See You At The Bottom - final cut

Here is the final version, ruthlessly cut down to 3min 33sec including credits.

Link to "See You At The Bottom"

Interview - Do a ruthless cut / Get down to 3.20 (MAX)

I am at the point now where the interview is sitting comfortably around the 5-6 minute mark. This however is still nearly double my intended length. What I will have to do is trim it down and cut people out if necessary (probably all the dark footage / noisy footage). Then I will have an extended version for myself with everyone in it; and I'll probably extend the 6mins to more like 7. When I get more people shot for this,  I'll redo my doco and I'd say I'll reach the 15min mark easily.

Now that I'm certain I'd lose marks for exceeding the 3 minute by anymore than 20 seconds;

I can focus on trimming so I can approach the last few issues:

Re-record Intro audio (draft is too quiet and badly enunciated)

Light levels (cutting dark footage will help)

Add names / relationship to Rick (essential)

Add B-roll to break up long sections (or mask cuts)

Use transitions where appropriate (don't over use!)

Collect up the permission forms

Adjust music / volume levels

Add credits (can extend over the time limit if necessary)

Interview Progress

With more than enough footage to work from (9+ interviews), I am now up to viewing and editing.

I may need more B-Roll as I don't have that much, but with gently panning or zooming stills, this may prove to be enough to fill the gaps of this project.

I am trying to decide how to have the questions and general narration. 

I was considering having a voiceover, perhaps with Text to reference from time to time.

Eg. Names, Dates, Relationship to Rick?,  What they do? (work/study) and the questions themselves?

I also need to start looking for some suitable music. It's a shame that the most ideal tracks are copyright such as: Blindspott - Phlex, Blindspott - S.U.I.T.,  DevilDriver - Mountain, Chimaira - Severed, Chimaira - Empty, DevilDriver - Head On To Heartache, 8 Foot Sativa - Chelsea Smile, 

Lamb Of God - Ruin, Lamb Of God - Laid To Rest, AC/DC etc etc.

I guess the list goes on. However, I do know the guys from Pariah who may be interested in sharing their music with my project (which works well as Rick knew at least some of the band).

INTERVIEW PERMISSION FORMS

Can I please get everyone to print, sign and get these back to me by the 18th for my hand-in?

Can be by snail mail or email, I'm not fussed either way.

Although I've left it a bit late, so email would be best :)

From NPL I need:
Vicki's
Deb's
Sefton's
Shannon's
Tamara's
Bronson's

and from WLGTN I still need:
Nick's
Shelley's
Fraser's

After Effects Tutorial

AFTER EFFECTS for DIGITAL VIDEO CREATION

Premiere - editing, cutting, sound

After Effects - special effects, motion graphics, compositing, titles

Drag and drop movie files into After Effects (making sure to keep files referenced correctly),

and save the project file where the footage is.

NEW: 1920 x 1080 (or 1280 x 720)

Estimate duration of sequence

Square pixels 1.0

25 fps

Dynamic Link (use premiere to scale to frame size)

Colour Correction:

Effects > Color Correction > presets

(but premiere is better for this)

Keyframes:

Click the stopwatch (on the clip's property) at the point on the timeline where you want add a keyframe.

RAM preview (shortcut = 0):

This will render out the current project for a true preview includ. sound.

Masking:

Using rectangle / ellipse tool etc, when you select footage first, it will cut that hole out.

Pen tool will allow for custom shapes (eg. person silhouette).

Feather the mask: Adjust mask expansion and mask feather until it suits.

Key frame the mask to allow for movement of interviewee.

Duplicate Layer:

Ctrl + D to duplicate layers.

Try roto brush tool? Auto tracking.

Use masks to eliminate unwanted background material.

By using an offset duplicate layer underneath a hole to eliminate distractions.

Colour Key:

Allows you to select a colour range (green screen etc)

send your subject to france or jail or wherever etc.

Motion Tracking:

track motion will give a tracking point.

then click analyse. 

parent this tracking point with a null object so you can also parent text to the null.

Titles:

make sure to put a slightly transparent rect (or whatever) behind text to allow the viewer to see everything (all text - so no letters are lost within the shot)

Expressions:
alt + left click on the property (eg. position) and type for example wiggle[5, 10]
can also connect things (1 layers scale affects another's position)

more example code:
temp = transform.position[1];
[temp.temp]

or just google what you want the expression to do

Final Storyboard

Interview - Fleshing Out A Storyboard

I have decided to do my interview on a good friend of mine who sadly passed away a few years ago.

His name is Ricky Manson Neill; known to all as Rick.

Starting with an introduction to Rick and his family through a series of photos,

To the incident itself; images / news footage of the house fire.

I intend to move past this as quick as possible without cutting information,

onto the interviews of Rick's family and friends.

I will ask a series of questions aimed to uncover each of the individually perceived versions of Rick, in an effort to paint an image of him as a whole.

