New Projects - Ideas Generation

So far I have no real strong ideas which I want to pursue but I am being inspired by lots of different things. I'm just going to put a few clips of influence to see if they will spark any ideas:

more to come...

Initial 5D Tests

Here are the different 5D tests my peers and I have done before we began pre production.

A Walk in the Woods - A Lensbaby 5D Test (HD) from Andy Parker on Vimeo.

Daisy Gets Wet! from Andy Parker on Vimeo.

5D Mark ii Post Production Workflow

Here are the videos, in order, of the workflow I will be using.

They cover:

-Converting the H.264 files to .mov files using pro res to make the footage editable.

-Converting the footage from 30p to 25p

Canon 5dmkII workflow Part 1: Importing for edit from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

How to convert Canon 5dmk2 footage from 30p to 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

The Orton Effect

After speaking with my mum about Photoshop effects, she told me about the Orton Effect. This effect is creates a blur in the image whilst keeping the sharpness of it. It is used to create a dreamy feel to the image. This would work very well for my poster and dvd cover.

Here is a video tutorial:

It's a very simple but effective method of creating the dream like look. I had originally tried to used a diffuser filter for my film to create that look but found it was too blurred. Using this effect, I can control how sharp I want the image to be making this a much more practical method.

Also, there is a group on flickr.com dedicated to this effect. There are some great pictures of forests done with the Orton effect. It seems to work great with forest scenes which is exactly what I will be trying to recreate.

Post Production - Sound Design update

After I finished my shoot, I put together an assemble edit. This has shown me a clear picture of what style my film has turned out to be.

The assemble edit indicated that a soundtrack would be required in order to further the story and help create that emotion in the audience.

I have managed to find a music composer who seems enthusiastic about the project and has made some great suggestions about the theme and style of the music piece.

We talked about the idea of giving the Spirit of the Forest her own music piece to help the audience identify when the character is near and to enhance her mystical look. We both showed interest in Hans Zimmers portrayal of the Joker in the Dark Knight. For this, Hans created a droning sound to unsettle the audience and to help introduce the character. Here, Hans explains his methods and reasoning behind the piece:

The music will help create the suspense I wish to create in the spirits scene.

I also asked for a score to be written for the final scene of my film. After watching my assemble edit, I felt that there wasn't an atmosphere of fear and this was something I wanted to create. I think that the music will help communicate to the audience that Ben is scared during this scene and bring a lot more meaning to the images.

For the general theme of the music, I have asked for it to be very ambient. The composer aims to use the sounds of the forest along with wind chimes to create a music piece almost representing the wind and the forest.

I sent him this theme from Zelda as a reference for the theme and style I wish to create.

The final touches need to be made for my films sound design. Various foley sounds need to be implemented and I also need an ambiance track to layer in throughout the piece. For this I plan to record different ambiance tracks from different areas of the forest and maybe add a subtle electronic hum to help create an unnerving feel in the audience.

Sound Design Research (post story development)

After focusing on the visuals for so long, I decided it would be best to put that same focus into sound design.

Sound design is something I have lacked in the past and I think it is something that lacks in a lot of student films.

However, I would not consider myself a great musician but I would know what kind of style I would like for my film.

I plan to get a musician involved during the post production stage but before I do this, I need to research the different types of music and sound design I feel would be appropriate for my film style.

I am currently on my 4th draft of my script and the story has developed into more of a dark fairytale. First of all, I will look at film soundtracks of similar style and mood to my film.

In Princess Mononoke, there are these little characters/spirits in the forest called Kodamas. I would like to do a homage to these characters in my film by creating a similar sound to what these characters create. Maybe I will use a similar sound for my Spirit of the Forest.

I also like the soundtrack at around 1:09 on this clip. Would be very nice for the more mysterious scenes in my film.

After my research on suspense, I felt that it would be best to keep the music ambient during most parts of my film. However, I have come across ambient music. This style of music would blend in very well to the natural sound I wish to create and could make my sound design very subtle but effective.

Using ambient sounds to create a soundtrack would be a great technique to use in my film and I wish to create something similar.

Back to Hitchcock, in the final scene of The Birds, there is a deathly silence to the scene. Apparently Hitchcock created this sound of silence using an electronic hum. In the book ' Hitchcock Truffaut' Hitchcock mentions "To describe a sound accurately, one has to imagine its equivalent in dialogue". He describes his sound of silence "It was a strange, artificial sound, which in the language of the birds might be saying, "We're not ready to attack you yet, but we're getting reading. We're like an engine that's purring and we may start off at any moment" All of this was suggested by a sound that's so low that you can't be sure whether you're actually hering it or only imagining it."

I can't find a clip of the scene online but I will put one up as soon as I do.

Building Suspense

During the last few weeks I have been looking into creating a story visually. My aim in this film is to create emotions of suspense, fear, laughter and sorrow.

To create suspense, I have been researching into the work of Alfred Hitchcock, named master of suspense. The key visual technique I have picked up on is his use of reaction shots and point on view shots. In this sequence in North by Northwest, you can see Hitchcock has used very long takes keeping the cinematography interesting enough so the audience does not get bored. Also, the sound design is very minimal and simple and creates a very tense atmosphere whilst the main character is waiting:

In these next clips, Hitchcock talks about the difference between suspense and mystery. The key

thing to note here is that to create suspense, you must give the audience information. He also

gives a great example of creating cinematic tension.

Hitchcock next talks about his lack of care for content and how his focus is on how he tells the

story. This next clip has been very influential for me during my storyboarding process as it has

motivated me to put a lot of my focus on creating the best way to tell a story through the use of

cinema.

Finally, Hitchcock talks about clever use of materials within a story. This really helps create a

very interesting and engaging film and is a great technique to keep your film original and

innovative.

Another comical insight to the mind of Hitchcock was that he called his actors 'cattle' suggesting

that they are just materials which need to be told what to do. I think this is an interesting way

of making sure film makers don't neglect the importance of actually directing actors and not

leaving the story in the hands of the actors.