of the shaky scenes that were created when filming. I also added a vignette to some of the scenes to mask the wrinkly table cloth and to make the shots look more esthetic. 

For the theme of my video, I tried to go with fun, quirky sounds to help keep the viewer’s interest. I tried to emphasize the brightness of the berries when colour correcting and wanted everything to have a vivid, bright look. 

TECH Exercise SOUND Basic Editing

I am having trouble getting the proper file type to upload to my YouTube account. I edited the audio file by adjusting the background noise to make it quieter, adding a slight increase and decrease in sound to the beginning and end. I also made the loudest section quieter by adjusting the gain.

Tech Exercise: Radio Call 2

For this exercise, I learned to put different types of sounds together and how to categorize them based on music, fx, ambiance, voice. I also learned about ducking and how to apply that to an audio.

Sound Project: Project Proposals

Walking through a forest:

One idea I have is to do a soundscape of a person walking through the forest at night. My idea is to have the sounds of the snow crunching as the person walks along a path or through the snow. The listener will be able to imagine what it is that the person walking may be seeing. I would like to incorporate sounds to replicate the sound of snow and wind, and other nature sounds such as birds or water. I would like the listener to feel as though they are walking along a path. I will also include breathing and heartbeat sounds to try and capture a particular mood of feeling.

For this project, I would incorporate the use of sounds that I would collect outside. I will also include a mix of music to add drama. I would imagine this soundscape to be about 2 minutes. I would like to keep this soundscape short to keep the listener interested.

Haircut:

My other idea is to have a soundscape of a person going to a hairdresser. This soundscape would be a short narrative of what would happen from start to finish when going to get a haircut. I will use sounds such as scissors cutting the hair, and try and focus on the sounds moving from one side of the head to the other to add an effect for the listener to feel as though they are getting a haircut. I will also use sounds from the internet, such as background talking and other sounds a person might hear at the hairdressers. I will also include sounds that I will make myself like the sound of scissors, water spraying and a few things that the hairdresser might say to the client. Since this soundscape will be only 3 minutes, I will try to focus it on the haircut portion of going to a salon and not the washing hair/blow dry portion.

TECH Exercise: Repairing Audio

Sounds Project: Draft

Sound Project

For this project I chose a soundscape with the story of getting a hair cut in a salon. I wanted to create an ASMR type experience with the sound. Some of the challenges I faced were dealing with external noise, as I did not have all the equipment needed, and also finding someone to commit to being the “customer.” I did end up making a version with a version with a second voice from iPhone voice memos, but I ended up removing it from the final version because the audio didn’t sound as clean.
In this project, I enjoyed experimenting with sounds to create a salon. It was interesting to find background noise, music and play with creation of hair washing, cutting etc. It was a good process that helped me to learn to use my sound equipment better and I enjoyed the creative process. 

FORMAL ELEMENTS IMAGE SEQUENCE + ANALYSIS

Sequence 1

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Focal Point
This sequence uses differing perspectives on city buildings and surrounding trees, sky, and landscape. In the first image the focal point is on the highest branches , with the buildings out of focus in the background. The focus of the second image is the sun-lit building with the ominous clouds above it. The Third image has its focus with the three elements of trees, building, and sky. The next picture in the series is again focused on sun-lit buildings with darkened sky overhead. The fifth image features the sky with its clouds dominating the shot, and the buildings are anchored to the bottom of the picture. The last picture in the series, shows calm sky with the focal point as the buildings in the center.  The trees in this shot are on the bottom and create a shadow effect. Although all pictures show unique perspectives, they are tied together by the city scape within nature theme.  

Negative Space
The series explores negative space in its use of shadow and sky and the different perspectives. Most of the shots show all elements of sky, buildings, and trees, but in varying degrees of brightness and focus. This is meant to showcase the differing depths and create a sense of repetition in the series.  