I want to use the B-Roll as suitable, based on topics covered within interviews (so dependent on their content). This will have to be shot after the interviews themselves.

I will however have shots of Paritutu Rock and Rick's memorial stone.

I will ask each question; and collage the responses appropriately. Taking the most interesting responses and cutting/splicing them together. This will be the most efficient way of asking the same question to different people again and again.

The questions are (at this stage):

Who was Rick to you?
How would you describe Rick?
How did Rick spend his time?
What's your fondest memory of Rick?
What wisdom has Rick imparted on you, in his time with us?
What sort of shenanigans did you get up to with Rick?
What's the funniest or strangest thing you can remember doing or saying?
What role does Rick play in your life now?
If you could say one more thing to Rick, what would it be?

I would like to interview:

Deb - Rick's Mother

Tamara - Rick's Sister

Shannon - Rick's Sister

Sefton - Rick's Sister

Shelley - Rick's Other Mother

Jed - Family Friend

Nick - Family Friend

Vicki - Rick's Other Other Mother

Bronson - Family Friend

Liam - Ex-Flatmate

Nick - Ex-Flatmate

and anyone else willing to portray their impression of Rick.

Required Interview Elements

Will need:

1+ Camera(s) (ideally DSLR quality)

1+ Tripod(s) (enough for 1 per camera)

Lighting equipment (able to light the interviewee)

Sound recorder (external audio capture or at least an microphone connected to the camera)

Will need to shoot B-roll footage, collect appropriate static images / footage etc.

I need to come up with 3-4 questions to get to the root of the interview and settle on suitable filler.

For audio:
Clean up in Audacity with noise removal (create noise profile - few secs of bg noise, then noise removal the whole track based on this noise profile).
Use the auto ducking to fit audio bg track into the gaps of speech in the interview (beats manually inputting).

Interview Concepts part 2

With a few more days brainstorming and refining ideas, I have come down to 5 possibles;

1. Crazy Cat Lady / Pig Collector

(SINGLE PERSON)

+ Easy to arrange time to shoot

- Not very ambitious

2. Metal Enthusiasts

(MANY PEOPLE - Metal Lovers)

+ Very passionate on this topic

- Could be difficult filming a variety of people

3. Metal Band

(GROUP)

+ Open to humor (through friendship)

- Relies on other people's schedules & ability to shoot performances

4. In Memory Of ...

(SEVERAL PEOPLE - The People Who Were Closest)

+ Very personal topic but would be received well by those involved

- Difficult to get to all those required (many are further north)

5. Fictional Scenario

(PETS)

+ Huge potential for humor (if it works = the greatest potential)

- Could be difficult / nigh impossible to get appropriate footage

I am uncertain at this point if filming out of town is an option; ideally this would involve taking lighting equipment, camera, tripod etc, up north to shoot. I wouldn't think this is possible, so I am thinking I could try the "pets" option. If it doesn't work out, I can fall back onto either "metal enthusiasts" or "crazy cat lady / pig collector". However, if my memorial video is plausible, it could be an awesome opportunity to interview those affected by my close friend's passing.

As a side note:
An option would be to do "a day in the life of" style interview.

"In New Zealand you can't shoot children without their parent's permission"
~ quote taken out of context

After talking to my tutors, I have decided to try for the memorial video. I can take the equipment up north, it is my responsibility to keep it safe regardless of location. If it works out, this could be an excellent video with meaning to my extended family.

Interview Concepts

Concept/Storyboard DUE: 1st October (2 weeks)

Interviewee can be anyone/anything. Previous examples include a single person, a group of people, a type of people (stereotype or otherwise), or even a inanimate object.

I would really like to do an interview of a metal band; perhaps Ruinant (James - drummer), maybe Malicious Deity (Frank - vocals & keys), or maybe Aethea (Quinn & Jed - vocals & bass).

If possible, I'd love to do this with Pariah, the Wanganui band. Although being 2-3 hours away would make this rather difficult.

Other interesting people I could interview could be:

Crazy cat lady (who collects pigs?)

This can also be fictional, hence the ability to interview an inanimate object. Or even a made up character that someone can portray.

General topics:

Music - metal

Cars - boy racers

Game characters?

Can I interview people on a person who is no longer with us?

Final Clip link

Blogger cant handle the video files over 100MB so here is a link to it:

Phthonus

Clip Title

In Greek mythology, Phthonus is the personification of jealousy and envy, particularly involving love. He was said to have had many wives, but killed each one because he suspected they were adulterous.

Hence my choice of Phthonus for my title.

Resources for my Video: To Get

I would like to get some form of a glass trough / long rectangular glass vase / empty ant farm.

This would be for a lime jelly mold, allowing me to shoot through it. I still need a glass bowl for the initial shot, or something with a larger diameter than the wide vase I'm after.

I still need to get a green balloon or 3, not sure if I should dye the water red, but i need the balloon first and try with regular water first. 

Plastic bags I have, but I need to find the most transparent one.

I dont have a blender, so I may have to drop that shot.

Same with the underwater shot; this breaks away from my only XCU or CU shots of the models which I wanted to keep to in order to reduce any model appearance at all. Only shots of feet, a close up of eyes and perhaps a shaking fist. Maybe a hand on a branch to help cement the idea of stalking.

I'll use shots of broken/breaking glass (slow-mo), glowing elements (shifting focal length) and shaky shots of walking through a forest as filler if required.

Oh and only because it's cool: Zero G Ant Farm

Storyboard Final

A JEALOUS RAGE

Storyboard Draft

Storyboard Further Development

Abstract it out further.

Rather than showing something direct, like fire to rage, take the feeling and find something that looks like it instead. Such as rage could be shown as a shaking or vibrating? I think.

Avoid the literal.

Try not to have a human model / person, particularly showcasing feelings. These should be portrayed as images/clips that are a visual representation of how we feel.

RAGE and JEALOUSY

Tension, Paranoia, Longing, Anger, Chaos, Insecurity, Loss, Frustration,

sort of drowning in anger

Frothing, Turbulent, Churning, Velocity

facing inner demons

What do these feelings look like?

Frothy Milkshake?

Frying food? BBQ?

BACON BACON BACON BACON BACON

Boiling water?

Dragging a heavy weight?

Overflowing blender?

Exploding balloon?

Did I mention BACON?

Trying to breathe through a plastic bag?

Glowing element?

Jagged edges?

Rubbish/Scrap Metal?

Broken/breaking glass?

Fogging of glass?

Steaming hot cup in the cold air?
Stuffing face with food?
Broken earth / mechanical digging (digger)?
Bursting fruit?
Destruction

Smoke smoldering -> finally igniting

Distorted perception: Through mirrors, windows, lenses, glass jug/tumbler, plastic bag etc.

Multiple narratives:

WATER. From hiding in it (high-angle) -> To bursting out of it (low-angle)

from bottling up to finally releasing

WATER. From beginning to boil (eye-level) -> To overflowing (low-angle)

starting to boil over to completely overflowing

And here is a draft storyboard. Narrative sorta starts at the bottom and moves up and around each side while touching on the middle when appropriate.

Storyboard Development

I have decided to keep the idea of a jealous rage. Allowing a progression from the seclusion and loneliness of jealousy, through to the exploding anger of rage. I will focus on blues and greens and progress into stronger greens and end up at reds and oranges.

Some ideas for shots:

A High-Angle shot of a person in the foetal position at the bottom of pool (green/blue). 

Could be pulling the finger, and shot zooms in to reveal.

An Eye-Level, Handheld shot of walking and looking through trees. Perhaps progress to the actually looking through branches from tree cover. (if at dawn or dusk, reddish?)

Shots of feet walking on grass, through forests, through water.

Shots of water bubbling/boiling. At each stage: Calm, bubbling, boiling. (blue>green>red)

Match Cut to blood splatter around climax?

Shots of fire at each stage: igniting, burning, raging. (black>orange/red)

Match Cut from grass shot?

Walking through to running.

Shaking with rage - XCU fist shot.

Avoid specifics (only show feet, hand, eyes?)

Increase cut speed throughout clip. Slow dissolves through to an explosion of fast cuts.
Handheld for shots relating to P.O.V. from stalker/jealous guy.
Tripod for all else except maybe a crabbing shot for a walking feet shot.

STILL NEED TO FIND SOME MUSIC TO MATCH!

In Class On Friday

Further look into Rage:

• animosity
• bitterness
• exasperation
• excitement
• frenzy
• furor
• fury
• indignation
• irritation
• madness
• mania
• obsession
• outburst

• passion
• resentment
• temper
• violence
• acerbity
• acrimony
• agitation
• apoplexy
• asperity
• blowup
• bluster
• choler
• convulsion

• dander
• eruption
• explosion
• ferment
• ferocity
• fireworks
• gall
• heat
• hemorrhage
• huff
• hysterics
• ire 
• paroxysm

• rampage
• raving
• spasm
• spleen
• squall
• storm
• tantrum
• umbrage
• uproar
• upset
• vehemence
• wrath
 

Further look into Jealousy:

• grudge
• resentment
• covetousness

• enviousness
• spite
• backbiting

• begrudging 
• evil eye
• green-eyed monster

• grudgingness
• jaundiced eye
• resentfulness

A look into Paranoia:

• insanity
• mental disorder
• personality disorder
• schizophrenia
• craziness
• delusions
• depression

• derangement
• disturbed mind
• emotional disorder
• emotional instability
• loss of mind
• lunacy

• madness
• maladjustment
• mania
• mental disease
• mental sickness
• nervous breakdown
• nervous disorder

• neurosis
• neurotic disorder
• paranoia
• phobia
• psychopathy
• psychosis 
• sick mind
• troubled mind
  
  
  
  

to be updated...