Line
Line is used through the architectural images of the high-rise buildings with texture built into the series through the clouds and tree branches. Light is an important element in this series as some pictures depict and brightly lit building, yet a darkness in the cloudy sky and dark shadowy trees. The first image, however, differs, as the light is focused on the branches and the sides of the unfocused buildings.  

Sequence 2

Negative Space
This sequence explores the theme of nature. Light is a major component of this series. I believe that nagative space is created by the use of shadows. The flower and leaves are lit by the sun as the focal point with the surrounding area in darkness. This creates interest and draws the viewers eyes to the center. Likewise, the second picture uses light and line to create visual interest as the path is lit and encourages the eye to look from the bottom to top as the picture gets progressively lighter with the sunlight increasing on the path. The flowering bush on the sides create textural interest. The next picture explores light as it reflects its beams through the darkened branches, creating visual interest of lightness and darkness. The fourth picture has its focus on the flowering bush with the use of greens and white images.

Depth
The background is darkened, which allows for the focal point and creates a sense of depth.  The last picture changes the colour scheme with use of yellows against the green. It also has a darkened background that heighten the depth of the picture.  

Colour
The colours of green, both light and dark, unite this series. Texture is created through the natural elements of the plants. There is repetition used through both the theme and through the elements of colour, texture, and light verses darkness.  

FRAMING SHOT SIZE + ANGLES

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Week 3

https://youtu.be/-AEfQ7tCZnU

Project Proposal

Storyboard 1:

TECH Exercise: VIDEO Basic Editing

Storyboard 2:

Tech Exercise – Sound Basics

The Fits: A Review

I believe that the main themes of this film are surrounding adolescence and personal discovery. The main character of the film goes from being interested in boxing with her brother, to joining a girls dance group.

I felt most captivated by the main character because of her curious personality and how the viewer is able to see her develop her skills and confidence in dance.

I believe the film used the colours blue and purple a lot when focusing on the young dancers. I noticed that the older characters were often dressed in warmer colours.

I feel as though the film used space as a way to show how young and small the main character is. When she is talking to her friend in the gym, the entire gym is within the frame, which helps to emphasize their age and being small and young.

I enjoyed this film because I was left wondering the true meaning behind “the fits” or illness that the characters were experiencing. When the main character experiences her “fit,” it seems as though she is seeing what she desires to happen for herself. I would like to rewatch this film again to see if I pick up on any other meanings.

Tech Exercise: Titles

Title Sequence Review: Trueblood

The opening titling sequence of Trueblood gave off a very creepy and dangerous/mysterious vibe because of the scenes which showed an isolated swamp. The scenes used in this opening used a lot of neutral colours to give a creepy look to the locations.

The text that was used was slightly edgy and angular with uneven thickness which I feel helped to complement the creepy and mysterious theme. The scenes seemed to change quickly with the text quickly fading in and out which gives a more alarming vibe. The text size is varies slightly with each word, which helps add an unpredictable and hectic mood to the scenes.

The elements that stood out the most to me were symmetry because the scenes are all shot in a very asymmetric style that I feel complements the mysterious and bad theme. I also noticed that although the scenes are very neutral, the colour red is used a lot to make scenes stand out (i.e. the two little boys with bloody mouths). The scenes are also shot very close up which I feel helps make the viewer question the context of what they are seeing.

Title Sequence Review: Bron Broen

The opening titling sequence for Bron Broen has a very sad and lonely mood. The music is very soothing and sad and goes well with neutral/colourless shots of the city. The colours used throughout this intro were very dark and neutral.

The text that was used was very thin and modern. I feel like the font used complemented the lonely theme well because of the white colour and minimal look. In each shot, the font fades in and out very slowly which I feel like helped to give the sad mood.

Elements that stood out for me were black and dark shades used that gave off a sad feel, and the use of lines to display the city images, which switch angles as the viewer is shown different perspectives from different angles of the city. Negative space was also used a lot to show views of the dark city, which I feel also helps to add to the lonely theme.

VIDEO EX 4 Sound Edit PP